Major Questions in Coastal Dynamics 1

The module “Major Issues in Coastal Dynamics” takes place at the beginning of the academic semester during an orientation seminar for the master’s program in “Coastal Engineering and Sustainable Coastal Dynamics” and the master’s program in “Water and the Coast,” which is generally held at an iconic coastal location. During this event, organized around a key theme in coastal science that changes each year, an introductory lecture is given on the definition of the coastline and the typology of terrestrial coastlines. This is followed by one or two presentations by specialists on a current topic in coastal science. Shortly after the seminar, students must write, either individually or in pairs, an analytical paper on the agreed-upon topic.

The main objective of the module is to strengthen students’ skills in synthesizing information and in scientific writing. A secondary objective is to enable students to begin working together and exchanging ideas on a topic central to the program’s overall objectives, especially since this module is shared between two coastal programs with complementary focuses. Generally, the topic covered falls under one of the following themes: coastal planning, innovative protection systems, sand resources, marine renewable energy, coastal architecture, marine technologies, and water resources in coastal environments. The topic is always related to societal issues.

A desire to contribute to coastal science.

Recommended prerequisites:

A basic level of general knowledge.

Programs that include this module in their curriculum strive to develop a portfolio of knowledge and skills, which will be carefully documented in this module.

These skills will be assessed through a final exam. Students will be evaluated solely on the basis of a written summary they submit on the current events topic that is the focus of the introductory seminar at the beginning of the semester.  

First-year (M1) students in the “Coastal Engineering and Rational Coastal Dynamics” master’s program participate in an orientation field trip at the beginning of the year at an iconic coastal location, lasting several days. They are occasionally joined by students from the M1 “Water & Coast” master’s program, as well as students from the M2 “Coastal Engineering and Coastal Dynamics” master’s program, for a day-long thematic seminar centered on the inaugural lecture and a pair of presentations by specialists. Each student or pair of students receives personalized guidance in preparing their analysis paper.

The inaugural lecture covers the following topic: Definition of the concept of the coastline. Classification of coastlines, typology (barrier, lido, berm, foreshore, etc.), typical profiles (cliffs, sandy systems, estuaries, mangroves, reefs, etc.), global distribution, state of coastal health, overall morphologies (spits, chains of spits, floating spits, indented bays, headlands, etc.). The concept of WWB, which allows the concept of the coastline (and thus the scope of this course and this training program) to be generalized to numerous continental environments (epicontinental seas, large lakes, mega-lagoons, etc.). Illustrated examples of coastlines, WWB, and the Iwwb index.

The entire process—from the presentation to the evaluation—takes place