Merry Christmas from FRM

T'was a week before Christmas, when all through FRM

Not a student was stirring, not even the Bangladesh men.

Our thesis topics had been sent to little Delft with care,

In hopes that our very own Biswa would allocate them there.

The students were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of published theses in peer-reviewed journals danced in their heads.

In cold Ljubljana, in more layers than Shristi were we wrapped,

We settled down for our evening siesta - or 'night-time nap'.

With a sense that, across Europe, academic keyboards had begun to clatter,

We sprang to our non-UNESCO laptops to see what was the matter.

Away to our IHE emails we went with only mild fears of horror.

Before closing our decent browser and opening Internet Explorer.

(Why, oh why does UNESCO email require the most outdated of browsers?

As comfortable to use as the Barca metro, in summer, in trousers).

And in my inbox, to my wonder, what should appear,

But a festive email from our Biswa, from whom we love to hear.

In the following email seconds later, this time remembering the attachment (!),

We nervously anticipated the thesis news we presume had been sent. 

With CC's flying before our eyes,

Biswa called the faithful lectures, who on our theses will advise.

"Now, Katya! Now, Bernhofer! Now, Leo and Dimitri!

On, Schalk! On, Allen! On, Vicente and Brilly!

We must inform our chosen thesis students - send out your call!
Now mail away, mail away, mail away all!"

With Biswa's rousing speech, we heard staff keyboards tinkle

"Oh, I hope for an Uncertainty-heavy topic" dreamt Nilay " - more than a sprinkle!"

But little could our dreaming minds truly know,

Which topic would, to our inboxes, flow!

We woke to the sound Patricia always hears and always likes:

Fiesta? Siesta? No, of course it was Skype.

"Hello student, your pal Biswa here:
The thesis! It's sorted! See you in the New Year!"

We spoke not a word, as we were over the moon.

The perfect thesis awarded - oh, February 10th, please come soon!

It may have felt a long, arduous and tricky road,

But Biswa had delivered, despite the vast workload.

And as we next lay our heads to enter for-once worry-free slumber,

I swear I heard Biswa, his words I could name to a number:

"Merry Thesis to all, I look forward to the wonders that you write.
And:

 Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night"

Photograph from Shristi

Poem by Clement Clark Moore/Richard Vause

Welcome to Ljubljana

As well experienced country hoppers, the next move of the Flood Risk Management crew to Ljubljana, Slovenia, was the smoothest move yet. Enthusiasm for new adventures may have weaned a little as we bid farewell to beautiful Barcelona, but, as we settle into life in Ljubljana, there is a brimming anticipation of the new experiences we will gain.

In our 'woollies' enjoying Ljubljana's festivities

Given the short time we will spend here - a mere two months - housing was an initial concern, with the fear of living in a hostel loomed large. However, the good landlords of Ljubljana came to the rescue and within a few days the whole class had managed to find decent accommodation. We were definitely off to a good start!

The first word on everyone’s lips was how freezing cold Ljubljana was. Brrr... We had grown used to balmy evenings at the tapas bars in Barcelona and were rudely awaken with snow and sub-zero temperatures in Ljubljana. Time to resurrect those Dresden winter woollies!

Our stay in Ljubljana will be the shortest yet with a semester of only 2 months. Factor in some hard-earned Christmas holidays and time will truly fly. With that in mind, we made the decision to “hit the ground running” and quickly establish ourselves in the Slovenian capital. With the essentials of internet, yet another new SIM card sorted and getting to grips with the city buses, it was time to turn our attention to our studies in Slovenia.

The University of Ljubljana will be our new base as we settle into classes on socio-economic assessment and spatial planning for flood protection. Ljubljana’s focus is more on the social aspects of flood risk management and the classes should prove interesting as we study a new dimension of our discipline. So far, three days into our classes, the university has proved to be impressively organised, with our “hit the ground running” attitude evident here too. Classes will be taken by several lecturers from across the social sciences and will be assessed with a mixture of written examinations and group project work. Hopefully the teamwork skills we developed in Barcelona will stand us in good stead.

The Ljuljanica river in all of  it's festive glory

But what of the other aspects of our new home? Surely there is more than just our studies? As the welcome words from our new head of department encouraged us, it was time to to make the most of the festive spirit in Ljubljana. The city’s centre is a winter-wonderland of Christmas lights, snow covered bridges and delicious kuhano vino (cooked wine) keeping the swarms of locals and tourists warm. Three of the class have landed an amazing apartment overlooking the picturesque city centre; undoubtedly this will be the new FRM hang-out house: Maria, Nilay and Ryanne prepare for lots of visitors!

We are also hoping to integrate into Ljubljana student life by getting involved in University sports and joining the local Erasmus network. With the great friendships made on our travels so far, we are eager to continue this trend on our final leg. Also, despite time being short, it would be nice to see some of the region - no doubt, our international high-flyer Duc will lead the way!

As the taught part of the course reaches its final months, the quest to find a suitable thesis topic is looming large. Given the great diversity of the student backgrounds and the number of universities involved, finding thesis topics to satisfy everyone was always going to be a complex task. Very fortunately, the universities have granted us great freedom and support in pursuing theses with other institutions and organisations. As the negotiation process continues, we all look forward to confirming our both our thesis topics and partners before getting stuck into some research.

Regardless, Ljubljana is set to be significantly different to anything we have experienced so far in terms of culture, climate and academic focus. Time is short and we have lots to learn, but we enjoy a challenge. So far, so good. Ljubljana bring it on!

by

Anthony Grady

Adios to Barcelona!

The UPC campus in December- we'll miss weather like this!

It has long been accepted that the passage of time is constant, but after our three months in Barcelona I think it would be fair to challenge this assumption. As we woke up from some of our final siestas, it was apparent that our three months in the heart of Catalunya had flown by. After tonnes of tapas, stacks of sangria and frequent fiestas, our time in Spain was drawing to an end.

But not before we had been assessed. In keeping with the Spanish way of life (ask Patricia), our at UPC was very relaxed, with much independence given to us in the completion of our assessments. With two group assignments and two group presentations set, we were given deadlines in the final week for each.

The FRM group bidding farewell to our
UPC lecturers over a few beers

Accordingly the emphasis was placed on independent and self-motivated study to a far greater extent than in the earlier parts of our course. I think it would be fair to say that each one of us learnt a lot about our style of teamwork, time management and planning, with (hopefully) an all-round successful outcome reached for all of us!

After the hard work of our final weeks, it seemed fitting to relax and say goodbye to our lecturers. Again, we chose to do so in keeping with the Spanish way of life: through a few beers and lively conversation. Well attended by the class and lecturers alike, we took a lot of pleasure in learning a bit more about each other (congratulations on the forthcoming third child ‘Big Daddy’ Brian! Note, Richard makes a great boys name…), our opinions of Spain over the past three months and to say farewell properly.

Leaving drinks with our new Erasmus Mundus friends

Also, during our studies in Barcelona we found ourselves in a Coastal Risk Management class with a number of other Erasmus Mundus students (from a course with an official website, but without a student-run blog, if you can believe such a thing exists). These students had also spent the past six months in Delft – unbeknownst to us – and, we found significant comfort and enjoyment in our shared experiences. Therefore Barcelona was also a significant time of new friendships and it was with heavy hearts we bid goodbye to our new Erasmus Mundus pals. But fortunately, for a those of us selected to write their thesis in Holland at UNESCO-IHE, they will be reunited with our new friends as they complete their own thesis. International Erasmus Mundus friendships at their very best.

It was then time to pack up for one more time and board our transport to our next stop, and final destination as a total group of 18, Ljubljana. Due to the high prices of flights from Barcelona to Ljubljana (or anywhere near Slovenia!), bus was the mode of transport chosen by most of us. As a 23 hour journey, it was as ‘interesting’ as expected so please return soon to hear about our arrival and first impressions of our new Slovenian home.

by 

Richard Vause

Working in the Pressure Cooker in Rotterdam

By title, we are a group of Flood Risk Managers. Accordingly, when the news of an event organised as part of the Rotterdam Flood Risk conference for students interested in Flood Risk and related subjects was brought to our attention, there was significant interest from the members of our course. The student event in question was the ‘24hour Pressure Cooker’, in which 20 students were split into groups, locked in a room for 24 hours and left to work on a flood-related serious game. This may not sound entirely desirable, but it was actually an event that many of the course were interested in attending, especially since we were given a free week in our Barcelona class schedule to encourage our attendance.

After a thorough application process, six members of the course were selected to attend the event, which also gave us an excuse to return to our previously beloved Delft. After a day of acclimatising to the much colder, wetter Dutch weather (Barcelona was still experiencing gorgeous weather!) and catching up with friends and staff at UNESCO-IHE, we were off to Rotterdam for the Pressure Cooker. Meeting at a ferry port, we were transported to an industrial island in the harbours of Rotterdam – there was literally no escape from this event for the next 24 hours.

Upon our arrival, we six students from the Flood Risk Management (2011-13) batch were extremely pleased to meet another selected student from the Flood Risk Management (2012-14) batch! Daria, a Russian student that we can only assume is a direct equivalent of our own Maria, confirmed that the future of the FRM course is in capable hands. The six seven of us were then split into six groups to focus on one of three topics: Stakeholder participation in Bangkok, Innovative use of Dike-breach data and Dike reinforcement using vegetation. Our challenge was then to create the concept of a serious game (defined as a virtual or physical game designed to educate those who play) on the above topics over a sleepless night. 24 hours of work culminated in a pitch (performed still with no sleep) in front of leading industry officials from a number of European consultancies.

The room in which we worked in overnight as
part of the 24 hour pressure cooker.

It was a rewarding experience in which I am sure all of us learnt a lot about how we work in a team and under pressure. And on limited sleep. And on a diet formed mostly of bread-based food. After tough assessment of our pitches and concepts, the judges selected the serious game that they felt had the greatest potential. After much tension building on the final stage, a team containing two of our very own FRM students (Lydia and Shristi) were selected, being awarded their prize of shiny iPads. All participants of the event and the professionals involved in judging were quick to congratulate on the manner and magnitude of the groups success. And it was a brilliant moment to see FRM represented - especially since the final pitch upon which the games were assessed was given fantastically by our Shristi.

The pressure cooker also provided us with free entry to the Flood Risk 2012 conference in Rotterdam, providing us with the opportunity to hear the cutting-edge research from the field of flood risk. Also, it gave many of us an opportunity to try and chase up a thesis topic, with mixed success. The conference and it's participants proved a pleasant ending to an intense 48 hours, with our efforts rewarded with much respect given by the professionals that we met. Hopefully our future lives in Flood Risk Management will prove to be less intense than the Pressure Cooker event and our trip to Holland, but hopefully it may also prove to be as rewarding and beneficial.

By

Richard Vause