Educational Opportunities in Water Conflict Management and Transformation

Graduate Certificate in Water Conflict Management and Transformation

The Program in Water Conflict Management and Transformation offers a unique certificate program that provides in-depth skills-building training to enhance personal and institutional capacity in water governance, management, and negotiation.  The certificate is oriented for instructors, graduate students, and professionals from across the Oregon, the US, and internationally to participate in this case-based, interactive, multicultural and multidisciplinary learning environment.  It explicitly integrates human, policy and scientific dimensions of water resources within the framework of governance and sustainability.  The Graduate Certificate in Water Conflict Management and Transformation is also offered through OSU Extended-Campus and can be completed online. The links to the right provide more information about the certificate, which can be completed on-campus or online.  Learn more about the online certificate program.

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Justin Zweifel's pathway to a Master's in Natural Resources through the 
Water Conflict Management and Transformation Certificate, 
Oregon State Ecampus

Professional Course – WRP 521:Water Conflict Management and Transformation

OSU’s Program in Water Conflict Management and Transformation offers a week-long course on Water Conflict Management and Transformation, held in mid-June. The course is also offered online every Fall Term. It provides water resources professionals and graduate students an opportunity to explore conflict tolerance, prevention, management, and transformation through collaborative structures, negotiation, and experiential learning. See the following for more information about the two versions of the course and information on registering.

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The professional one-week course WPR 521: Water Conflict Management

Water Cooperation and Diplomacy Joint Education Programme

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Oregon State University, IHE-Deft Institute for Water Education in the Netherlands, and the University for Peace in Costa Rica collaboratively offer a unique MA and MS programme to develop students’ cutting edge skills in water cooperation and diplomacy.  Participants attend common and core taught elements of the programme at all three institutions with a focus on:

  • UPEACE: Conflict Foundation
  • IHE-Delft: Water Foundation and Conflict Management Specialization
  • OSU: Water Conflict Management Integration

More information on the programme and how to apply. Also, explore the Joint Education Programme's website.  

Explore the student research of graduates from the Water Cooperation and Diplomacy Joint Education Programme.

Individual Courses in Water Conflict Management and Transformation

Courses also are available for non-certificate seeking students who are interested in gaining further skills and capacity in water resources policy, management, and conflict transformation.  Additional specialized and focused workshops are available. 

Online Courses

  • GEOG 540 WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES: An investigation of the various approaches to water resources geography within the U.S. Explores the disciplines that address water resources management, their tools, and their limitations. Topics include engineering, law, economics, risk assessment, game theory, conflict resolution, and the fine arts.
  • GEOG 541 INTERNATIONAL WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT: An investigation of the various approaches to water resources geography at the international level. Explores the interaction between water science and policy through issues of current "hydropolitics" and water resources development. Topics include water quality, dams and development, conflict and cooperation, climate change, and water institutions.
  • WRP 521 WATER CONFLICT MANAGEMENT AND TRANSFORMATION: Examines ways to work effectively in contentious water situations. Explores conflict tolerance, prevention, management, and transformation through collaborative structures as well as through models of negotiation and dialogue. 
  • WRP 523 ENVIRONMENTAL WATER TRANSACTIONS: Covers the theory and practice of using water rights transactions to reallocate water rights to environmental purposes. Different transactional techniques and contexts appropriate to their use are presented through case studies primarily from the western United States, with some reference to the use transactions in other countries such as Australia.
  • WRP 509 PRACTICUM: This non-traditional class explores tools, models and concepts in the collaborative decision-making process in water resources. Emphasis is on group projects and self-directed practical application of community-based natural resources.
  • WRP 510 INTERNSHIP: This class gives students the opportunity to gain experience in the water-resources sector.

On Campus Courses

  • COMM 540 THEORIES OF CONFLICT AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT: Conflict on a variety of levels: intrapersonal, interpersonal, group, public, and social. Conflict in a variety of contexts: relationships, family, organizations, community, and society. Constructive and destructive means of confronting and managing conflict; social and psychological aspects of conflict; conflict analysis; causes of conflict; conflict and peace, social order, and social change; case studies of conflict.
  • COMM 542 BARGAINING AND NEGOTIATION PROCESSES: Theory and practice of bargaining and negotiation as means of settling disputes, with emphasis on the role of communication. Strategies and tactics of distributive and integrative bargaining orientations. Negotiation preparation and experience through case studies and simulations.
  • COMM 546 COMMUNICATION IN INTERNATIONAL CONFLICT AND DISPUTES: Examination of the nature of international conflicts and disputes and the roles culture and communication play in resolving them constructively. Analysis of negotiation, mediation, and international law as approaches to dealing with international political, economic, cultural, and religious disputes. Scrutiny of contemporary world conflicts.
  • GEOG 524 HYDROLOGY FOR WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT: A quantitative introduction to surface and subsurface hydrology with a focus on decision making for the water resource professional. 
  • GEOG 540 WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES: An investigation of the various approaches to water resources geography within the U.S. Explores the disciplines that address water resources management, their tools, and their limitations. Topics include engineering, law, economics, risk assessment, game theory, conflict resolution, and the fine arts.
  • GEOG 541 INTERNATIONAL WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT: An investigation of the various approaches to water resources geography at the international level. Explores the interaction between water science and policy through issues of current "hydropolitics" and water resources development. Topics include water quality, dams and development, conflict and cooperation, climate change, and water institutions.
  • WRP 521 WATER CONFLICT MANAGEMENT AND TRANSFORMATION: Examines ways to work effectively in contentious water situations. Explores conflict tolerance, prevention, management, and transformation through collaborative structures as well as through models of negotiation and dialogue.

Specifically Designed Workshops and Workbooks

Faculty at the PWCMT have designed and implemented a broad spectrum of specifically designed workshops in the Western U.S. and throughout the world, including: facilitation and mediations between stakeholders at both the transnational and international levels; skills-building workshops and training courses for graduate students and professionals from mid-career through the ministerial level; and collaborative learning processes in which stakeholders develop conflict management skills while enhancing dialog on current issues of dispute. Learn more about the Facilitation Workshops and Materials including: