Held on July, 14th and 15th, 2022 at the Congress Center, Largo Firenze 1, Ravenna, Italy. 

Organized by the University of Bologna in collaboration with the University of Algarve (Portugal) and the University of Cadiz (Spain), the WACOMA Symposium is the concluding event of the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree Programme in Water and Coastal Management (WACOMA). 

The main aim of the Symposium is to provide insights on aquatic, environmental and coastal marine sciences, water and coastal hazard and risk mitigation, climate change impacts on coastal areas and green economy.

International scientists, representative of the Associate Partners, as well as the WACOMA Alumni will exchange experiences and knowledge. Keynote speakers will give inspiring talks on related topics.

The event, free of charge, will last for a full-day (Thursday 14th) and a half-day (Friday 15th). The program is soon available. For any further information, contact our local organizers.

What is the WACOMA (Water and Coastal Management) program?

It is an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree (EMJMD), lasting from 2017 to July 2022. Three cohorts of students from overall the world had the possibility to study in three different Countries (Italy, Spain and Portugal), in association with several European and non-European Country academic institutions, research centres and companies representing a wide spectrum of complementary scientific knowledge and of diverse fresh water and marine sites. The course objective is to train managers and scientists for Water and Coastal Zone Risk Management, with a solid knowledge of environmental and legal instruments.

Graduates are specifically experts in water and coastal hazards and risks and their interrelations with global changes and use of resources. Consistent with the percepts of management sciences, it also concerns mitigation and adaptation to changes and it deals with the relevant aspects of a sustainable green and blue economy. The EMJMD WACOMA links natural sciences and societal challenges focusing on biology, geology, management, law and economics, thus being both multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary. It aims at integrating aquatic, environmental and marine sciences into an advanced teaching program, while promoting an exchange of information with a direct involvement of the coastal end users and stakeholders. The diversity and complexity of these topics relating to freshwater and coastal systems require a broad academic platform for an effective integration between the institutions representing different ecosystems scenarios, management and risk cultures.

WACOMA is funded by the EU programme Erasmus+ 2014/2020, budget line “Erasmus Mundus”. EMs are offered by multiple higher education institutions and run across various countries. They are distinguished by their academic excellence and by their high-level of integration. Students at master's level from all over the world can apply. In addition, scholarships are available for the best students. The aim of this action is to promote academic excellence in a teaching Master Degree Programme that aims at developing common understanding and deepening scientific knowledge in the vital, challenging and continuously evolving field of water and coastal ecosystems.