The 2nd cycle Degree course in "Environmental Rehabilitation and Soil Bioengineering Sciences" is an advancement of knowledge for graduates of the 1st level courses of classes L-25 "Agricultural and Forestry Science and Technology" and L-32 "Science and technology for the 'environment and nature" who wish to develop their scientific and professional training in the field of environmental monitoring, environmental rehabilitation and in the design of recovery actions through bioengineering techniques.
The course provides advanced training on professional and research issues in the field of environmental rehabilitation and bioengineering, aiming at enabling graduates to address and manage complex, territorial defence, river restoration, soil defence and conservation, hydraulic-forest settlements with bioengineering techniques.
The educational programme is based on the most current topics, and uses the professional experience gained in the long research activity conducted by the Faculties of Agriculture and Science of the University of Palermo in the field of environmental and applied Botany, Plant Biotechnics, hydraulic-forest settlements with bioengineering techniques, soil evaluation, soil defence and conservation, and of economic evaluation of natural assets and of interventions.
The overall objective is the training of graduates who, already possessing core competences for self-employment in the forestry and environment sector, are capable of:
- identifying environmental degradation processes and perform their monitoring on basin scale;
- using bioindicators in environmental monitoring and rehabilitation;
- identifying the plant species suitable for operations that use plants as a building material;
- Designing and implementing interventions for prevention and control that make use of agricultural techniques and to the vegetable plant species suited to solving problems of defense and soil conservation;
- Designing and implementing rehabilitation projects that make use of bioengineering techniques;
- Knowing the techniques of remote sensing and geographic information systems;
- having expertise in the field of economic valuation of investments and environment;
- Possessing the competence for the implementation and application of mathematical models for simulating physical and chemical processes in degraded environments;
- Coordinating activities in the fields of environmental rehabilitation and planning with bioengineering techniques.
Educational activities consist of frontal teachings, laboratory and field practice, specialist seminar and mid-term tests.
The course duration is 2 academic years. To achieve the Degree, students must have acquired 120 credits (ECTS), including those relating to the advanced knowledge of one European Union language, besides Italian, subject to special rules for the protection of linguistic minorities. The Degree Course includes 11 compulsory examinations, an elective examination, a language test, a practical training within external facilities, and the final examination on specific course issues.
9 elective credits may be acquired, in accordance with article 10 paragraph 5, a) of Ministerial Decree 270/04, choosing among the teachings provided by the Faculty of Agriculture, as well as by other Faculties of this University or of other Italian and Foreign Universities.
At the end of the course, students are awarded the 2nd cycle Degree in "Environmental rehabilitation and Soil Bioengineering Sciences".
