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

An array of academic activities

The life of an Erasmus Mundus student brings a variety of social opportunities - festivals, holidays and more. However, this post, aims to highlight another opportunity handed to us: the breadth of academic insights we receive. Through differing teaching styles, course structures and even physical environments, we are given the opportunity to open our minds wider and wider, broadening our academic background.

In addition to the everyday academic diversity we encounter, we frequently experience even greater diversity through the numerous opportunities to attend conferences, seminars, PhD defences and more in the institutes in which we study. Our most recent  opportunity was to attend a research seminar at UPC only last week from Dr. Carlo Gregoretti, titled “Monitoring Debris Flow in North Eastern Italy”. With impressive visualisation of concepts, his talk acted as a useful introduction to a topic (Debris Flows) that we have newly encountered in Barcelona.

Similarly, whilst at UNESCO-IHE we had the opportunity to attend a PhD (Multi-Objective Optimization for Urban Drainage Rehabilitation by Wilmer Jose Barreto Cordero) and a Master (Flood Characteristics of the Haor Area in Bangladesh and the Potential Effects of Climate Change by Asadusjjaman Suman) defence. Talks such as these give us the opportunity to gain insight into the future for our studies!

At UNESCO-IHE a seminar was held discussing “How Flood risk can promote social justice”, highlighting the significance of social aspects of flood risk management. The seminar provided a differing perspective from much of our studies, raising our awareness of the fact that deeper social and philosophical considerations must be taken in order to formulate appropriate strategies for flood-related disasters globally. With the views of co-ordinator Zoran Vojinovic, honorary fellows of UNESCO-IHE Dr. Cunge, Professor Mike Abbott and Professor J.P O’Kane, the seminar proved a refreshing academic experience for all in attendance.

FRM students talking to Dr. Gopal at the Intecol Conference

As discussed previously, during our Florida fieldtrip we were given the opportunity to attend the INTECOL Wetlands Conference, the globes premier wetlands meeting. The opportunity to meet numerous academics and interact with a tight-knit academic community was a new experience for many of the course and gave the perfect introduction to the world of an academic. In fact, whilst at the Wetlands conference, I was able to meet a professor (Dr. Gopal) who had contributed the leading research in Ecology science and a frequently reoccurring name in my own personal research for my own ecology paper on tropical wetlands whilst at TU Dresden. As with most of the academics we were lucky enough to meet at the conference, Dr Gopal’s words and insights served as motivation for many of us to enter the world of research in the future.

As students under the course title of ‘Hydroinformatics’ at UNESCO-IHE, when the opportunity to attend a Hydroinformatics conference in Hamburg arose, a few of us (those most interested in the field) took the opportunity with welcome hands. The conference took a special focus on the impact of climate and environmental changes on aquatic environments and the development of suitable adaptation and mitigation measures. During our attendance, Prof. Dimitri Solomatine, the head of Hydroinformatics at UNESCO-IHE, helped us to appreciate the importance of attending such conferences to enhance our knowledge and become familiar with the latest research. And this, in fact, is true of all of the above seminars, conferences and talks – it is these opportunities that can really broaden our academic experiences. This will hopefully prove invaluable in developing ideas for our own masters research and beyond. So I guess we should probably be off for some literature reviewing!

Hydroinformatics participants with UNESCO staff: Professor Dimitri Solamatine (left) and Dr Popescu and Dr Jonoski
Special thanks must go to Dimitri for his help organising the attendance of the students at the conference.

by Nilay Dogulu

¡Hola Barcelona!

Having reached halfway of this masters marathon, the month of holiday in August came as a welcome break to our tired bodies and minds. For most, this involved travelling to our respective home countries to replenish ourselves by catching up with family and friends, filling up on all our favourite foods, daytime soap operas and simple delights such as being able to read signposts, while also having some time to take stock of the whirlwind of a year we have had. For others, their travelling experiences continued as they took the opportunity to venture even further across Europe and beyond. As if we hadn't had enough travelling as it was.

At the beginning of September it was yet again time to pack our entire lives into suitcases and boxes, find accommodation and begin our next adventure in the beautiful city of Barcelona. As a tourist destination, this was definitely the city we were most looking forward to visiting. And I can tell you now, it has not disappointed. Barcelona is a city teeming with culture, amazing architecture, festivals and music, with the added bonus of incredible weather and beaches! It is also steeped in history and the people here take enormous pride in both their region Catalonia and, of course, the famous Barcelona Football Club.

Castells, a truly Catalan construction

Thus far, the highlight of our stay has been the festival of ‘La Mercè’. This festival took place a week after a festival campaigning for Catalonian independence from Spain and only two weeks before that there was another festival in our local area of Les Corts... for no particular reason! The Spanish really do love to party and they know how to do it well! ‘La Mercè’ celebrates the Roman Catholic feast day of Our Lady of Mercy - the patron saint of the city. A jam-packed schedule included; free concerts, circus acts, the building of 'castells' (human towers), a fire-music-fireworks parade known as 'Correfoc', more free concerts and the biggest fireworks display I have ever seen to finish off the celebrations. It was a truly magical weekend!

But of course, the reason we have the privilege of enjoying these marvellous experiences is ultimately to become flood risk managers. Therefore, it was with fresh brains that we began our studies in Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) under the guidance of Prof. Allen Bateman. After some inevitable registration and logistical confusion that seems to follow us everywhere we go, we eventually returned our noses to the grindstone. The courses here have been carefully planned so as not to overlap with any material we covered in either Dresden or Delft. This has led to a diverse and interesting timetable with numerous new concepts and approaches being taught. Our classes here cover; drought management, debris flow and flash flood risk, coastal risk management and the use of radar in flood early warning systems. A key feature of our work at UPC will be that all of our grades will be based on continuous assessments - projects or presentations completed in groups or individually, depending on the subject. This allow a more practical and application based approach to be taken to the subjects, accounting for us only spending 3 months here.

A major academic issue,burning a hole in the minds of the entire class, is the upcoming selection of thesis topics. Our first preliminary list of topics has just been received and makes for a very ‘thought provoking’ read.  So, just as we settle into our lives in Barcelona we are already looking forward to the future with curiosity, wonderment and only a mild sense of dread! It seems to be the FRM lifestyle!

by Siobhan Gleeson

The social-side of Delft

Inbetween the academic adventures of Delft, outlined in the previous post, there had been an increased social activity in our lives post-Florida. After the fieldtrip we had developed a much tighter bond as a course (hey, when you are sharing insect-repellent spray and killing each other’s cockroaches, you tend to develop a special bond), a fact that we looked to make the most of. Immediately upon our return to Holland, the European Football Championships were kicking-off, which saw the European contingent to support their respective nations. By the end, we had grown tired of Patricia’s Spain’s dominance and took great comfort in the “efforts” of the Irish faction (1, 2 and 3). All alongside Kate’s pride in her very own Poland hosting the whole event! But, when the time came we all fell behind Ryanne’s Dutch team and it was with disappointment that we witnessed their premature exit.

Surrogate Netherland fans, watching them play on a canal boat - does it get more Dutch?

And the football-fever was only increased when the annual UNESCO-IHE football tournament came around. After a brief gauging of opinion, abilities and, most importance, numbers, it was decided that aHydroinformatics team – compromising of our own FRM players and our coursemates from IHE’s

'HydroWINformatics' - a team that did us proud.
(Only missing our star centre-back Duc)

Hydroinformatics course. Thus, the 'HydroWINformatics' team was born. Compromising of 14 ‘able’ players, we entered the tournament with low expectations, the goal to just have some fun. With some players playing competitively for the first time, we most definitely had some fun and thanks to a tight defence that only leaked a single goal in four games, we managed to come second in our league, only losing out on goal difference! A tremendous time was had by all and we were all very proud of the efforts put in. The gauntlet has been lay down for next year’s FRM participants – reach the final or face eternal shame!

'Spike by DHI' - captained & trained by Katya

Continuing the theme of FRM sports, when the UNESCO-IHE beach volleyball tournament came around it seemed only fitting to enter a FRM team. With a few players, again, learning to play the sport for the  first time during the tournament, the focus was, again, just to have some fun, but, again, we ended up doing quite well. In the end, we finished in third place overall, a position to be proud of (take note next year's FRM group...). This time our chosen team name (‘Spike by DHI’ – a pun on ‘spiking’ in volleyball and our often used software package ‘MIKE by DHI’. Get it?) did not receive a positive reception, met mostly by confusion and indifference. Regardless, we had a fantastic time, impressively supported by our classmates.

In addition to sporting fun, we were also lucky enough to witness one of the themed UNESCO-IHE social nights, this time taking us on a cultural tour of Asia! FRM was represented solely by Shristi, performing a traditional Nepali dance as if she was a professional dancer, not an engineer!  Followed by a night of Asian and world dancing at the disco, fuelled by Asian cuisine and Dutch beer, a rip-roaring time was had by all. 

A celebration of Asia at UNESCO-IHE!

And, less formally, in the fine weather that occasionally visited Delft, we held a number of barbecues, bike rides and made the most of the ever-dwindling time that we had together in the city. It was these moments that really gave us the best opportunity to explore the city of Delft and to finally say goodbye before a month of holidays in August and, then, the beginning of Chapter III: Barcelona.