The Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) on ‘Building with Nature’ will start on February 29, 2016.
During the course , a number of case studies will be discussed to deepen the knowledge of ecological and engineering principles.
Leading Dutch engineers and environmental scientists will explain the Building with Nature integrated design approach and why it is fundamental to a new generation of engineers and ecologists.
One example of the concept is the Sand Motor that introduced a new type of beach nourishment to counter erosion.
Instead of nourishing the beach section by section, an artificial peninsula was created off the Dutch coast in 2011 using 21.5 million cubic meters sand. The sand is now gradually redistributed by natural processes, such as tide, currents, waves and winds, over the shoreface, beach and dunes.
By making use of natural processes to redistribute the sand, the Sand Motor limits the disturbance to local ecosystems, while also providing new areas for nature and more types of recreation.
Instructors
Amongst others, Marcel Stive, chair of Coastal Engineering at the Faculty of Civil Engineering, and Jill Slinger, associate professor at the Faculty of Civil Engineering are instructors for this course.
Ecoshape contributes to the course as well the work of Deltares-expert Bregje van Wesenbeeck is being used.
The course lasts 5 weeks and the estimated effort per week is 3-5 hours.