SECOND CYCLE DEGREE IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGIES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY (LM-75)
The second cycle degree in Science and Technologies for Environmental Sustainability, in the LM-75 class, aims to train graduates who can serve as: managers and officers in charge of environmental and sustainability aspects in companies and in public administration, respectively; employees in charge of environment-energy-waste and territorial issues in companies and public bodies; environmental analysts, assessors, planners, educators and communicators, working as freelancers or employees of consulting firms or governmental and non-governmental organisations; researchers and industrial technologist in public and private research centres.
The second cycle degree programme provides and develops analytical, evaluative and managerial skills and competencies promoting the development of technologies and solutions with a view to managing environmental aspects and supporting environmental decision-making.
The second-cycle degree/two year Master offers an Italian and an international programme which, one focusing on the environment and sustainability as a whole and the other on the water and coastal environment in particular, allow students to gain specific competences and in-depth knowledge of the problems linked to the interaction between man and the environment.
STRUCTURE OF THE PROGRAMME
First Year
In the first year, both courses require students to tackle basic and cross-cutting topics relating to applied physiology, applied chemistry, environmental hydrology, as well as course units aiming to develop environmental management and monitoring methods.
In particular, the subjects in the international programme focus more closely on the coastal and water ecosystem.
For both courses, a laboratory will be offered during or at the end of the first year to apply the competences acquired in the field.
Second Year
During the second year, students acquire additional complementary related competences through optional and elective course units and will perform a research project for the dissertation.
Students attending both the Italian and the international programme can undertake work for their dissertation also outside the university. This is encouraged by the degree programme in the case of interested students and facilitated through agreements already in place or to be defined with well-codified procedures.
The dissertation, carried out in a company, University or public research centre in Italy or abroad, is produced under the responsibility of a contact professor at the host facility and a lecturer from the degree programme.
Internship and thesis preparation activities are a fundamental opportunity for specialisation as well as for future employment, both in the scientific field and in the management of environmental resources and private industry.
GENERAL APPROACH OF THE DEGREE
The Second-cycle degree/Two-year master in Science And Technologies For Environmental Sustainability therefore offers a multidisciplinary, dynamic and integrated approach, aiming specifically at the study/analysis, conservation, management and safeguarding of the environment.
The degree programme covers two main thematic macro-areas:
- Environmental analysis
- Environmental management
These areas aim to train advanced specialist and vocational knowledge and competences according to the expected learning outcomes, as follows:
1) ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS
In this thematic area, the programme aims to provide specialist technical and scientific knowledge and competences in the fundamental subjects of the class which are indispensable in the field of environmental analysis.
The student, in fact, in the planned training pathway learns through lectures, practical work in the field and in the laboratory focusing on the assessment methods of environmental quality, environmental risks and impacts caused by human activities; the methods of processing complex data, problems linked to the sustainable use of resources; modern instrumental techniques for critically assessing quality parameters; the methods for integrating multidisciplinary knowledge of the environment as a whole and the water and coastal environment; the various international directives.
The measurement of environmental parameters must be supported by familiarity with the most advanced techniques for processing complex matrices (industrial, food, biological or environmental), and the knowledge of geographical information systems and data processing programmes.
2) ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
In this thematic area, the programme aims to provide specialist technical and scientific knowledge and competences in the fundamental subjects of the class which are indispensable in the field of environmental management.
The student, in fact, in the planned training pathway learns through lectures, practical work in the field and in the laboratory focusing on the methods for identifying environmental risks and impacts produced by human activities; the planning and decision-making methods for managing the environment as a whole, with specific reference to the WACOMA curriculum, and the water and coastal environment; the methods for assessing predictive scenarios, the criteria for defining political and managerial strategies linked to the environment; the methods for conducting investigations, studies and plans for water and marine-coastal environments, also in an international context, the development of technological solutions for the mitigation of and adaptation to climate and environmental changes.
This is achieved through studies in the fields of law, economics, impact assessment, the use of physical and economic indicators, knowledge of energy resources and environmental risk factors, in-depth studies on technologies and lifelong learning in the field.