Contents:
In this course, a group of 30 students of different nationalities and disciplinary background work together on an environmental problem commissioned by a client. The course consists of three phases. In the preparation period students integrate their knowledge of environmental sciences and natural resource management to make a project plan based on the Terms of Reference received from the commissioner. In this period an applied training in project management, data collection & interview techniques, and team work is offered. A few lectures are given to provide students with additional background information to tackle the issue. The second phase consists of two weeks of field work mainly dedicated to data collection by interviews, a survey and observations on site. At the end of this phase the preliminary results will be presented to the commissioner. Finally, students are expected to analyse the data, incorporate the feedback from the commissioner and write a concise consultancy report. In this final phase supporting lectures on data analysis and consultancy report writing are given as well as feedback on the draft reports. Every student is expected to steer their own learning process and be actively involved by contributing knowledge and expertise to the group assignments and to reflect on this.
Learning outcomes:
After successful completion of this course students are expected to be able to:
- contribute their academic knowledge, general academic skills, and attitude to a transdisciplinary-oriented project dealing with a complex problem commissioned by a client outside the university;
- develop recommendations to mitigate an environmental issue by using theories and methods in the field of environmental sciences and management and by collecting, selecting, analysing and synthesizing information;
- work as part of a multidisciplinary and multicultural team and value the contribution of different perspectives in designing solutions for complex (environmental) problems;
- develop a project management plan (including a data generation plan), execute it and adjust it if circumstances make it necessary;
- reflect on aspects that are of importance for successfully executing a project, such as project management, decision making in a complex situation, team roles and team building;
- reflect on their own functioning and contribution to the execution of a project in terms of disciplinary knowledge, academic skills, group dynamics, intercultural setting;
- reflect on their own (personal development of) knowledge, skills, attitude and performance, and how to develop these in the future;
- communicate their findings orally or in writing to the commissioner, in a manner that is consistent with the commissioner's needs and level of knowledge.
