Education

A key challenge for ITES is to provide knowledge that ensures the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems and natural resources in the face of continuous changes in society, economy and the environment. Forested landscapes play an important role in this regard, as they are the source of fibre and food for billions of people worldwide, they influence global biogeochemical cycles, primarily those of carbon and water, they have significant feedbacks on the global climate system, they are important for global biodiversity and supply humans with numerous further goods and services. In the context of mountain systems, the protection from gravitational natural hazards is a key concern, as it affects both mountain livelihoods as well as downstream communities via mass flows.

In teaching the ITES professorships are primarily involved at the BS level in the specializations “Forests and Landscapes” and “Terrestrial Systems” and at the MSc level in the major programme “Forest and Landscape Management” of the curriculum in Environmental Sciences. In addition, they also contribute substantially to the teaching in other curricula, e.g. in Environmental Engineering and other D-USYS majors, in particular those in “Ecology and Evolution” and “Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics”.

The large network of USYS and other ETH groups interested and involved in the issue of sustainable land use provides a multitude of opportunities for the development and further enhancement of our curriculum. Thus, we are constantly refining the current major programme based on the feedbacks by students and by the employers of our current and former students. In addition, we have started to explore the possibility of setting up a joint Master programme with D-AGRL and AgroParisTech on “Management of Ecosystem Goods and Services”, in which the ITES contribution would be developed from the current major programme. Finally, we are exploring options for developing a master programme in “Sustainable Land Use” jointly with ETH partners outside USYS.