Environment and Sustainability with Professional Placement Year

UCAS code: L8N2

Here's what Royal Agricultural University says about its Environment and Sustainability with Professional Placement Year course.

Course overview People, society and governments are becoming increasingly aware of environmental problems, many of which are now becoming critical, such as a range of problems linked to climate change. In order to address these pressing issues, a framework of supporting policy, funding and hence employment, is developing, requiring graduates who have the right skills and knowledge in environmental sustainability, and who can make a difference after securing professional work in this sector.

The BSc/BA Environment and Sustainability will help students and to ‘make a difference’, giving them the contextual overview of key issues from the global to local scales, and examining the various factors at play and how these interact. In turn, the suite of modules will allow for a more detailed examination of specific aspects, with some flexibility for students to tailor their study towards their own areas of interest, helping bolster career pathways etc. In the final year, students can choose either a BSc or BA award depending on which modules they select. • The BSc award focuses on how all things environmental work and why, exploring the science, process and mechanisms behind this, optimizing sustainable management decisions. • The BA award considers how environmental things work, but places emphasis on the role of society and people, policy and frameworks, and how each of these can act as drivers of change.

The Royal Agricultural University has a sustained and exemplary history of teaching students, dating back to 1845. The BSc/ BA Environment and Sustainability course benefits from this, particularly so from the land-based perspective where it is able to integrate important elements of agriculture, food production and retail into sustainable environmental management systems.

Work placement In the third year, you will complete a 12-month period in the workplace. Not only could you find yourself working for prestigious companies in the UK or across the world, you will develop confidence and industry contacts.

Year one 1007 Soil and the Environment 1044 Agriculture for Land Management 1421 Species Identification & Ecosystems 1422 Ecosystems Services and Sustainability 1430 Wildlife Ecology & Survey 1434 Introduction to Environmental Change TBC Geographies of Food 1440 Personal Development Skills

Year two 2136 Landscape Conservation 2267 Research & Evidence 2317 Industry Placement 2337 Professional Development 2361 Habitat Classification & Management 2365 Education, Recreation & Engagement 2369 Resilience of Agro-ecosystems TBC Energy, Waste Pollution Management

Year three-PPY Professional Placement Year You will undertake your placement year during year three of your programme. You will complete Years 1 and 2, complete the placement year and then return for your final year of the programme.

Year four BSc course 3098 Countryside & Environment Management 3223 Ecological Consultancy 3329 Climate Change & Natural Resource Challenges 3332 Specialist Study (shell module) TBC Geographical Information Systems (GIS) for the Environment 3300 Research Project / Dissertation

Year four BA course 3098 Countryside & Environment Management 3329 Climate Change & Natural Resource Challenges 3332 Specialist Study (shell module) TBC Sustainability Consultancy TBC Advocacy & Activism in Food & Farming 3300 Research Project / Dissertation BSc and BA to choose one elective selected from: 3090 Forestry and Woodland Management 3330 Technology & Agroecological Innovations TBC Sustainable Farm Management TBC Geographical Information Systems (GIS) for the Environment (BA only)

The availability of electives to individual students will be dependent on timetabling considerations and on sufficient students electing to take part.

A range of assessment techniques are applied throughout the programme to test learning outcomes of each module. These will be clearly identified on the VLE/ Gateway pages for each module, and could include:

• Essays? • Reports – either academic research or professional? • Case studies? • Group work exercises? • Oral presentations? • In-class / in-lab / in field tests – e.g. multiple choice, short answer?

•   Exams
  

• Skills observation? • Peer review? • Professional practice report? • Subject specific exercise? • Academic poster? • Research proposal? • Dissertation