Aug 13, 2021

Take a peek into the Water Management programme

Hey there! Are you interested, or have you studied biology, chemistry or economy in high school? Would you enjoy learning about global warming and how it affects the earth and water bodies? Well if you answered yes to any of those questions, then Water Management might be the study for you! During this study you will learn about topics like biology, chemistry, geology, to fluid mechanics, market & means, spatial planning, governance and multi-layered safety.

My name is Briana Halley and I am a first-year water management student here at the HZ University of Applied Sciences. I can imagine your curiosity about this study because when I first found water management on the HZ site I was completely amazed that there was such a thing. In this blog I will give you an insight of what you can expect from this study in the first year.

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Introduction week at HZ water management - briana 1
During the introduction week at HZ, it is mainly about getting acquainted with your new class mates and lectures. Some administrative work is also expected to make sure that you have all documents in place to then be able get you HZ student card, this card really makes you feel official! You get to go on excursion around Vlissingen to also get acquainted with the area.

This picture shows the introduction week with some of my class mates.

 

 

The different modules
Every module you will work in a group about a specific project or theme so to say. In the first year the subjects and lectures are based on the layer approach which focuses on the earth and the main layers such as the base, network and occupation layer which can be seen in the figure down below which was taken from a lecture. The layer theory is used to better understand the layers of the earth. By understanding this people are able to analyze each layer and make adjustments to make an area safer from the effects of climate change.

8.-water-management-briana-4

The first module
For this module, the main theme was the base layer and as a group the main project was to create a video about the base layer of a specific project area in Zeeland along with different assignments for each track.

The Base Layer is all things to do with nature and how the land came about but way more in depth of course. Your subjects will consist of biology, geology, climate change, and governance. I know this may all seem very abstract, but it is all very interesting. I would have to say that this module with the climate change lectures really related to what was actually going on around the world regarding to natural disasters and flooding etc.

For chemistry and biology, we do cool experiments that make you feel like a crazy scientist, and this goes for each module I will be discussing, but the experiments vary due to type of subject the nature track follows. Every module you will work in a group about a specific project or theme so to say. In the first year the subjects and lectures are based on the layer approach which focuses on the earth and the main layers such as the base, network and occupation layer which can be seen in the figure above which was taken from a lecture. The layer theory is used to better understand the layers of the earth. By understanding this people are able to analyze each layer and make adjustments to make an area safer from the effects of climate change.

water management - briana 3

 This is me during the introduction week

The second module
The second module was about the Network Layer. The network layer is all about paths for communication, transport, economy and the market & means and how it is related to the management of water systems. The main project was to create a map using ARC GIS which a system that allows you use map data from different sites to create a map with all data sets that relate to your topic. Now this map had to include a planned future of the province of Zeeland with a sustainable infrastructure which could create a sustainable economy for Zeeland in the year 2050 along with other assignments from the different subjects.

The subjects that we had were ecology, hydrology, sustainable development and market & means. Also, each module we go on excursions to either get lectures about the area for the main project or even for experiments.

The third module
The third module was about the Occupation Layer, this layer is everything to do with humans live in certain areas that deal with either water quantity issues or water quality issues and how they adapt to different scenarios. The central project was about the city of Dordrecht. Each group was given a neighborhood in Dordrecht and each group had to find the main problem in the neighborhood whether it be pluvial flooding, fluvial flooding, heat stress, or drought. This was analyzed by the group through research. Then as an individual assignment, create a solution to that problem and then present your poster.

Alongside making the central group project and individual poster we had assignments from the other subjects. The subjects were Chemistry, geology, multi- layer safety and spatial planning. Below you will see a picture of my group members and I on our trip to Dordrecht.

water management - briana 5

The fourth module
I am now in the fourth module, so I don’t know much about it. But by the way it looks from now I think it might be my favorite module, obviously because summer is right around the corner!

Exams
This is a very touchy subject because here is where you are put to the test to apply everything you learnt throughout the module on a couple pieces of paper (Life or Death situation) Just kidding! Each module we have 2 or 3 exams: they combine nature and water track, society and space track, and maybe an English exam from your English class.

All in all, I would have to say that my first year went pretty fast and interesting. It could be the same for you if you have curious little soul as well. I hope that this blog post could’ve helped you get an insight of what could be expected in the first year of Water Management and thank you for reading!

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