Biology: Water Management

The Water Management course, which is suitable for students in biology, environmental science, and physical geography, connects theoretical knowledge in aquatic ecology with practical measures in water management. You will get in touch with professionals actively working on water management issues within municipalities, county administrative boards, and consulting firms. The course covers both Swedish and international water management, but the focus is on Sweden and the water management directives, which are common EU legislation. How should the goals in the water directives be achieved so that both inland and marine waters attain good ecological status? Water management problems addressed in the course include, for example, eutrophication of lakes and coastal waters, acidification of freshwater and seas, browning and loss of biodiversity, as well as the effects of invasive species in aquatic environments. You will also learn how various water management problems can be addressed, such as lake restoration through biomanipulation, stream restoration, wetland construction, drinking and wastewater treatment, and measures to support fish populations in lakes, rivers, and coastal waters. One of the goals of the course is for you to be able to evaluate a water management problem and propose measures to restore the ecological status of water.

The Water Management course is largely applied, with a mix of lectures, seminars, reading and interpreting scientific articles, and study visits. You will also read several scientific articles and discuss them in smaller groups or seminars. We make study visits to see how a wastewater treatment plant operates in reality. We visit the county administrative board to listen to how water management experts work with, for example, stream and coastal water restoration. We also take a trip along a stream in Skåne to see how restoration measures have been implemented. On this trip, we look at constructed wetlands, fish passages past obstacles in the stream, restored stretches of the stream, and finally the coastal zone. During the final weeks of the course, you will carry out a large project in a small group, where you will jointly create a project plan to investigate and propose measures regarding a water management problem. The group will then perform sampling or surveys in the field, collect data, analyze it, write a report, and give an oral presentation. These projects are often done in collaboration with a municipality, county administrative board, or consulting firm, and the results are frequently used in practical water management work.

Prerequisites

For admission to the course, 105 credits Science studies including knowledge corresponding to BIOC13 Ecology 15 credits, are required. English 6/B.

Selection criteria

Seats are allocated according to: ECTS (HPAV): 100 %.

Tuition fees for non-EU/EEA citizens

Citizens of countries outside:

• The European Union (EU)
• The European Economic Area (EEA) and
• Switzerland

are required to pay tuition fees. You pay an instalment of the tuition fee in advance of each
semester.

Tuition fees, payments and exemptions

Full programme/course tuition fee: SEK 42,500
First payment: SEK 42,500

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Note that you may also need to pay an application fee, or provide proof of exemption.

Application fee

No tuition fees for citizens of the EU, EEA and Switzerland

There are no tuition fees for citizens of the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland.