Compulsory

September-January

5ECTS

Coordinator: Adolfo Cazorla Montero

 

The aim of this course it to allow the students to develop a global understanding of rural sphere and to adopt an ecological vision of development. As well as to introduce development planning models which encourage the integration and participation of all actors involved of the rural environment. The course includes real practical cases of rural development plans and programs to amplify the theoretical aspects of the subject and demonstrate the possible steps for rural development and competence development.

Complex Systems have two characteristics which apply for participatory processes in rural development projects:

• Due to their complexity, these systems need to be studied based on possible behavioral patterns formed by the relationships between the stakeholders. A competence that is key for understanding dynamics in rural development projects.
• The interdependence between the environment of the complex system and the stakeholders influence the decisions made, the social structures as well as systems itself (mutual transformations). This can currently be observed with decisions based on the existing participatory structures in web 2.0.

Additionally, Socially Intelligent Systems produce more people-centered solutions, and propose decisions which incorporate best-practices of participatory processes to solve global challenges (crisis of trust, environmental problems, poverty, etc.).

Compulsory
January-July
4 ECTS
Coordinator: Antonio García Abril

Within the past 20 years, sustainable management has become an objective and a fundamental means for society, establishing it as an adaptive process instead of a static approach. Biodiversity conservation must include practices of sustainable management to achieve sustainable development. The key questions of conservation are how to develop and apply appropriate sustainable management techniques and methods for different situations and activities; and how to achieve the conservation and improvement of biodiversity. This subject reviews the state of research and shows relevant experiences of natural resource management, sustainable management and biodiversity conservation that enable students to apply in their research or professional activities these tools and references for sustainable management.

Compulsory
January-July
4 ECTS
Coordinator:  Luis Gonzaga García Montero

The course aims to expand and integrate the knowledge of the students gained in their undergraduate studies, as well as to train them in the research and development of experimental projects based on models of sustainable agroforestry, conservation and restoration of soil-water and soil-plant interactions. Additionally, the subject covers the scientific basis, tools and techniques which are used in studies and soil management. The material includes also resources in decision-making models and processes of territorial planning and environmental impact assessment of projects, plans and programs. Throughout the course of the module the students train the transversal and specific competences described below.

The conservation of biodiversity in Europe is defined in Directive 92/43 / EEC - commonly known as the Habitats Directive. It establishes the creation of protected areas (Natura 2000) and recognizes the need to maintain them in a favorable state of conservation. Spain has about 23% of its territory included in the Natura 2000 Network. The students learn to implement, develop and increase the knowledge of the identification and evaluation of the conservation status of the habitats in Natura 2000, a fundamental competence of the Masters’ in Sustainable Development Research. 

The Master's degree is designed for a single academic year. However, the norms of residency are designed to facilitate the mobility of international students who cannot travel to Spain for the whole course.

These basic rules regulating the residency of students in the Master are:

⇒ THE ADMITTED STUDENTS HAVE TO COMPLETE A MAXIMUM OF 3 ACADEMIC COURSES TO OBTAIN A SATISFACTORY EVALUATION THAT GRANTS THE MASTER’S DEGREE.

⇒ IN THE FIRST TERM, STUDENTS MUST REGISTER FOR AT LEAST 12 ECTS IN MANDATORY SUBJECTS.

⇒ IN THE SECOND TERM, THEY MUST PROVIDE RECORS OF AT LEAST 60% OF THE CREDITS CORRESPONDING TO THE COMPULSORY MATERIALS OF THE MASTER.

The specific nature of the programme, summarised in this document, seeks a personalised and coherent teaching-learning process. Teachers, tutors and students who join the Master freely accept and undertake to maintain this educational model.

Fundamentals of the Educational Model:

1. The mission of the Master's Degree is to provide participants with specialisation in subjects and content directly related to professional activity in the field of planning, evaluation and management of rural-local development projects and sustainable management of the natural environment.

2. All the activities carried out in the Master's programme are developed with the utmost respect for the freedom of conscience, in accordance with its strategy of theoretical-practical training.

3. The Master is fully integrated in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) and focuses the methodological aspects on the replacement of "teaching" by "learning", giving the student a more active role in this process. The Master's Degree adopts the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) in all its activities. This system makes it possible to measure the work that students must do in order to acquire the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to pass the different subjects in the syllabus.

4. This is a new educational approach based on "learning" giving the student a more active role in the educational process and also changing the role of the teacher who assumes a "guiding" role in the process. The principles underpinning this approach are:

⇒ GREATER STUDENT INVOLVEMENT AND AUTONOMY.

⇒ USE OF MORE ACTIVE METHODOLOGIES: PRACTICAL AND REAL CASES, TEAMWORK, DEBATES, TUTORIALS, LECTURES, SEMINARS, STUDY VISITS, SPECIALISED CONFERENCES, MULTIMEDIA TECHNOLOGY, RESEARCH WORKSHOPS, ETC.

⇒ FLEXIBILITY AND PARTICIPATION TO FACILITATE THE EXCHANGE OF EXPERIENCES AND KNOWLEDGE: BETWEEN THE CLASSROOM AND PROFESSIONAL LIFE; BETWEEN STUDENTS AND TEACHERS; BETWEEN THEORY AND EXPERIENCE.

5. Role of teachers as agents for creating learning environments and joint reflection.

6. Learning is reinforced by participation, debate and exchange of experiences, so that all participants are committed to acquiring a proactive and communicative attitude, sharing their own knowledge and learning and being enriched by the contributions of the other participants.

7. The Master's subjects and their different training activities focus their teaching process on developing a series of technical, personal and contextual competences that students must acquire. The student's effort and work is the main means to achieve this objective.

8. The Master's Academic and Quality Committee (CAC) is made up of members from the different schools that organise the Master's Degree. It is the reference body for the training programme, delegating certain functions to the coordinators of each of the modules. The work of the CAC makes it possible to adjust the contents of the different modules, select the lecturers, maintain permanent relations with the teaching staff, promote actions to improve training and coordinate the Master's evaluation process.

Coordinators, lecturers and tutors

9. The Master's Degree will provide personalised attention to all its students, so that each one reaches the maximum development of their competences, capacities and aptitudes, forms their own criteria and achieves the maturity and knowledge necessary to make their decisions freely, with rectitude and a sense of responsibility.

10. The coordinators of each subject, always within the framework established by the UPM and the Master's Academic and Quality Committee (CAC), act with autonomy and responsibility in the following functions: to ensure the quality and coherence of their subject; to propose to the CAC the contents and teachers of the subject; to maintain constant communication with their teachers and provide them with the appropriate methodological indications; to provide students with updated bibliography and documentation; to define the work to be done by the student and indications for its evaluation.

11. The programming of activities is structured in each subject in accordance with the workload necessary for the acquisition of the knowledge, capacities and skills required in the syllabus.

12. The coordinator must promote in his/her subject the programming of activities aimed at achieving the technical, personal and contextual competences related to its contents, through teamwork, the exchange of experiences, as well as research on real situations, which turn each subject into a forum for professional improvement.

13. Each student on the Master's course will have a teacher-tutor. Within the common educational programme, the tutor must attend to their personal needs and ensure the guidance of the student in the research work that will culminate in the defence of the Master's Thesis (TFM).

14. The lecturer-tutor must also coordinate and facilitate any field or laboratory work that may be necessary for the student's research.

15. The lecturers of the subjects develop their teaching activity according to the criteria of the coordinator and the competences to be acquired in each subject.

16. The coordinators, tutors and lecturers of the Master's Degree will be invited to form part of the assessment panels of the Master's Degree Final Projects (TFM), always taking into consideration their relationship with the research topic being worked on.

17. The coordinators, tutors, lecturers and students will encourage the development of personal skills and civic virtues, leading to the acquisition of habits of personal and social responsibility, coexistence, solidarity and mutual respect.