Transcript Diapositive 1

European Master Agroecology
Semester 3
Fall semester 2010 at ISARA, France
Structure of the Master course
Fall semester 2010
Start of the Semester
Introductory courses and workshop (2 days)
Module 1
Agriculture and landscape management in a particular
agricultural region
Number of credits: 4 ECTS
•
One week excursion and group studies in the Camargue.
•
Introductory lectures and preparation of group work (transects, interviews).
•
Meetings with different stakeholders to understand the agricultural,
economic and environmental characteristics of this area.
•
Visits of specific stakeholder (different students groups) to analyse
specific questions (e.g. cropping systems, livestock breeding, landscape
management, rural tourism, nature conservation or water contamination).
Module 2
Sustainable soil management
Number of credits: 6 ECTS
• Lectures, meetings with experts, case studies in the field, literature work.
• In the field: assessment of soil fertility (physical, chemical, biological) in
analysing soil profiles with different diagnostic tools and surveying soil
distribution and related agricultural production on a farm area.
• Role of conventional, organic farming and conservation agriculture
practises on soil fertility and their impact on the environment,
• Agronomic innovations (i.e. conservation
agriculture).
Module 3
World agroecosystems and agricultural use
Number of credits: 6 ECTS
• Lectures on the different agricultural farming systems in the world’s
agroecosystems.
Critical analysis of influencing factors such as economy, politics, land
tenure or social issues.
Which resource conservation techniques are feasible in the different
agroecosystems?
Forest destruction
and use of tropical
forest products
Traditional upland use in
northern Thailand and
northern Vietnam
Agropastoral land use
in the West African Sahel
Indigenous and modern
land use systems in the
Andes
Multifunctionality of
livestock farmers in the
Allgäu, Germany
Integrated vineyardbased cropping
systems in France
Aquaculture systems
in the world
Pastoral livestock systems
in the French Alps
Module 3
World agroecosystems and agricultural use
• More in-depth studies on different agronomic innovations such as
agroforestry or intercropping.
• Seminar: (Traditional) agriculture and indigenous knowledge.
Module 4
Management of agroecosystems: implications from
policies, global change and nature conservation
Number of credits: 6 ECTS
• Agricultural policies in Europe: impact on the management of
agroecosystems.
• Ecology of agroecosystems and management (biodiversity,
agrobiodiversity, animal-plant interactions…)
• Global change: impact on agricultural land use. Climate change, but also
land use change, biodiversity loss and land degradation.
• Options for global agroecosystems management:
- international conventions (e.g. Convention on Biological Diversity,
Kyoto-Protocol, Convention to Combat Desertification)
- international and national attempts for nature and resource
conservation: Biosphere Reserves, Regional Nature Parks.
Excursion to a Regional
Nature Park
Land use and land
degradation in and around
protected areas of Cuba
• Seminar on agroecosystems management in a region nature park.
Module 5
Group project
Number of credits: 8 ECTS
• Real-life projects.
• group work during the whole semester.
• Respond to a demand from an external client (e.g. technical institutes,
regional agricultural departments) or from an research project.
• General objectives: use different methodological and project management
tools (defining leadership, time schedule, deliverables).
• Work objectives: literature review, field work or surveys in order to
qualitatively and quantitatively analyse collected data, to discuss the
findings in group presentations with the clients.
Example 1: Influence of agricultural practices on water quality of shallow
lakes in the Dombes region, France
Ponds with water
Empty ponds
Example 2: Food chain and marketing of organic cereal products in two
regions of France
Originality of the semester
• All courses in English (which is rare in France)
• Lecturer from Scotland, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland and
different universities in France
• Exchange with students and professors of different background,
cultures and knowledge
• Group work skills, presentation skills
• local to regional scales approaches and analysis, but
considering global issues
• Implication in ongoing research projects
• Testing new methods
• Double Diploma Degree
Economical aspects
• Erasmus scholarship (around 250 Euro per month).
• Living costs in France are about 20 % lower than in Norway (4
month study, around 500 Euro per month (200 accommodation +
300 living costs)
• For none double diploma students: normally 2250 Euro semester
fee, but a few scholarships of 1250 Euro are available
You should not come to France if you …
• do not want to learn French (French language courses are
integrated in the planning of the semester)
• do not like wine and cheese and baguette
• do not want to be together with other French and foreign
students
• are not interested to study in a UNESCO world heritage town of
high cultural and historical importance in France
• do not like to travel
• are not interested in nearby attractive tourist areas (Provence,
Ardeche, Alpine mountains, Paris)
We are ready to welcome
you in Lyon