NATF301 Practical Nature Management

Credits (ECTS):5

Course responsible:Ronny Steen

Campus / Online:Taught campus Ås

Teaching language:Norsk

Limits of class size:40 students

Course frequency:Annualy

Nominal workload:Structured teaching: 12 hours. Students' own efforts on the project paper: 113 hours.

Teaching and exam period:This course starts in Autumn parallel. This course has teaching/evaluation in Autumn parallel.

About this course

Students will be introduced to and acquire advanced knowledge about project implementation and reporting in practical nature management. Thereafter the students will work together with a contact person who works as a manager within a public management agency or an NGO.

Learning outcome

A candidate who has completed the qualification has the following learning outcomes of the course:

Knowledge: A thorough insight into real-life cases that nature managers work with in public nature management agencies or in various organizations.

Skills: The student should be able to analyze problems and come up with suggestions for solutions, based on their own data collection and previously acquired knowledge. This involves critical thinking, analysis and interpretation of information, and the application of academic knowledge in real-life cases. The student must also be able to write a scientific report for an employer/client.

General competence: When completed the course, the student will have a good understanding of local, practical nature management in Norway, and be able to cooperate with nature managers in public or private sectors and NGOs.

Learning activities
Students will be given lectures on project implementation and writing of scientific reports on assignment from an employer. The students will work in groups and in cooperation with employers. The employer will get access to the written assignments (reports) after the course is finished. The students themselves must find and interpret much of the information that is used in the project.
Teaching support
Students are given support through an introductory lecture about project implementation and writing of scientific reports. They can also contact the course responsible for supervision during office hours.
Prerequisites
Bachelor degree within relevant subject areass.
Recommended prerequisites
The students should have completed courses in environmental law, resource economy, social studies, ecology etc. on Bachelor level, so that they have useful knowledge in this practical course.
Assessment method
Students are evaluated based on a project assignment
Examiner scheme
The extemal examiner provides a written assessment of each individual project assignment. The purpose of the written feedback is to highlight strengths and weaknesses of the report, so that students can learn from it.
Mandatory activity
The first and the last lecture hours (introduction and student project presentations) plus the first meeting with the contact person (‘employer’)
Notes
The course consists of a team work project, with a management authority (usually municipality or county) or an NGO as the employer. There is close cooperation between the person responsible for the course at NMBU and the external ‘employers’.
Teaching hours
The regular teaching will be as followed: Introduction and lecture on report writing: ca. 3 hours. The first meeting with the contact persons: ca. 3 hours. Supervision throughout the work and project presentations: 3 hours. The rest of the time will be allocated to group work and possibly further contact with the contact persons.
Preferential right
Students enrolled in M-NF.
Admission requirements
Special requirements in Science