NEPTUN - Water Framework Directive
Introduction
Over the last number of years, increasing environmental problems and climate changes have resulted in an increasing demand for continuous, environmental economic development. As a consequence, the environment has developed into one of the most important growth sectors in Europe.
There has also been a sharply increased demand for environmental specialists. Relative newcomers to the industry could at first satisfy this demand without specialist training. In the meantime, occupational and university institutes have introduced new environment courses and qualifications. At the end of 2002, four new specialist qualifications were introduced: sewage technology, water supply technology, pipe and river service, and water cycle technology.
In Germany and other west European EU partner countries, structural changes in the education system have already taken place and there is now a focus on qualitative variations. However, in the European accession states, such as Poland and the Czech Republic, these structural changes have yet to take place.
It is the joint aim of all partners to achieve uniformity in further and higher education in Europe, in order to guarantee a better understanding among participants and to promote mobility in the European labour market. This is further facilitated by the increasing uniformity of environmental legislation in Europe, taking into account the fact that environmental protection and water administration do not end at political or national boundaries, but rather must be observed in a trans-national, European context. Flood damage in recent years has shown that pressure on European partners to act is enormously high.
Aims and Objectives of Neptun Project
The NEPTUN project aims to contribute to the further development of professionals in the field of water management, by developing concepts, curricula and learning content. This will improve both European collaboration and the transferability of educational qualifications in the countries involved.
Target groups of the NEPTUN project are:
Staff of public administrations in the environmental protection, internal security, buildings and adjacent areas,
Staff in industries, who must implement environmental legislation, (eg construction, water technology, engineering services, garden building and landscape architecture)
The project has developed a uniform, targeted, web-supported advanced education course called 'water resources management'.
Implementation and Products
The following products have been developed:
European continuing education course, 'water resources management' (advanced education course)
Core modules, specialty modules
Web-portal with following components: training platform (course control, supervision, administration, contents); specialty glossary 'water management' (EN, DE, PL, CZ, IT); knowledge database (eg additional information, law, associations, institutions, research, projects); 'good practice' examples; certification system.
