ESA-22303 International Study Visits Environmental Sciences

Course

Credits 3.00

Language of instruction:

English

Contents:

This course, exclusively intended for BMK students, consists of a project/case study, which is prepared at home and partly executed abroad. During a visit of approximately six days to a university outside the Netherlands, students collect data on a particular environmental issue by exchanging information with foreign faculty and students, visiting sites and interviewing relevant stakeholders. After the visit, students should hand in a self-reflection report.
Students who are not able to participate in the study visit have to fulfil an alternative assignment. They select an environmental issue, perform an integrated analysis, formulate a research question, and search the Wageningen Digital Library for relevant scientific journal articles that contribute to answering their question. A report (2000 - 3000 words) containing the description and analysis of the selected problem, the research question, a summary of at least seven key articles and a conclusion, bound with a copy of the key articles, should be handed in before the exam.

Learning outcomes:

After this course students are expected to be able to:
- analyse, assess and evaluate an environmental problem abroad;
- participate in group work in consultation with faculty and students from a university abroad;
- apply knowledge of environmental sciences in a case study abroad;
- reflect on their experiences and lessons learned in international research collaboration.

Activities:

Preparation on the basis of literature; visit to a university abroad; visits to foreign environmental protection and research facilities, environmental organisations, and environmental authorities; questions debate and presentations during the visits; reporting of the visits.

Examination:

Students are required to cooperate well in the groups, to prepare for visits, to participate in questioning and debate, to present their results and to write a self-reflection report.

Literature:

To be announced.