250081 Horticultural Production Chains in a Changing Climate

Details
Responsible DepartmentDepartment of Agriculture and Ecology

Earliest Possible YearMSc. 1 year to MSc. 2 year
DurationOne block
 
Credits7.5 (ECTS)
 
Level of CourseMSc
 
ExaminationContinuous Assessment

written examination


All aids allowed

Description of Examination: 7-point scale, internal examiner
 
Organisation of TeachingPreparation period at LIFE plus two week residential course at a partner university A project completed after the residential course with internet communication between members of the project team A completion report also required
 
Block PlacementBlock 3
Week Structure: Outside schedule
 
Language of InstructionEnglish
 
Optional PrerequisitesMaster level course only, for students with a Bachelor degree background in production and/or supply of horticultural fresh produce
 
RestrictionsMax 6 students from the Faculty of Life Sciences in any one year
 
Course Content
Selected tutors from the participating European universities present a range of topics including climates and regional plant production, chain organisation, international trade, legislation & certification related to climate change. The group projects are undertaken in international teams and focus on case studies dealing with specific climate-related problems that occur in international production chains. Excursions to relevant horticultural organisations and industry sites are included in the residential programme.
The course includes lectures, presentations by and visits to local companies, group assignments and classroom discussion. In the major projects, problem-based learning will be used to allow the students to gather knowledge and develop competences to analyze, understand and work with the impact of global climate change on horticultural production chains world-wide.
An in-depth analysis of future opportunities for the horticultural sector in the host country of the course will be included in the project work.
Students will be placed in multinational teams and, obviously, will work face-to-face whilst on site. Following the residential element of the course, they will complete their group assignments at distance using computer-based conferencing and information-sharing tools
 
Teaching and learning Methods
Home study at the home university, where a prescribed presentation is prepared. This is followed by a two week intensive period at the host University in Europe, which changes in each cycle. During these weeks there are lectures, group exercises, presentations by students and two group projects, one of which is completed during the residential period. The second project is allocated to multinational groups and is to be finished in the home country, with the students using modern communication media on the internet to complete the work. The group projects are constructed to use problem based learning (PBL).
 
Learning Outcome
To provide postgraduate students with the tools to understand, analyse and deal with multidisciplinary problems related to the climatic challenges of the next decade, and beyond, as they will affect horticultural supply chains

Basic science:
Advanced knowledge of the biology of plant growth, development and performance physiology will be related to the impact of global climate change on production, quality and supply as it affects horticultural supply chains.
Applied science:
The students will be given the opportunity to acquire the ability to :
understand how growing conditions effects product supply and quality
analyse the effect of climatic factors on the production and quality of horticultural products
determine how this affects supply, trade and marketing
place this information into the context of changing European horticultural supply chains
Ethics and values:
The students knowledge of the impact of climate change on horticultural supply chains will be discussed with regard to social economic and political issues at all levels, from primary producer to final consumer
 
Course Literature
The course is based upon currentliterature retrieved from guided database searches, decided upon depending upon the context of the work being undertaken. Access to allthe necessary databases will be supplied.
 
Course Coordinator
Brian William Wilson Grout, bwg@life.ku.dk, Department of Agriculture and Ecology/Crop Science, Phone: 353-33407
 
Study Board
Study Committee NSN
 
Work Load
preparation30
project work85
Colloquia100

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