Residential Field Courses 2022/2023  

These Residential Field Courses are currently planned for 2022/23. Our Field Courses are reviewed regularly and this page will continue to be updated.

Fieldwork will stimulate your academic curiosity through exposure to a range of situations and challenges. It allows you to apply your learning and develop new skills at many different scales.

Residential field courses are different to the numerous field visits run as part of other course modules as you can immerse yourself more deeply in your learning whilst away on fieldwork. This fosters a greater understanding of Environmental Management & Sustainability and how it can be applied in the real-world.

During the Environmental Management & Sustainability programme there is currently (2022/23) the opportunity to attend two unique and fully funded residential field courses. In your first year, there is a 4-day trip to the Brecon Beacons, whilst in your second year there is a 10-day trip to Provence (France).

Year 1: Brecon Beacons National Park (4 days)

This trip will be your first experience of residential fieldwork at University and provides an excellent opportunity to really get to know other students on the course. It runs within the mandatory module “Environmental Investigations”. We will be travelling to Blaenavon in South Wales where fieldwork will focus on historic coal mining activities and its continuing impact on the environment. We will set the scene with a trip to the Big Pit National Coal Museum, a World Heritage Site, which will be followed by three days of fieldwork, investigating impacts on soil, water and vegetation. 

Year 2: Provence (France) (10 days) 

This field course takes us to the south of France and the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Here we have exciting opportunities to examine sustainability issues around resource use and the conservation of biodiversity in a very different climatic zone. Visits include the Camargue National Park, which encompasses a UNESCO designated biosphere reserve and a Ramsar site, the INRA Rice Research Station, and the Crau Plain which is home to the critically endangered Crau Plain Grasshopper. Visits to the EDF hydroelectric canal and the Serre-Ponçon dam allow you to explore a variety of issues including the sustainable use of water for agriculture, the impact of hydroelectric dams on river biodiversity, and the environmental impacts of rice production.

You will also have the opportunity to work alongside the Conservatoire d’espaces naturals de Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur and the Parc Natural Régional des Alpilles on long-term environmental and biodiversity monitoring programmes.