Master’s Programme Environmental Management of Mountain Areas (EMMA)
Are you interested in sustainable agriculture and forestry, applied landscape planning, the cultural landscape in the Alpine region and do you want to understand socio-ecological systems?
This interdisciplinary and international programme is offered in cooperation with the Faculty of Science and Technology of the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy. The focus in this programme is to provide subject related topics including Alpine ecology, landscape ecology and planning, agriculture and forestry, wastewater and waste treatment, geoinformatics and environmental and resource management.
Study Code
UC 066 636
Admission
The admission to the study programme takes place by the rectorate. According to the cooperation agreement max. 35 students will be admitted per academic year. Information on the admission and the admission procedure will be found on the website of the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano and in the Study Manifesto of the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano.
Tuition fees are to be paid at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano.
FAQ
Graduates possess highly specialized knowledge in the fields of mountain ecology, information technologies of landscape planning, ecological renaturation, planning and projecting in mountain areas. They are able to apply their knowledge in the field of advanced materials and at the intersections of other nature sciences by independently formulating and substantiating scientific arguments and finding innovative solutions to problems.
The double degree Master's Programme in Environmental Management of Mountain Areashas an interdisciplinary focus and is offered in cooperation with the Faculty of Science and Technology of the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano.
The programme is suitable for graduates of the bachelor's programmes in the fields of biology, environmental engineering, natural sciences and technologies, agriculture and forestry and graduates with a thematically relevant bachelor’s degree. A two-year study programme is offered. The official teaching language is English. Elective compulsory subjects are offered in English, German or Italian.
The first study year is to be completed at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano and conveys a combination of natural science and technical skills and competences in nine compulsory modules. The second study year at the University of Innsbruck with two compulsory modules and several elective modules, gives students the possibility to focus on environmental and resource management, nature protection, landscape ecology and planning, agriculture and forestry as well as water and waste management. Regardless of the chosen specialization, students learn to research scientifically, to approach target- and results-oriented and to work project-related in the course of their master’s thesis.
The interdisciplinary and research-oriented master's programme opens up a wide range of occupational opportunities for graduates, in particular environmental assessment, monitoring and management of protected areas, projecting and eco-certification in the fields of agriculture and forestry, analysis and natural hazard assessment of hydrogeological origin, and elaboration of development plans of agricultural mountain areas, and scientific careers.
Graduates tracking: Shows which occupational fields students enter after graduation
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Curriculum
From the field
Biodiversity: climate to become main driver
The most comprehensive look to date into the past and future of global biodiversity is provided by a recent study in the journal Science: intensive land use reduced biodiversity by up to around 10 per cent over the course of the 20th century. By 2050, the climate crisis could become the main driver of further biodiversity loss alongside land use. Lauren Talluto from the Department of Ecology at the University of Innsbruck is part of the international team of authors.
High-alpine animal species need more protected areas
Melting glaciers due to global warming caused by the climate crisis have massive consequences for biodiversity in the Alpine region, as an international team of researchers including the Innsbruck ecologist Leopold Füreder has now shown for the first time for a period between 2020 and 2100. According to the study, numerous invertebrate species are threatened with the loss of their habitats. The researchers call for the expansion of protected areas, also in glacier forelands. The study has been published in Nature Ecology & Evolution.
The carbon cycle is speeding up
Soil is the largest natural carbon storage in the world. In Northern ecosystems particularly large amounts of carbon are stored, but they are also particularly strongly affected by global warming. A recently published study by an international team led by Michael Bahn of the University of Innsbruck investigated how ongoing warming affects the uptake and release of carbon dioxide in subarctic grassland. The researchers used a geothermally active area in Iceland as a natural „climate chamber”.
Non-aggressive behaviour facilitates ant invasion
Under certain circumstances, ant colonies can team up to form huge supercolonies extending across thousands of kilometres and displace native species, if they refrain from aggressive behaviour. A research group from Innsbruck is now investigating how this situation can arise.
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