I am student in the United States interested in how to implement water management and transportation master plans and am hoping to integrate my background in water engineering/management and landscape architecture in particular to design large scale water resources and transportation projects to effectively manage water quantity, improve water quality, bring community awareness to the natural water cycle, and promote non-motorized transportation. I have an opportunity to work/study landscape architecture in the Netherlands which is a model country that has learned how to integrate intelligent water management into society and make it successful with regards to both aesthetics and politics; Although I can hardly live off the pay and I'll acquire more debt. On the other hand I have recently been working at a water resources engineering and urban planning firm in Seattle where the pay is good and I am learning a lot about the technical skills of water management.While I am not initially exposed to landscape architecture and the technical work is really demanding and not too creative there is opportunity in the future to mesh landscape architecture into my work. I feel like there is a lot of potential for my situation in Seattle. While the Dutch are experts in water management there is a lot of room for improvement and opportunity to implement better water management strategies here in the states and in WA. What better place to start then homebase?! I guess I wanted to input on peoples' experience related to pursuing environmental change here in the states versus abroad i.e. North Europe. Perhaps as a society Europe may be more conscious of the environmental threats, but encouraging change here within the states may be more daunting at first and the scale is much larger but there is more potential to have a global impact if public perception and peoples actions start to reflect the importance of living/respecting within our surrounding environment....
Volunteer
Aug 7, 16 8:01 am
I would go to the Netherlands in a heartbeat. The Dutch engineers are quietly reclaiming land from the North Sea while people over here are being alarmist coastal flooding. Just the study of canals in Amsterdam could take you years, never mind the dike system. Then there is Venice and its associated flood control measures. There is the Englisher Gardens in Munich where a small river coming out of the Alps is diverted to help make one of the world's best city parks, much more appealing than Central Park in my estimation. Not to mention the water engineering that went into the fountains and pools of Versailles. Honestly, if you spend any time in the better parts of Europe, I don't think you will be back.
ShakeyDeal
Aug 7, 16 2:02 pm
If you can manage the debt, you should go - the opportunity of a lifetime for sure!
I am student in the United States interested in how to implement water management and transportation master plans and am hoping to integrate my background in water engineering/management and landscape architecture in particular to design large scale water resources and transportation projects to effectively manage water quantity, improve water quality, bring community awareness to the natural water cycle, and promote non-motorized transportation. I have an opportunity to work/study landscape architecture in the Netherlands which is a model country that has learned how to integrate intelligent water management into society and make it successful with regards to both aesthetics and politics; Although I can hardly live off the pay and I'll acquire more debt. On the other hand I have recently been working at a water resources engineering and urban planning firm in Seattle where the pay is good and I am learning a lot about the technical skills of water management.While I am not initially exposed to landscape architecture and the technical work is really demanding and not too creative there is opportunity in the future to mesh landscape architecture into my work. I feel like there is a lot of potential for my situation in Seattle. While the Dutch are experts in water management there is a lot of room for improvement and opportunity to implement better water management strategies here in the states and in WA. What better place to start then homebase?! I guess I wanted to input on peoples' experience related to pursuing environmental change here in the states versus abroad i.e. North Europe. Perhaps as a society Europe may be more conscious of the environmental threats, but encouraging change here within the states may be more daunting at first and the scale is much larger but there is more potential to have a global impact if public perception and peoples actions start to reflect the importance of living/respecting within our surrounding environment....
I would go to the Netherlands in a heartbeat. The Dutch engineers are quietly reclaiming land from the North Sea while people over here are being alarmist coastal flooding. Just the study of canals in Amsterdam could take you years, never mind the dike system. Then there is Venice and its associated flood control measures. There is the Englisher Gardens in Munich where a small river coming out of the Alps is diverted to help make one of the world's best city parks, much more appealing than Central Park in my estimation. Not to mention the water engineering that went into the fountains and pools of Versailles. Honestly, if you spend any time in the better parts of Europe, I don't think you will be back.
If you can manage the debt, you should go - the opportunity of a lifetime for sure!