Educational objectives
Knowledge and understanding -->
- apply spatial information systems for land management and planning
Ability to apply knowledge and understanding -->
Knowledge and learning abilities are achieved through course attendance, practical activities both in the field and in the laboratory and through personal study. The achievement of the learning objectives will be tested through oral and/or written examinations, as well as through the guided preparation of seminars on topics specific to the Master's degree.
In addition to having acquired a solid scientific-technological basis, the graduate of the Master's degree in “Environmental Management of Mountain Areas” acquires the ability to tackle and solve new problems. Thanks to a technical-scientific education, integrated with technological-managerial subjects, he or she is able to analyse, design, plan and manage the mountain territory and its specificities, vulnerabilities and characteristics. The graduate must also be able to coordinate interdisciplinary teams in the fields of ecology, restoration and functional maintenance of mountain ecosystems, agro-forestry management and socio-economic development.
The tests (written and oral examinations, reports) and exercises involve the performance of specific tasks in which the student demonstrates mastery of tools, methodologies and critical autonomy.
The final thesis will play a central role in assessing the students' ability to design, plan, and manage forest ecosystems, with particular reference to the mountain environment.
Autonomy of judgement -->
For this purpose, the didactic approach envisages that theoretical training in courses is accompanied by individual and group work that encourages active participation, a proactive attitude and the capacity for autonomous elaboration.
Another fundamental means of developing independence and critical awareness is through the drafting of the final thesis, in which the student must demonstrate that he or she has acquired autonomy of choice and design skills.
Other key training moments for the development of independent judgement include educational visits and internships in companies and public or private institutions.
Communication skills -->
Graduates will be able to work professionally and scientifically in one or more foreign languages, since in addition to English (the official language of the course) in which all compulsory and part of the optional courses are offered, they will be able to follow optional courses offered in Italian or German. The Language Centre of the Free University of Bozen/Bolzano also offers students, in accordance with the policy for trilingualism that characterises the profile of the Free University of Bozen/Bolzano, the possibility of taking extracurricular courses at level (A1-C1) in Italian and German.
Finally, the graduate will be able to effectively communicate what he or she has learnt to the different professional categories with which he or she works and has the ability, given the international nature of the degree course, to share projects with foreign interlocutors.
Written and oral communication skills are developed in seminars, tutorials and training activities, which also include the preparation of written reports and documents and the oral presentation of these, compulsorily in English and possibly in Italian and German for optional courses.
The acquisition and assessment/verification of the achievement of communication skills is also envisaged through the writing of the final dissertation and its discussion in English. The Master's degree course promotes the acquisition of additional language skills (Italian/German), which are also aimed at increasing the ability of graduates to effectively market themselves on the labour market in part of the Alpine region (Austria-Switzerland-Italy-Germany).
Learning capacity -->
The graduate will have the ability to learn by synthesising the notions learnt in the course of studies, in order to address complex design issues, by expanding and updating the knowledge and technical skills acquired by using analysis, design and management tools appropriate to the situations in which the graduate operates. The graduate will be able to manage the different information networks in order to be able to continue to learn and thus to update himself/herself for his/her own cultural improvement and professional advancement. In addition, the graduate will be able to identify the appropriate training tools and paths for the development of their own cultural and specialist knowledge.
Learning skills are attained during all phases of the course of study. The Master's degree course enables students to consolidate their self-study skills, especially when they carry out group work on proposed topics; again, this ability is enhanced during a compulsory course, which involves group work, and subsequently in the preparation of the final thesis of an experimental nature. In particular, this practical course requires students to work in small groups (3-5) on a project (e.g., rural development plan for a mountainous area, rehabilitation project for a degraded terrestrial or river ecosystem) from its initial stages (identification of objectives, conceptual development of actions, collection of available data) through to interaction with the various stakeholders and communication activities towards society. The projects will take place under the supervision of two or more professors from the two universities involved, but also by having the students interact with professional firms and/or public technical offices that have already expressed interest and willingness to do so.
Learning ability is assessed through continuous forms of verification during the training activities and during the conduct of the activity related to the final examination.