It all
started back in two years ago: the first batch students of FloodRisk Master met for the first time in
early autumn days of beautiful Dresden in September, 2011. 18 students from 14
different countries all around the world came
together to gain a broad and cross-boundary scientific knowledge on flood risk
management. Certainly, our (FRM) adventure was full of unknowns. However, these
big unknowns turned into sweet tastes making life more fun during these two
years. 6 months in Dresden (Germany), 5 months in Delft (the Netherlands), 3
months in Barcelona (Spain), and 2 months in Ljubljana (Slovenia) passed very
quickly. Studying together various aspects of flood risk management (from
hydrologic modeling to socio-economic effects of floods) in these four
countries, we had a comprehensive knowledge base and understanding of the
current theory and practice related to flooding and flood management at the end
of 1.5 years. At the final stage, each of us conducted a thesis research on a
topic of interest to us in different institutes.
In
this last 6-months period of the master, we specialized in a particular subject
more academically. We all admit that working on our theses was not the easiest
part of the master not only in an academic context but also in all aspects of
life – for instance we discovered our patience limits and learned how to find
fresh sources of hope and strength during the most desperate times... Spending
the summer days in front of our laptops sitting on our comfy (!) chairs, we were lucky enough to hand in a proper draft version of our
thesis document in early August. Following a little bit of relaxation period
lasting less than two weeks, we submitted our theses and started waiting for
the comments of our thesis supervisors. By the graduation day, we all defended
our theses successfully – such a relief! It was only after that moment that we
realized that our adventure was about to end very soon! Some of us were busy
with arranging their travel from their thesis locations to Delft, where the
Graduation Ceremony was to be held.
All our faces locked upon the graduation ceremony |
The Graduation Ceremony can be still seen here.
Following the ceremony, all the students and the
professors gathered in front of UNESCO-IHE building for a group photo – a
wonderful picture which can surely
enable us to cherish this unforgettable moment years after that day. This was
also a moment of fame as there were a quite number of cameras competing to make
the best picture!
Thanks
to the reception held we were still all together. Of course, we were all
curious to know what will happen next in each others’ lives. Talking with our friends
(well maybe from now on also “colleagues”) and professors about our future
plans made us realize once more that we were about to open a completely white
page in our lives as the first generation of flood risk managers. During the
reception, we also met with our dearest friends’ families.
FRM 1 after the graduation ceremony |
While everybody was enjoying their drinks and the music, a sweet surprise by Richard took all the attention suddenly. He was kind and generous enough to prepare a presentation of the course in pictures, which was successfully capable of giving an impression and nostalgic review of the programme (the slideshow can be seen here). It was such a lovely surprise; thanks Richard! Another surprise was our specially designed FLOODRisk Master shirts given next to our diplomas. Being lucky with the weather – it was one of those exceptionally hot days in Delft at this time of the year; we decided have another group picture (with the shirts on us) in the beautiful garden of IHE building. Check out the picture below to see our happy faces :)
Free T-shirts: the easiest path to happiness. |
As Jacob Bronowski says, knowledge is an unending adventure at the
end of uncertainty and this master programme is a great opportunity to live
this adventure to be able to understand floods – a major natural hazard which
seems to become more frequent and severe in the last century – from different perspectives in order to alleviate its
consequences.
Our
dream of becoming a flood risk professional has come true at the end of 2 years
we spent in Europe… We would like to thank especially to Dr Biswa Bhattacharya,
Prof Dimitri Solomatine, and Ms Ineke Melis from UNESCO-IHE for the invaluable
guidance they provided. We also thank all the professors, lecturers, and
assistants in TU Dresden, UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, Polytechnic
University of Catalonia (UPC) and University of Ljubljana. And of course many
thanks to our families and friends for their love, support, and understanding
throughout this period.
I
believe that FLOODRisk master gave us the opportunity to be a part of a
brilliant group of determined and adventurous people. Despite the challenges,
we enjoyed every single day of our FRM adventure. I wish all the best to each
member of my FRM family in their prospective life and career wherever in the
world. Just a small request - please don’t lose your strength and patience to
follow your dreams! See you soon!
Written by Nilay Dogulu
Written by Nilay Dogulu