Master degree Continental Water Sustainability

Born out of science fiction, nexialism refers to an approach that connects fields of knowledge rather than compartmentalising them. It is this vision that underpins the Master in Continental Water Sustainability (CWS).

Nexialism, as defined by the novelist A. E. van Vogt, is the very DNA of the CWS Master’s programme: the curriculum is entirely designed to train experts capable of a holistic approach to continental socio-ecological hydrosystems.

Beyond providing a strong academic foundation, our ambition is to develop students’ ability to think interdisciplinarily, to collaborate across cultures, to adopt approaches that may lie outside conventional frameworks, and to remain strongly oriented toward problem-solving.

An interdisciplinary approach

The programme combines:

• Natural sciences and engineering (hydrology, ecology, etc.),
• Human and social sciences (sociology, communication strategies, etc.).

This approach enables students to understand the interactions between the physical, biological and social dimensions of aquatic ecosystems and to develop sustainable responses to complex water management challenges.
 

Learning by doing

The programme places a strong emphasis on practice-based learning.

Students develop key skills in:

• teamwork and interdisciplinary collaboration,
• communication, negotiation and conflict management,
• complex project management.

Innovative teaching methods such as hackathons, applied projects and case studies with real stakeholders allow students to build on an international pool of existing solutions, adapt them to different socio-ecological contexts, and assess their long-term efficiency.