The Environment and Landscapes Program (E&LP) is a pioneering project educational for the students of the Degree in Environmental Sciences and the Double Degree in Biology and Environmental Sciences that seeks promote - throughout the four or five years of degree program- a deep vision, both scientific and cultural, of the interrelationship between humans and the earth.
LANGUAGE
Spanish and English
ECTS CREDIT
20
DURATION
4 years
SCHOOL
Science
Programme
The Environment and Landscapes Program seeks to recover the sense of landscape as an expression -in territorial language- of what we are and what we do as human beings, individually and in society. By bringing students face to face with this reality, in dialogue with it, and learning to understand it in its scientific and cultural dimensions, we are committed to giving environmental reality primacy in university educational action at subject environment.
The programme is developed through full days in the field, in addition to the many other days offered as part of the specific subjects of Degree. During these days, the territory is studied with an integral approach , in multiple trips to regional (24), national (16) and international landscapes (4 trips, of between 7 and 10 days each).
The goal is to examine in situ, critically, at different scales, in different territorial and cultural contexts, and in an integrated manner, the impacts that changing human activity has generated and continues to generate on the people, cultures, ecosystems and landscapes studied, as well as the possibilities they offer and the challenges they face. In order to achieve this goal we count on the teaching of local professors with accredited environmental and cultural knowledge.
The protagonists speak
ANDREA ALLIENDE
Alumna (class of 2014-2019)
"Environment, Natural Parks, Wetlands.... It seems we already knew what they were before we arrived in Cardiff. But there began a journey through a land that discovered new meanings for the same words. And not only because of the novelty of the landscapes, but because of the care with which they were treated and studied".
IDOIA RAZQUIN
Alumna (class of 2014-2018)
"The trip to Wales was useful for many things (...). I really liked the trip because it allowed me to get to know another place, its landscapes, its customs, how they take care of the environment there: it helped me to learn in a way that I found interesting what we were doing".
JORDI PUIG
Professor department Environmental Biology
"The greatest value of the natural and human world is perhaps only perceived by looking at it. The [environment and landscape] programme offers us an excellent opportunity to learn how to look at it, and to discover more about what it is to be human.
JESÚS MIGUEL SANTAMARÍA
Director from laboratory Integrated Environmental Quality
"The Environment and Landscapes Program is a unique opportunity to learn first-hand about natural areas, scientific infrastructures and environmental problems of great relevance. This will facilitate the students' assimilation of knowledge and the opening of new perspectives in the field of research".
JOE R. McBRIDE
Professor Emeritus - University of California-Berkeley
"From the shores of the Pacific to the crest of the Sierra Nevada you will explore the variety of habitat, their importance to biodiversity, and management issues facing their stewardship".
JOHN EDINGTON
Director of the Centre for Environmental Studies (University College, Cardiff)
"Environment and Landscapes in South Wales (...). Daily excursions take us to three contrasting regions, the coastal development area, the coalfield valleys and the spectacular mountains of the Brecon Beacons National Park".
Charge professor
The Environment and Landscapes Program (E&LP) is integrated into Study program of the Degree in Environmental Sciences and of the Double Degree in Biology and Environmental Sciences. It does not consist of its own subjects but is part of several subjects.
In this way, equivalences have been established between the field trips and their associated work and the ECTS credit, so that at this moment the Program totals a total of 20 ECTS CREDIT (the Degree is 240 ECTS credit and the Double Degree 339 ECTS credit). The complete E&LP includes (there could be some modification, as long as it is ensured that the formative objectives of the Program are met):
→ 4 international departures (6 ECTS CREDIT)
→ 16 outlets nationwide (8 ECTS CREDIT)
→ 24 regional outlets (6 ECTS CREDIT)
It is foreseen that the students participate in all outingsHowever, exceptions may be considered if duly justified. In such cases, the School of Sciences will ensure that all students receive the corresponding training .
enrollment and subjects
The program is part of the Study program of the Degree in Environmental Sciences and the Double Degree in Biology and Environmental Sciences, therefore it will be mandatory for all students pursuing these degrees.
The costs of local, national and international departures are included in the price of enrollment.
Passing the E&LP will be included in the European Supplement to the degree scroll of the Degree in Environmental Sciences.
The professor load of the Environment and Landscapes Program (E&LP) is distributed among the following subjects of the Degree in Environmental Sciences (subject to modifications):
First year |
ECTS CREDIT |
ECTS credit E&LP's own |
Economy and environment |
3 |
0,5 |
Society and the environment |
6 |
2 |
Fundamentals of environmental engineering |
6 |
1 |
Second course |
|
|
Environmental legislation and administration |
6 |
1 |
Methods in plant and animal biodiversity |
6 |
1 |
Hydrology and hydrogeology |
3 |
1 |
Conservation of flora and fauna |
6 |
1 |
Third year |
|
|
Soil and waste treatment |
6 |
1 |
Atmospheric pollution |
6 |
1 |
Education and speech environmental |
6 |
1 |
Spatial planning |
6 |
1 |
Fourth year |
|
|
management of natural and protected areas |
6 |
3 (international scale) |
Project organisation and management |
6 |
1.5 (1.5 international scale) |
Environmental and landscape restoration |
6 |
2.5 (1.5 international scale) |
management energy and eco-efficiency |
6 |
1,5 |
Total |
|
20 ECTS CREDIT |
Departure planning
The Environment and Landscapes Program (E&LP) is developed through full days in the field, in addition to the many others offered as part of the specific subjects of Degree in Environmental Sciences and the Double Degree in Biology and Environmental Sciences. In them, the territory is studied with an integral approach , in multiple regional, national and international landscapes.
The E&LP is therefore integrated in the Study program of Degree or Double Degree, in such a way that it is not an added course or a separate subject but is part of its learning methodology.
- International departures are scheduled for non-teaching periods.
- National departures are at weekends.
- Regional departures are full day departures.
In total, students will study 360 landscapes in 120 days.
The trips take place on weekends and have a duration of 2 days. Our aim is to observe first-hand examples of the complex interaction between humans and the Earth, expressed in the wide range of diversity that exists on the Iberian Peninsula.
By means of conference one-day field trips in the geographical environment of Navarre and neighbouring territories, we will address issues such as the analysis of the physical environment, the study of the impact of human action on the environment, or the possibilities and challenges posed by the interrelationship between the individual, society and the environment.
Wales (7 days): visit focuses on Cardiff and the Bristol Channel, the South Wales coalfield and the Brecon Beacons National Park. We address - from the perspective of management and environmental conservation - issues such as the impact of human activity on wetlands, tidal power generation, mining activity in one of the world's major coalfields, the impact of recreational activities, the evolution of human settlement in the area, and the management of protected areas.
California, United States (10 days): through a journey covering part of the California coast, the Central Sacramento Valley, Sierra Nevada and Yosemite National Park, we will study the ecology of the different ecosystems visited, agriculture in the region and the management of its water resources, energy generation, mining and the Gold Rush, the history and evolution of human settlement in the region, and the management and conservation of natural spaces.
Costa Rica. For the third year we travelled to one of the most biodiverse countries on the planet. Costa Rica stands out in the region for its environmental, democratic and social progress indexes. There, students learn first-hand about initiatives that seek to promote sustainable development in its three dimensions: environmental, social and economic. They visit the Osa Peninsula, the Corcovado and Irazú Volcano National Parks and Earth University.
Ecuador. In the fourth year, students are exposed to the enormous diversity of the Pacific, Andean and Amazonian regions of Ecuador. Here, they address the different relationships that their communities establish with the environment and the implications of the different models of development. The aim is to underline the connection between social and environmental problems.
Brief Information
The environmental and landscapes programme is an educational project specially designed for students with a degree in Environmental Science and a joint degree in Biology and Environmental Science from the University of Navarra.
Its mission is to promote a deep scientific and cultural understanding of the inter-relationship between humans and the earth.
The program is neither an add-on course nor a specific subject, but rather a specific methodology of integrated learning as part of the overall academic program.
What this means is that the program is based on spending the majority of time doing practical fieldwork, separated into 3 different geographical scales: local, regional, and international.
Students will do a minimum of 120 days' field work during the degree, divided into 40 separate trips which can be regional, national and international.
The program is equivalent to 20 ECTS credit creditsand involves the collaboration of universities from different countries.
Accommodation, transport and education costs are covered by the registration processwithout any additional payment required.
Finally, the "environment and landscapes program" is not evaluated with normal exams, but rather through the evaluation of learning from the students' fieldwork.
We seek a critical and integrated understanding of the enormous challenges which are derived from the relationship between humans and the earth.