Professional Master’s Degree in Management and Regulation of Water Resources in National Network
The Professional Master’s Degree in Management and Regulation of Water Resources in National Network – ProfÁgua is a stricto sensu Graduate Program recommended by the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES), with support from the National Water Agency (ANA, in the Portuguese acronym), which aims to qualify water resources professionals and researchers in theory and practice, to tackle problems related to the most complex issues of water management and regulation in the country. The Program is assessed by CAPES with score 4 of 5, under the area of knowledge of Environmental Sciences.
- Areas of Concentration
1 - Water Resources Policy Frameworks
This area of concentration focus on two lines of research aimed at improving technical knowledge for the implementation of Water Resources Management Frameworks, including project tools and methodologies for assessment, improvement and integration of those frameworks.
2 – Regulation and Governance of Water Resources
This area of concentration focus on two lines of research aimed at developing new methodologies for a more effective approach on water resources management and the management of risks and extreme events.
Lines of Research
1. Water Resources Policy Frameworks
1.1 Tools Applied to Water Resources Management Frameworks
Given that Federal Law 9433 of 1997 created five water resources management frameworks: the Water Resources Plans, granting of rights to the use of water, charging for the use of water, classification of water bodies and the Water Resources Information System; and since these frameworks are being implemented in several states and are at different stages of development in each region of the country, there is great potential for their integration and greater efficiency. Thus, this line of research seek to write and develop innovation projects for assessment, improvement and integration of water resources policy frameworks aiming at increasing management efficiency.
1.2 Implementation Methodologies for Water Resources Management Frameworks
Regarding water resources management, there is a need to organize, use and present data and information from various sources and to make them available in a way that facilitates the implementation of management frameworks and the decision-making process, based on the features of the National Water Resources Management System (SINGREH, in the Portuguese acronym) that foresees decentralized, participatory and integrated management. Methodologies to be applied and/or produced in the projects are those required by the managing bodies and are based on simulated models of physical, chemical, biological and social reality applied in Watershed Management. Projects must work with innovation methods and models for the development of qualitative and quantitative tools, sedimentometric practices, with geoprocessing interface, social and decision support technologies for Water Resources Management. Thus, in this line of research we aim to establish theoretical, methodological and conceptual grounds that allow depiction and simulation of reality in Watershed Management processes and enable the implementation of water resources management frameworks.
2 – Regulation and Governance of Water Resources
2.1 Planning and Management of Water Resources
This line of research aims to develop new methodologies to improve institutional frameworks, achieve greater social participation and ensure a more effective regulatory action by the State in water resources management. We encourage research on successful water planning and management frameworks and to suggest adjustments and/or new frameworks focusing on financial and operational sustainability. For decentralized and participatory water management, it is necessary to grant social and participatory sustainability for current frameworks and/or new suggested ones, including Participatory Approaches, Conflict Management, Mobilization, Negotiation and Arbitration, Education for Water Resources Management and Social Communication. Regarding Water Resources Regulation, it is crucial to develop research on methodologies, models, legal and institutional frameworks, applied in a flexible and integrated manner and adapted to reality, allowing a more effective regulatory action by the State.
2.2 Water Security and the Multiple Uses of Water
This line of research aims to develop methods, models, legal and social frameworks for watershed management with low water availability and for the management of risks and extreme events, including social participation, as well as the economic, social and environmental costs and benefits arising from the water allocation regime and usage monitoring and enforcement of rules. We encourage projects on water body pollution, waterborne diseases, degradation of aquatic environments, natural disasters and hydrological hazards, facing the challenges of conceptual integration of these issues to understand time-space dynamics for the occurrence of forecasting models and risk management of extreme events. Thus, innovation models to quantify and model cargo and critical water bodies’ contamination incidents should be developed in order to improve the accuracy of pollution load estimates, to identify polluting sources and pollution control strategies, and to improve critical contamination incidents’ management, supporting decision-making by the management and associated bodies of the water management system.