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Journal ArticleDOI

T-shaped competency profile for water professionals of the future

01 Oct 2012-Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (European Geosciences Union (EGU))-Vol. 16, Iss: 10, pp 3475-3483
TL;DR: The T-shape model as discussed by the authors is proposed as a generic competency profile guiding the design of university curricula and is based on the holistic model of professional competencies by Cheetham and Chivers (1996) and related studies (Oskam, 2009).
Abstract: Global environmental changes introduce new challenges and expose future university graduates in hydrology and related fields to problems of unprecedented complexity and magnitude. The T-shape model is proposed as a generic competency profile guiding the design of university curricula. This model differentiates between cognitive competencies in a certain field (i.e. hydrology; vertical leg of the T), and other cognitive/knowledge competencies in neighboring fields (e.g. hydraulics, aquatic ecology, land use management etc.) and functional, personal and values competencies and meta-competencies (all summarized in the horizontal bar of the T). It is based on the holistic model of professional competencies by Cheetham and Chivers (1996) and related studies (Oskam, 2009). The T-shape profile should apply to all levels of higher education (1st degree till doctorate level) in hydrology and related fields. For the effectiveness of hydrologists as professionals, a variable mix of competencies is required and further discussed. Key aspects are an open attitude for learning, continuous professional development (lifelong learning), and integrative and team working skills. Furthermore, a stimulating learning environment that promotes active learning is essential. As examples that substantiate the proposed T-shape model, the post-graduate education programmes of UNESCO-IHE and the main outcomes from a university curriculum workshop to promote education for sustainable development are introduced.

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Citations
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01 Jan 2008
TL;DR: By J. Biggs and C. Tang, Maidenhead, England; Open University Press, 2007.
Abstract: by J. Biggs and C. Tang, Maidenhead, England, Open University Press, 2007, 360 pp., £29.99, ISBN-13: 978-0-335-22126-4

938 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Landscape approaches have become en vogue in the past couple of decades as discussed by the authors and a review illuminates the ambition and potential of these landscape approaches for interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral collaboration.
Abstract: Landscape approaches have become en vogue in the past couple of decades. Originating from nineteenth-century landscape geography, this renewed popularity since the 1980s is fueled by debates on—among others—nature conservation, landscape restoration, ecosystem services, competing claims on land and resources, sectorial land-use policies, sustainable development, and sense of place. This review illuminates the ambition and potential of these landscape approaches for interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral collaboration. To show this, we work with a T-shaped interdisciplinary model. After a short history of the landscape approaches, we dive into their key dimensions—from ecology to economics and culture to politics. Thereafter, we bring these dimensions together again and reflect on the integrative potential of landscape approaches for offering common ground to various disciplines and sectors. Two examples of applications are also dealt with: a landscape governance framework and a landscape capability framework.

153 citations


Additional excerpts

  • ...Therefore, we link our review to a more “modest” interdisciplinary and collaborative model, which builds on the concept of the T-shaped professional (21, 22)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
28 Sep 2018-Water
TL;DR: In 2018, the UN published a report: "Sustainable development goal 6 synthesis report on water and sanitation 2018" (referred to in this paper as "the report" as mentioned in this paper, which reviewed progress with SDG 6 at global and regional levels.
Abstract: In 2015, UN Member States adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6): “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all”. Commonly known as the ‘water goal’, SDG 6 went well beyond the limited focus on water supply and sanitation in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and recognized the importance of all aspects of the water cycle in development and that water was embedded directly and indirectly in all 17 SDGs. In 2018, the UN published a report: “Sustainable Development Goal 6 Synthesis Report on Water and Sanitation 2018” (referred to in this paper as ‘the report’) that reviewed progress with SDG 6 at global and regional levels. Overall, the report concluded there was progress, but it was too slow, and the world was not on track to achieve SDG 6 by 2030 without a significant change of gear. The report was written primarily for those working in sustainable development to guide finance and resource allocation, but there was much embedded in the report that was of value to those engaged in research and in developing the much-needed capacity to plan and manage water resources, particularly in developing countries. This paper attempts to distill these issues and to ask how those involved in education, training, and research could contribute to enabling and accelerating progress towards achieving SDG 6. Three key areas of engagement were identified: the urgent need for more data and improved monitoring to assess SDG 6 progress and to enhance decision-making, the need to address the serious lack of human and institutional capacity that was constraining progress, and the challenge of taking research into policy and practice. Note: This paper is a review of selected aspects of the report (in which production the authors were chiefly involved as coordinators and editors), and as such most of the facts, figures, and discussion in this review are taken from the report. For this reason, we have not continually attributed them to the report to avoid repetition. However, in some cases, we have attributed report material to the primary sources where we considered it important to do so. We have also attributed material we have included, and which is not cited in the report. A review inevitably depends, to some extent, on the views of the reviewers and as such we have tried to make it clear where we are expressing our personal views rather than those expressed in the report. The report contains full references to all the primary sources.

57 citations


Cites background from "T-shaped competency profile for wat..."

  • ...Many strategies have been developed to guide educators in meeting today’s curriculum, such as the T-shaped education competency profile for water professionals [35]....

    [...]

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a model for educating doctoral students for careers involving interdisciplinary, team-based research to address problem-focused questions, which is theoretically based and evaluated in light of the literature, faculty perspectives, and an assessment by students of educational successes and challenges they experienced.
Abstract: Interdisciplinarity is crucial for addressing the complex problems society faces. We present a model for educating doctoral students for careers involving interdisciplinary, team-based research to address problem-focused questions. The educational model is theoretically based and evaluated in light of the literature, faculty perspectives, and an assessment by students of educational successes and challenges they experienced. The educational model involves (a) the identification of integrated research questions combining team members' disciplines, (b) course work to review theoretical underpinnings of interdisciplinarity and to develop integrated research proposals to address the questions, (c) meetings and workshops to enhance team cohesiveness, (d) engagement with stakeholders, and (e) interdisciplinary team research that yields joint dissertation chapters and publications. The model achieved a high level of integration among students. This model addresses the widely acknowledged need to impart interdisciplinary research and team membership skills as part of graduate education. (Resume d'auteur)

46 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This work proposes a tiered, system-of-systems modeling framework with these elements: a component-based, software framework that couples a wide range of relevant systems using a modular,Systems structure; the ability to inform robust decisions in the face of deep uncertainty; and the systematic integration of multiple knowledge domains and disciplines.
Abstract: Many of the world's greatest challenges are complex socio-environmental problems, often framed in terms of integrated assessment, resilience or sustainability. To resolve any of these challenges, it is essential to elicit and integrate knowledge across a range of systems, informing the design of solutions that take into account the complex and uncertain nature of the individual systems and their interrelationships. To meet this scientific challenge, we propose a tiered, system-of-systems modeling framework with these elements: a component-based, software framework that couples a wide range of relevant systems using a modular, system-of-systems structure; a tiered structure with different levels of abstraction that spans bottom-up and top-down approaches; the ability to inform robust decisions in the face of deep uncertainty; and the systematic integration of multiple knowledge domains and disciplines. We illustrate the application of the framework, and identify research and education initiatives that are needed to facilitate its development and implementation.

45 citations

References
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01 Jan 2008
TL;DR: Biggs and Tang as discussed by the authors, 2007, 360 pp., £29.99, ISBN-13: 978-0-335-22126-4, ISBN-14: 978.
Abstract: by J. Biggs and C. Tang, Maidenhead, England, Open University Press, 2007, 360 pp., £29.99, ISBN-13: 978-0-335-22126-4

4,862 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the crisis of confidence in professional knowledge from technical rationality to reflection-in-action is discussed and its implications for the professions and their place in society are discussed.
Abstract: Contents: Professional Knowledge and Reflection-in-Action: The crisis of confidence in professional knowledge From technical rationality to reflection-in-action. Professional Contexts for Reflection-in-Action: Design as a reflective conversation with the situation Psychotherapy: The patient as a universe of one The structure of reflection-in-action Reflective practice in the science-based professions Town planning: Limits to reflection-in-action The art of managing: Reflection-in-action within an organizational learning system Patterns and limits of reflection-in-action across the professions. Conclusion: Implications for the professions and their place in society.

4,076 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
29 Oct 2010-Science
TL;DR: A psychometric methodology for quantifying a factor termed “collective intelligence” (c), which reflects how well groups perform on a similarly diverse set of group problem-solving tasks, and finds converging evidence of a general collective intelligence factor that explains a group’s performance on a wide variety of tasks.
Abstract: Psychologists have repeatedly shown that a single statistical factor—often called “general intelligence”— emerges from the correlations among people's performance on a wide variety of cognitive tasks. But no one has systematically examined whether a similar kind of “collective intelligence” exists for groups of people. In two studies with 699 individuals, working in groups of two to five, we find converging evidence of a general collective intelligence factor that explains a group's performance on a wide variety of tasks. This “c factor” is not strongly correlated with the average or maximum individual intelligence of group members but is correlated with the average social sensitivity of group members, the equality in distribution of conversational turn-taking, and the proportion of females in the group. As research, management, and many other kinds of tasks are increasingly accomplished by groups—both those working face-to-face and "virtually"(1‐3)—it is becoming even more important to understand the determinants of group

1,941 citations

Book
01 Jan 1975

1,159 citations


Additional excerpts

  • ...The evidence is also that they learn more deeply and the learning outcomes remain more permanently (Knowles, 1975)....

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What is the Concept of water competency?

The paper does not explicitly mention the concept of water competency.