Learning objectives

The Second-Cycle Degree Course in Environmental and land management engineering at the University of Parma is structured in such a way as to reconcile the growing needs of environmental protection with those of adequate land development and planning. The aim is to train an engineer with a broad interdisciplinary background, able to carry out civil, environmental, production and energy-saving engineering works, aware of the constraints posed by the requirements of safety, civil protection, environmental protection and compatibility.
The curriculum of the Second-Cycle Degree Course in Environmental and land management engineering has a strong interdisciplinary character, with some subjects common to traditional core engineering disciplines, civil engineering, safety engineering, and others characteristic of the physical, biological and geological sciences.
The topics that are 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, structural subsidence); remediation of contaminated land; environmental planning of the territory; wastewater disposal and treatment; solid waste management and disposal; territorial and environmental monitoring systems

The training programme

The training path of the graduate in Environmental and land management 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, ecology and hydraulics.
The subjects taught in the Second-Cycle Degree Course are intended to provide up-to-date and specific skills that will enable graduates to develop technological innovation, to study, design, plan and manage engineering interventions on complex systems, both as self-employed professionals and in public administrations and manufacturing or service companies.
The course units can be grouped into five learning areas:
- Area of completion of basic knowledge
- Specialist and planning area for hydrogeological risk defence
- Specialist and planning area for environmental defence
- Specialist and planning area for territorial knowledge and defence
- Area of autonomy and responsibility
The course units taught in the first area broaden the student's preparation, providing the theoretical and practical tools of the main disciplines of civil engineering.
The course units taught in the second learning area provide the tools for designing different types of hydrogeological risk mitigation interventions and the prevention of extreme events.
In the third learning area, the topics of environmental quality will be explored in order to achieve in-depth knowledge of environmental quality parameters, the design of water treatment and purification plants as well as urban waste management; in addition, the tools for the different types of environmental impact assessment will be conveyed.
The fourth area of learning is geared towards the territory in which the environmental and land engineer operates, with course units that provide a complement to soil knowledge through the most modern techniques of remote surveying and planning tools for correct and sustainable land use.
The fifth area of learning consists of the practical application of the notions learnt and skills acquired in the previous four areas through direct experimentation (laboratory) or work activity in a company (internship) and the final dissertation activity.

The aim of the course is to train engineers who possess, compared to the first-cycle degree, an even more solid core training, aimed at an in-depth understanding of the phenomena and laws affecting the scientific and applied aspects of Environmental and land management engineering, and a thorough preparation in the typical disciplines of land protection and prevention from extraordinary events, natural and otherwise.
The target profile is an engineer 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 is capable of, in addition to designing complete and articulated treatment and disposal works for liquid, solid and gaseous waste, preventing situations of environmental degradation and risk, restoring contaminated environments, of assessing and controlling environmental quality in its various articulations, including by developing research and/or technology transfer strategies.