Online Course on Water and Environmental Law and Policy

IHE Delft Water law

Target Audience

This course targets water and environmental professionals (e.g., lawyers, engineers, hydrologists, social scientists, policy-makers, etc.).

Description

The course focuses on how water and environmental resources can be managed in a specific context using the disciplines of law, politics and policy making. The goal is to introduce the student to the complexities of the relationship between water, environmental and economic issues; the relationship between law, politics and policy making at local, national, regional and international level.

This course provides a learning experience which guides participants to explore the role of law, policy and politics at the local, national, regional and international level to address the complexities of the relationship between water and environmental issues, trade-offs and conflicts in order to achieve sustainable development and water and environmental justice.

Course content

The 16 weeks of the course are divided into 5 sub-courses (units) that cover the following subjects:

  • Introduction to the Water and Environmental Law and Policy (2 units)
  • Theory & Methods in Law and Policy (2 units)
  • International Water and Environmental Governance (6 units)
  • National Water and Environmental Governance (3 units)
  • Dispute Resolution and Prevention (3 units)

Learning Objectives

Upon completion, the participant should be able to:

  • Explain concepts/frameworks of inter(national) water & environmental law and policy; how they influence inter(national) and local decision-making & vice-versa with respect to conflicts regarding natural resources use, allocation, distribution & governance
  • Analyse inter(national), regional and local water and environmental problems and how law, policies, politics, institutional arrangements, principles and instruments can be used to address these water and environmental justice and sustainability problems
  • Apply the analytical academic skills acquired to analyse interrelations between various water and environmental issues
  • Evaluate how best multi-scale water and environmental problems can be addressed in a (un)just globalizing world.