The evolution of education in land surveying in Flanders, Belgium: a work in progress

In Belgium, it took until the 1990’s before academic degrees in land surveying and later geomatics were organized. In 1990, the introduction of two types of academic degrees crowned a series of efforts to - on the one hand - improve the regulation of the profession of geodetic surveyors and - on the other hand - enhance the education in this field. The first type of academic degree in land surveying was organized at the universities of Ghent and Liege and led to the degree of "Licence in Geography, option Land Surveying". With the implementation of the BAMA-structure in 2004, this 4-year curriculum degree evolved into a 5-year curriculum with an academic “Master in Geomatics and Surveying" (Ghent University) or a "Master in Geography, option Geomatics and Geometrology" (Universite de Liege). The second type of academic degree in land surveying was called "Industrial Engineer in Construction, option Land Surveying" and was organized at five Dutch speaking and four French speaking University Colleges (also called Technical Universities). Since the introduction of these degrees, they were subject to a series of changes which differ for the Flemish (Dutch speaking) Region and the Walloon (French speaking) Region of Belgium. The implementation of the BAMA-structure resulted in a “Master in Applied Engineering Sciences in Land Surveying” with a 4-year curriculum in the Dutch speaking and a 5-year curriculum in the French speaking part of Belgium. Furthermore, due to a recent decree on higher education in Flanders (Dutch speaking part of Belgium), the “Master in Applied Engineering Sciences in Land Surveying” will be integrated into the universities of Ghent and Leuven as of October 2013 and will lead to a “Master of Science in the Industrial Sciences: Land Surveying”. The paper focuses on the implications of the changes in the legislation on education in Land Surveying and Geomatics at University Colleges and discusses the impact of the integration of the “Master in Applied Engineering Sciences in Land Surveying” in the Flemish universities.