Study programs with a focus on sustainability, environment and ecology
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For example:
Central topics in teaching and research are:
- Liveable, resilient urban quarters
- Mixed use in urban quarters
- Hybrid and sustainable building concepts (flexibility)
- Water conservation and storage
- Temperature-reducing green spaces, architecture with nature
- Biodiversity
- Mobility concepts
- Active energy generation and energy active houses
- Material-efficient design and construction
- Use of renewable raw materials and their development
- Re-densification, conversion and re-use of existing buildings
- Recyclability of building materials
- Smart systems in energetics, facade development and spatial conception
- Utilization of natural climatic effects typical for a location
- Projects and urban planning concepts that conceptually address recycling, ecology and mobility.
- Research on innovative building materials
Sustainability aspects will play an increasingly important role in architecture and the construction industry. Therefore, the career prospects in this field are very good. Graduates can work as freelance or employed architects. They can also work in construction management, project development and consulting, or assist in municipal and state building and planning administrations. Sustainability consulting in building construction and system and material development are further fields of activity.
Special quality features of the teaching are the practiced interdisciplinarity, the intensive supervised project studies and the individual scope for design through a wide range of options in the course offerings. In addition to the broad range of subjects in the field of architecture, there is intensive cooperation with the fields of urban planning and landscape planning. The study program combines theoretical and background knowledge with the application of findings in the design studios. From the very beginning, fundamental sustainability aspects are taught, researched and investigated in the disciplines, from different perspectives depending on the focus, and also implemented spatially, programmatically and design-wise in design concepts. In addition to theoretical aspects, computer-based programs and technologies are also taught in order to, among other things, make processes visible, integrate them into the design, or even build concepts prototypically. After earning the bachelor's degree, three master's specializations are possible, in which sustainability aspects also play a major role:
- Environmentally Conscious Planning and Building (UPB).
- Urban Planning/Urban Design
- Design Research
The career prospects after studying landscape architecture and landscape planning are wide-ranging and graduates are in great demand on the job market. They work in planning offices, for example, where designs for public and private open spaces, plans and concepts for dealing with nature and the landscape, or ecological reports are prepared.
Other fields of activity are offered by companies in the gardening and landscaping sector or by public authorities, municipalities or planning associations. Here, the range extends from nature conservation authorities to cities and municipalities with environmental, urban planning or green space offices. There are also opportunities in environmental education institutions, environmental associations and foundations, in ministries responsible for nature conservation or related fields of activity. Large protected areas such as national parks, biosphere reserves and nature parks also offer career prospects.
After graduating with a bachelor's degree, students can also pursue a more in-depth master's degree. Specialization is possible in the direction of "Landscape Architecture and Open Space Planning", "Landscape Construction and Plant Use", "Environmental Planning and Landscape Management" as well as "Urban Planning / Urban Design".
Sustainability was already a topic at the University of Kassel when the term hardly played a role in public discussion. One pioneer was the Swiss Lucius Burckhardt. From 1972 to 1997, he taught as a professor of socioeconomics of urban systems in the Department of Architecture, Urban and Landscape Planning. He and his students were already thinking about the possibilities and tasks of planning in the complex interdisciplinary network of relationships between people, politics and the environment. All of this continues to play a major role in the study of landscape architecture and landscape planning in Kassel.
The focal points of the six-semester Bachelor's program are:
- Training of planning and design competence.
- Teaching of fundamentals in the areas of: Natural and social sciences, fine arts, design and representation, instruments, procedures and technology, planning objects and planning levels.
- Subject-specific knowledge in the planning-conceptual and planning-scientific orientation (landscape planning) and design-oriented design-oriented orientation (landscape architecture).
The 5th semester is designed as a practical project module with accompanying seminars. Here, students get to know the requirements of practice by working in an office and can already establish valuable contacts for the time after graduation.
Central topics in teaching and research are:
- New Ecological Cultivation Systems
- Soil protection and soil fertility
- Biodiversity in agriculture
- Avoidance of greenhouse gas emissions and adaptation of agriculture to climate change
- Animal-friendly and environmentally compatible animal husbandry
- Consumer protection and nutrition
- Protection of the diversity of the cultivated landscape
- Sustainable development of rural areas
- Social-ecological agricultural systems in the (sub-)tropics
- Linking natural science, engineering, economics and social science knowledge and methods
The organic food and farming industry is a growing sector of the future. Graduates are offered a wide range of perspectives. They have opportunities to work in agricultural practice, consulting, marketing and administration at home and abroad. In addition, there are career opportunities in research, in the food industry, in environmental protection and nature conservation, in educational work and in development cooperation.
The place of study is not Kassel, but the campus in Witzenhausen. The idyllic little town lies in the charming landscape of the Werra Valley between Kassel and Göttingen. The department operates its own 340-hectare teaching and experimental farm, the Frankenhausen domain near Kassel, and has its own greenhouse for tropical crops as well as well-equipped laboratories. A cooperation agreement has been in place with the University of Göttingen since 2005.
The three-year bachelor's degree program (B.Sc.) provides students with a practical education on a scientific basis. In its unique range of courses, the program takes a new approach to imparting specialized knowledge and skills in a practical and self-determined manner. Teaching forms are, in addition to the classic lecture and interactive seminars:
- Project work on self-selected topics (alone or in groups)
- practical courses in the laboratory and in the field
- Excursions (one-day excursions and a one-week excursion abroad)
- Student presentations and tutorials
- Conferences with guest speakers
Prerequisite for admission to the program is an agricultural internship of at least 13 weeks duration as well as the general or subject-linked university entrance qualification or the advanced technical college entrance qualification. One year of prior agricultural experience is recommended.
The course can also be taken up as a dual course of study in agriculture. In this case, the agricultural apprenticeship is completed parallel to the bachelor's degree. To deepen the sustainability topics, the master's degree programs Ecological Agriculture, Sustainable International Agriculture and International Food business and Consumer studies can be continued building on the bachelor's degree.
This is where the research-oriented master's program comes in. It responds to an increased demand for philosophical expertise in the field of environmental debates (philosophy of nature and environmental ethics) as well as critical social analysis. It pays special attention to the interaction and interlocking of both areas, as this represents a major desideratum. The Master's program imparts research-oriented and interdisciplinary reflective competence on current topics in environmental and social theory, based on solid philosophical expertise. Students acquire knowledge and content expertise in the following areas:
- Philosophy of Nature
- environmental theory and environmental ethics
- philosophical anthropology
- cultural theory and aesthetics
- critical social theory and politics
The Master's program opens up career perspectives in the diverse environmental and socio-analytical research fields at universities and research institutes. The integrated and additive key competencies acquired also promote career prospects in the non-university job market. The thematic orientation of the program also opens up career opportunities with environmental associations, political parties and NGOs.
The Master's program always begins in the winter semester. The standard period of study, including the Master's thesis, is four semesters. After passing the examination, the Department of Humanities and Cultural Studies awards the academic degree "Master of Arts (M.A.)". In addition to an introductory module and two elective modules from the areas of nature and knowledge, environment and responsibility, culture and language, and society and criticism, two project modules must be taken. These are designed not least with regard to required team skills and networked thinking and acting. The second project module can alternatively be completed as a practical project outside the university and focuses on greater independence with regard to the search for and design of topics.
Product designers work in design agencies and design offices. It is not uncommon for these agencies to receive their orders from large industrial companies, provided they do not operate their own development offices. The range of activities is as varied as the product range itself. Creativity is just as much in demand as the ability to recognize trends and pick up on them in product design. There is great potential here, especially with regard to sustainability aspects. Independent work is just as common as working in teams. Flexibility is a top priority.
The Product Design program at the Kunsthochschule Kassel focuses on the aspect of sustainability and pursues a holistic approach: In addition to the development of practical design skills and their manifold refinement, it is not least about the development of personalities. Through the design skills they have acquired during their studies, graduates know how to contribute to society by taking into account and integrating economic, social and environmental perspectives in their design work.
Students collaborate with their professors, access the many workshops and digital tools available at the School of Art, and are thus given the opportunity to gradually develop their own ideas during the standard nine-semester study period. The program always begins in the winter semester. The prerequisite is proof of the general university entrance qualification (e.g. Abitur, master craftsman's examination) in conjunction with artistic talent, which must be proven in an artistic entrance examination. Applicants without such a certificate may also apply, but must prove outstanding artistic talent in an artistic entrance examination. Lateral entry is also possible with a bachelor's degree in a design subject. A craft internship of nine months is mandatory. It can be completed in craft or industrial companies, technical schools or other institutions where consumer products and workpieces made of wood, metal, plastic, glass, ceramics or textiles are produced.
Environmental engineers work in a wide range of possible occupational fields in research and industry, in engineering offices or in public administration. They deal with engineering tasks that require an in-depth understanding in various environmentally relevant areas. In doing so, they develop environmentally relevant solutions in the sense of sustainable development.
Possible fields of work are
- Waste and recycling management: e.g. disposal, recovery, recycling, landfill technology and contaminated site management.
- Urban water management: e.g. drinking water production, wastewater disposal and treatment.
- Hydraulic engineering: e.g. flood protection, river restoration.
- Energy generation from renewable sources: e.g. solar, wind, hydro, biomass, geothermal.
- Environmental management: e.g. water and soil protection.
- Environmental management: e.g. energy-efficient production, simulation of material cycles, life cycle assessment of processes and production, simulation of environmental risks.
- Mobility and transport: measures for sustainable transport.
- Consulting: e.g. energy, water, waste, environmentally sound construction.
Students of environmental engineering bring with them a keen interest in environmentally relevant topics. They are also interested in mathematical and scientific methods and technical solutions, always keeping economic and social issues in mind.
The bachelor's program has no admission restrictions and always begins in the winter semester. It offers an overview of the fundamental contexts of environmental engineering. After a technical engineering education, students deepen their knowledge in the main areas of resource management and waste technology, urban water management, transport, and hydraulic engineering and water management. The range of courses is supplemented by extensive selection options.
The standard period of study is 7 semesters. An engineering internship and the bachelor's thesis are included. An internship is not required prior to the start of the program, but a four-week pre-course in mathematics and participation in the mentoring program during the first semesters is recommended.
After obtaining the bachelor's degree, the consecutive master's degree can be obtained in 3 semesters.