Interdisciplinarity in action: IHE Delft students’ experiences during MSc field trip to France
Tackling real-life water challenges in interdisciplinary teams during intense weeks in France: many students consider the field trip to be a key part of their IHE Delft education. They describe it as a fantastic learning opportunity that helps them understand how insights from all disciplines are needed for sustainable development.
This year, 184 students took part in the trip, tackling real-world water problems at several locations in south-eastern France: Grenoble, Digne-les Bains, Nantes, Montpellier and the coastal Camargue region.
Herve Singamong, a Chadian student in the MSc in Water and Sustainable Development programme said he and his team learned how to assemble water quality sensors using Arduino kits.
“Using the knowledge we had learned in the classroom in a real-world setting was an amazing experience. By developing and using these sensors, we were able to acquire important knowledge about methods for monitoring water quality,” he said, adding the teamwork skills he and his peers had gained during their studies at IHE Delft came into good use.
“Using the knowledge we had learned in the classroom in a real-world setting was an amazing experience. By developing and using these sensors, we were able to acquire important knowledge about methods for monitoring water quality."
Tackling environmental challenges
Armano Cibaric, from Croatia, called the field trip “truly inspirational” and said it had demonstrated the need to combine social, environmental and engineering sciences to create a sustainable approach. That solutions cannot be created in isolation was also a main takeaway from the trip for Bryan Cancimance Nino, of Colombia. “Integration is the key for a sustainable future,” he said.
For South Sudanese MSc student Tibi Nicholas Justine Isaiah, the field trip was “an eye-opening journey into the complexities of flood resilience and coastal protection.” He added that applying the theory learned in the classroom in a real-world setting “underscored the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in tackling environmental challenges.”
Understanding sustainable environmental management
Climate change impacts on the Camargue region was the focus for Nipuni Wijerathna, a Sri Lankan student in the International Master of Science in Environmental Technology and Engineering (IMETE) MSc programme offered jointly by IHE Delft, the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague, the Czech Republic and Ghent University in Belgium.
“Our team created a visionary future for Camargue with new technologies and adaptation strategies for climate change impacts such as sea level rise, high salinity and droughts in the region,” she said. “This project has been instrumental in shaping my understanding of sustainable environmental management and the importance of climate adaptation.”
“Our team created a visionary future for Camargue with new technologies and adaptation strategies for climate change impacts such as sea level rise, high salinity and droughts in the region.”
Developing skills
Exploring water quality analysis techniques, including macroinvertebrates and bed sediment analysis, helped Joab Jared, a Kenyan student in the Limnology and Wetland Management joint MSc programme offered by IHE Delft, the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Austria and Egerton University in Kenya, learn what’s needed to assess and preserve water resources. He called the trip “an intensive journey of skill development”.
Karis Migwi, a Kenyan student in the MSc in Water and Sustainable Development programme, was part of a team that interacted with local communities, collected data and samples, and made observations. They analysed and interpreted the data and created an improvement plan and recommendations. The experience, he said, will come into use in future professional challenges: “This is in preparation to what we are about to face in the job market after graduation.”
“The experience will come into use in future professional challenges. This is in preparation to what we are about to face in the job market after graduation.”
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