The New York field class will be optional for third-year students who will learn about human and environment interactions and the interconnected geographies of nature, sustainability, urban design, and global environmental change in New York. The Future Coasts field class will be optional for second- and third-year students who will explore a range of restoration and management schemes in the Netherlands to understand how delta cities and coasts can adapt to, and mitigate the impacts of climate change by working with nature and through innovative urban planning.
New York is a world city that has undergone a series of dramatic social and biophysical transformations. As key site in the development of colonial rule, to more recent urban design aimed at climate change resilience, it is a city in which the major ideas of nature have been negotiated, narrated and practiced. From the American Museum of Natural History to the green spaces of community gardens, the city is at the forefront of global environmental change and questions of sustainability, social equality and resilience. The module will focus on the changing geographies of nature in New York and their connections to the wider geographies of climate change, the Anthropocene and urban sustainability.
The Future Coasts module aims to introduce students to the impacts of climate change on coastal environments and understand how coastal morphology responds to external forcing from sea level rise, wave and tidal energy and the impacts of erosion and flooding on coastal habitats and communities. The field trip will be based around Rotterdam, the Rhine-Meuse delta and Dutch coast and will also explore how innovative and sustainable approaches can be used to build resilient cities, reduce flood risk, improve habitats and to mitigate the impacts of climate change. The trip will include visits to natural coastal management schemes, ecosystem restoration sites, and sustainable urban drainage schemes. Both field class modules will run in alternate years.
New York: Nature and the City will be optional for third-year undergraduate students taking Geography BA, Geography BSc, Human Geography BA or Environmental Science BSc courses; Future Coasts will be optional for second- or third-year students enrolled on Geography BSc, Environmental Science BSc or Environmental Science with Business Management BSc courses.