Rationale
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Throughout the world estuaries and coastal waters have experienced environmental degradation. Present remedial measures based on engineering and technological fix have been unable to restore the ecological processes of healthy and robust estuaries and coastal areas and, as such, will not reinstate the full beneficial functions of the ecosystems. Several frameworks have been established to avoid or reduce the risk that by 2030 nearly half of humanity (47%) will be living in water-stressed areas, according to the Third World Water Development Report, presented by UNESCO. Preservation and improving of aquatic ecosystems and water quality is a world priority. The European Union has thus recognized in recent years the need for an integrated management of water resources, from water spring to the coast, including surface and ground water and embracing the physical, the biologic and the social dimensions. This need can be inferred from the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC), from the recent Marine Strategy Framework Directive (2008/56/EC) and all associated European directives. Concepts as the Integrated River Basin Management, the Integrated Coastal Zone Management have been implemented worldwide, but not in a spatially harmonized way. Also they not consider the role that ecological and hydrologic processes can play for improving the ecosystems resilience and how they can be used for resolving water degradation problems. The societal aspects linked with aquatic ecosystems degradation, particularly in developing countries are of crucial importance and the basis for human migrations and displacements, increasing stress on other already stressed areas. The Ecohydrology concept (developed under UNESCOIHP) considers that by integrating hydrologic and ecological processes it is possible to increase aquatic ecosystems carrying capacity and reinstate the good ecological functioning of aquatic ecosystems. This approach addresses the Millenium Development Goals and is particularly important for developing countries, as the costs are clearly lower than applying only traditional engineering techniques. The expected role in this approach worldwide is also clearly indicated by the fact that the 193 countries at the UNESCO General Conference have adopted the theme “Ecohydrology for sustainability” as one of the five major pillars of the Strategic Plan of the International Hydrologic Programme, at its 7th phase (2008- 2013). This ERASMUS MUNDUS Master Course on Ecohydrology aims to create highly specialized professionals in the area of Ecohydrology, both with understanding about the ecological processes and ecosystems functioning, as well as the harmonization of such ecological processes with more traditional engineering approaches. The consortium gathers expertises from highly experienced HEI, Research centres and UNESCO centres in this field, as the Institute for Water Education (UNESCO Centre, Delft, Netherlands), the University of Lodz (Poland), the University of Algarve (Portugal), the University ofKiel (Germany) and the University of La Plata (Argentina) and, also includes, as Associated Partners, the International Centre for Coastal Ecohydrology (UNESCO Centre, Portugal), the Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (Croatia), the HIDROEX (UNESCO centre, Brazil) and the International Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences – European Regional Centre for Ecohydrology under the auspices of UNESCO (ERCE). All of these partners bring their own expertises that are complementary and consider freshwater ecohydrology, coastal ecohydrology, oceanography, engineering and integrated water resources management. This ERASMUS MUNDUS Master Course will efficiently contribute to the transference of knowledge between Europe and Third-Countries, to increase the level of expertise in different world regions. Moreover, it will contribute to answer to the increasing need of professionals with a broad vision of the processes occurring in the river basin and in the coastal regions, mastering the linkage between systems, between processes and between natural and socio-economic constraints comprising all the aspects of the water cycle. From the technical point of view these professionals will be able to use advanced tools such as geo-processing and analysis tools, numerical models, decision supportsystems which are essential to face those new challenges |
