The course in brief
The Second-Cycle Degree Course in Environmental and land management engineering deals with engineering issues relating to the integration of human activities into the environment by reconciling the safety of civil settlements with the requirements of environmental protection.
The engineer trained on this second-cycle degree course will have an interdisciplinary education by adding knowledge in law and the chemical, geological and biological sciences to the traditional core engineering disciplines.
The topics specifically dealt with at the University of Parma are as follows: prevention and protection of the territory from extraordinary events, natural and otherwise (floods, landslides, debris flows, water, air and soil pollution); environmental planning of the territory; disposal and treatment of wastewater; remediation of aquifers and contaminated land; solid waste management and disposal; territorial and environmental monitoring systems.
The training path of the graduate in Environmental Engineering is divided into two levels: characterising training in the field of Environmental and land management engineering; integrative training in the fields of law, chemistry and ecology.
Some of the course units taught in the first year of the course complete the student's basic preparation by providing the theoretical-applicative tools of the main disciplines of environmental engineering, land use planning and notions of environmental legislation.
The other course units complement the information acquired for competent and responsible planning of different types of interventions in land protection, prevention of extreme events and environmental pollution and environmental remediation. Joint laboratory/internship activities are carried out.
At the end of the second year, students must devote themselves to preparing their dissertation.
The objective is to train engineers with specific professional and advanced scientific knowledge on the interrelationships between the various physical, biological and chemical processes that intervene in complex environmental systems who can design: defence works and mitigation of hydrogeological risk (floods and landslides); liquid and solid waste treatment and disposal works; remediation of contaminated environments; territorial and environmental monitoring systems; territorial planning interventions in urban and rural areas.
The employment opportunities for graduates of the second-cycle degree in Environmental and land management engineering are mainly in the fields of design, realisation and development of complex and/or innovative processes, as self-employed professionals, in agencies and bodies for the protection of the environment, in public administrations, in production or service companies operating in the waste treatment sector, and in public and private research centres. The employment prospects are very good, both nationally and Europe-wide, as well as locally.