MSc City and Urban Environment
Atmosphere, Water and Environment (U-ENV AWE)

NB This specialism is no longer on offer after the 2024/25 academic year.

Programme Objectives

This City and Urban Environment specialism offers a world-class education to future engineers and town planners by providing the skills necessary to address environmental and health issues in the context of sustainable urban development, in research and in urban engineering.
 

The programme is designed to provide the scientific theoretical knowledge and tools necessary to understand and address the environmental physical problems resulting from the ever increasing urban population. Various key disciplines such as urban hydrology, urban atmosphere, building heat transfer and pollution of air water and soils are taught through advanced lectures and research work in laboratories renowned in these fields.

The programme of study lasts two academic years - denoted by M1 and M2 and is taught in English. It comprises three study semesters followed by a paid Master's thesis / internship in the final semester.

Our Master's programmes in City and Urban Environment are fully accredited by the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research.

Contribution to sustainable development goals

SDSG 6 - CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION

SDG11 - SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND COMMUNITIES

SDG13 - CLIMATE ACTION

Learn more about Centrale Nantes' commitment to the 17 sustainable development goals

Course Content

30 ECTS Credits per semester.
Language of instruction: English
 

M1 Year - 2023/24
M1 Year - 2023/24 Courses
Autumn Semester Courses ECTS  Spring Semester Courses  ECTS
Fluid mechanics 1  5 Hydrology and transfers in soils  5
Algorithmics for Engineering Modelling  4 Introduction to Computational Fluid Dynamics  5
Energetics and building heat transfers  5 Urban Realities Review  5
Introduction to Geographic Information Sciences  5 Urban Management and Planning  4
Introduction to research  5 Fluid Mechanics 2  5
Business Environment  4 Environmental Data Analysis  4
Modern Languages *  2 Modern Languages *  2
Conferences  0


* 'French as Foreign Language' except for French native speakers who will study 'Cultural and Communicational English' or Spanish (depending on sufficient demand).
NB Course content may be subject to minor changes

M2 Year - 2024/25
M2 Year - 2024/25 Courses
Autumn Semester Courses ECTS
Turbulence: theory, modelling and analysis 5
Meteorology & atmospheric boundary layers 4
Urban pollution 5
Urban water management and modelling 5
Urban climate and energy 5
Case studies in the urban environment 4
Modern languages * 2
Conferences 0


* 'French as Foreign Language' except for French native speakers who will study 'Cultural and Communicational English' or Spanish (depending on sufficient demand).
NB Course content may be subject to minor changes

 
M2 Year - 2024/25 Courses
Spring Semester ECTS
Master thesis / internship                                                    30
 

Examples of previous internships in industry / research labs:

  • Influence of climate change on the behaviour of buildings in their urban environment
  • Study of the turbulence structure in the lower urban atmosphere using LIDAR measurements
  • Preliminary studies for the implementation of an experimental campaign of flux measurements by dual-wave scintillometry in an urban environment
  • Combining dynamic modelling and long-term ground based FTIR remote sensing for the characterization of air masses above Paris megacity
  • Formation of urban aerosols

NB Internships undertaken in France are strictly regulated and are only open to current full-time students of an accredited educational institution. Interns are entitled to all the rights guaranteed to regular employees (such as social protection and redress mechanisms). For internships that exceed two months in duration a minimum level of remuneration is set by the government, at approximately €600 per month. In some professional branches, this amount may be higher.

Skills developed
  • Understand the physics and dynamics of fluids in urban environments
  • Master analytical and modelling tools for hydrology and atmospheric sciences in urban environments
  • Learn techniques in water management; soil, water and air treatment, and mitigation of the urban heat island

In addition to the above specialism-specific skills, students will also develop more general skills:

 
  • Express assumptions to analyse and solve a problem
  • Communicate comprehensive results in a meaningful way
  • Undertake bibliographic surveys of international research and professional literature
  • Manage or be part of a project

Download syllabus | City and Urban Environment - Atmosphere, Water and Environment


Facilities and Partnerships

Faculty

This City and Urban Environment programme is taught by faculty at Centrale Nantes.

Collaboration

Focus on unique resources

Atmospheric Wind Tunnel

The results obtained from experiments relating to quality of life issues, (comfort, air quality and climatology or local meteorology) contribute to the decisions that are being made for sustainable urban development in the context of both climate change and the development of coastal and continental cities.

Learn more

LiDAR Light Detection And Ranging

scanning lidar

In 2019, the LHEEA Laboratory acquired a scanning LiDAR, an innovative measuring device to characterize wind and atmosphere. It will be used for marine renewable energy (MRE), urban atmosphere and air quality applications.

Learn more

ONEVU


onevu

The Nantes Observatory for Urban Environments (ONEVU) has been operational since 2008 for the long-term study of the hydrology, micro-meteorology, climatology, water, air and soils quality of the urban environments.

Learn more

After the MSc

Career Prospects

  • Sectors: urban planning; urban environment; energy, pollution, soil and water management
  • Fields: environmental fluid mechanics, hydrology, microclimatology, air quality
  • Positions: engineer in consulting office or groups specialized in environmental engineering; engineer in urban design and planning office or local authorities; research and academia (post PhD)

Where are they now?

Find out what our recent MSc graduates are doing now

Meet the Programme Supervisors

Isabelle Calmet, M2 Programme Supervisor AWE, Programme Supervisor City and Urban Environment


Isabelle Calmet is a professor in the Department of Fluid Mechanics and Energetics. Her research in the LHEEA focuses on the multi-scale modeling of atmospheric boundary layer flows, the study of urban microclimate and the characterization of dynamic and thermodynamic interactions between urban or coastal surfaces and the atmosphere.

Laurent Perret, M1 Programme Supervisor City and Urban Environment


Laurent Perret is an associate professor in the Department of Fluid Mechanics and Energetics at Centrale Nantes. He is mainly involved in courses on fluid mechanics, micro-meteorology, turbulence and experimental methods.
His research activities at the LHEEA lab focus on the study and modeling of the interactions between the lower atmosphere and urban surfaces.

Meet our City and Urban Environment Students
Video Transcript

Meet Our Students - Patience from Nigeria, Master City & Urban Environment (U-ENV AWE)

My name is Patience Hillary Ogbu, I'm from Nigeria and I'm studying Atmosphere Water and Environment. 

Why did you decide to join Centrale Nantes? 

When I saw the programme it's very nice and educative, so I decided to join. 

How is the programme going so far? 

It's really challenging, but it's good. 

What about student life on campus? 

Student life is good. It's fun to be here, it's great. They are welcoming also.

Any advice for new applicants? 

I invite you to come to Centrale Nantes. It's very nice. They are friendly, they are inspiring and they are educative. The school is great! 

Centrale Nantes in 3 words? 

Inspiring - Educative - Fun

Published on March 25, 2017 Updated on April 29, 2025