Course overview
Water and land are the resources every economy is built on, and both are under strain from the same forces at once: rising demand, degradation, and a changing climate. Rivers are over-allocated, aquifers are drawn down faster than they refill, and productive soil is lost to erosion and salinization. Managing these resources is now less about local optimization and more about handling competing claims on a shared, shrinking base.
This course, held at EuroQuest International Training, examines those challenges and the frameworks that respond to them: integrated management at the basin scale, sustainable land use, and the governance needed to allocate resources fairly under stress. Named frameworks and goals are treated as educational subject matter, and the emphasis is on how professionals can plan and decide when water and land are contested.
Why water and land have to be managed together
Water and land are usually managed by separate agencies, yet they are one system. Irrigation depletes aquifers, deforestation changes runoff, and how land is farmed decides how much water reaches a river and in what condition. Treating them in isolation produces policies that solve one problem while worsening another. This course keeps the connection in view, including the groundwater dimension developed in Hydrogeology and Groundwater Resource Management.
What you will be able to do afterwards
By the end of the course, participants will be able to:
- Diagnose water stress and land degradation pressures on a basin.
- Apply IWRM principles across river-basin allocation decisions.
- Evaluate soil health and irrigation for sustainable land use.
- Assess drought and flood risk using nature-based solutions.
- Compare water rights and allocation mechanisms across users.
- Design adaptive governance plans for transboundary conflicts.
Course outline
Unit 1: Global pressures on water and land
- Population, urbanization, and rising demand.
- Water stress, scarcity, and competition between users.
- Land degradation, erosion, and desertification.
- The water-energy-food nexus.
Unit 2: Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM)
- IWRM principles and the river-basin approach.
- Allocation between agriculture, cities, and industry.
- Surface and groundwater as one resource.
- Transboundary basins and shared governance.
Unit 3: Sustainable land use and agriculture
- Soil health, conservation, and salinization control.
- Efficient irrigation and water-saving practices.
- Land-use planning and competing demands.
- Land degradation neutrality and the UNCCD.
Unit 4: Climate change, risk, and resilience
- Shifting rainfall, drought, and flood patterns.
- Risk assessment for water and land systems.
- Nature-based solutions and watershed restoration.
- Building drought and flood resilience.
Unit 5: Policy, governance, and future pathways
- SDG 6 and international water and land agendas.
- Water rights, pricing, and allocation mechanisms.
- Stakeholder participation and conflict resolution.
- Building adaptive, long-term management plans.
How the course is delivered
The course is delivered through facilitated discussion, worked examples, and documented case studies of basins and regions under stress, with structured analysis of management options. It builds planning judgment and is educational; it does not certify environmental competence and is not regulatory advice.
Who should attend
The course suits water, land, and environmental managers, planners, agricultural and development professionals, and policy staff working on resource allocation and resilience. Those focused on groundwater will find Hydrogeology and Groundwater Resource Management a natural companion.
About EuroQuest International Training
EuroQuest International Training, founded in 2015 and headquartered in Bratislava, delivers professional courses to more than 15,000 participants across over 1,000 titles, in cities including Dubai, London, Barcelona, Istanbul, Vienna, Paris, and Geneva, led by experienced practitioners.
Frequently asked questions
Is this course technical or policy-focused?
It bridges both. It covers enough of the hydrology and soil science to reason about the resource, then concentrates on management, planning, and governance, so it suits both technical staff and policy professionals.
Does it deal with transboundary water conflicts?
Yes. Shared basins and the governance of water that crosses borders are covered directly, including allocation mechanisms and approaches to resolving competing claims.
Will we work on real cases?
Yes. The course uses documented case studies of stressed basins and regions and structured analysis, so you apply the frameworks rather than only discuss them.
Related courses
- Environmental Policy and Natural Resource Economics
- Climate Change and Environmental Geosciences
- Natural Resource Management and Sustainability
- Environmental Impact Assessments for Natural Resources
Register for this course
To reserve a place or ask about dates and in-house delivery, contact EuroQuest International Training and our team will help you arrange the details.
All Course Dates & Locations
30 dates · 16 cities · Sep 2026 – Jul 2027