University of Wisconsin-River Falls
AC-5: Immersive Experience

Costa Rica:
The Costa Rica program is built around the theme of Sustainability and Eco-Tourism. Costa Rica is the premier international model of a country focused on preserving natural resources for the sake of environmentally-based tourism, both for the study and intimate experience of tropical biodiversity and for adventure recreation.
This study program is a broad mix of activities and travel. Students experience everything from snorkeling and diving (scuba certification necessary) on the Caribbean and/or Pacific, zipping along cables in the canopy of tropical forests, white water rafting, hiking in preserves and national parks, and horseback riding. Also included are tours to coffee and banana plantations, visits to world-class birding, butterfly, and hummingbird sites, shopping in traditional arts and crafts markets, meeting traditional families and indigenous representatives, and one-day excursions.

Planning for a Sustainable Society – offered in spring 2022 Experience Scotland program:
This course will explore what it means for a society to be sustainable, the methods that community planners use to achieve sustainability in local communities, the societal trends that influence society's sustainability, and examples of how communities already implement sustainable development practices. Using Dalkeith and the surrounding environs as a laboratory, students will understand Scotland's sustainability initiatives and how the United States might learn from them.

Introduction to Land Use Theory & Practice – offered in spring 2022 Experience Scotland program:
This course will introduce the theories and practice of land use planning while exploring the work of two of Scotland's most famous land use planning theorists and practitioners, Patrick Geddes (1854-1932) and Ian McHarg (1920-2001), whose pioneering work helped shape modern sociology, urban planning, landscape architecture, and geographic information systems. This course introduces land use planning history and its current influence on society, compares settlement patterns in Scotland and the United States, examines the complex relationships of people and the landscape, and provides technical methods for making decisions that shape the future of the land. The Newbattle Abbey grounds and the surrounding countryside will be used as a laboratory to illustrate land use theory principles and to practice land use planning methods.

Creative Placemaking – offered in spring 2022 Experience Scotland program:
This course will provide students with an opportunity to pursue field research in community placemaking and creating placemaking in Scotland. Students will learn about the history, purpose, and methods of these quickly expanding fields and how they fit within the larger context of community development and the arts. Combining classroom discussions, field trips, and guest speakers will inform hands-on program design, deployment, and evaluation.

Netherlands - Natural Hazards and Resilience Planning:
This course prepares students to understand the foundations of Resilience Planning for communities facing natural hazards, particularly climate change-related ones. The Netherlands is internationally recognized for its work in resilience planning, and students will have the opportunity to tour several locations in the Netherlands to study examples of practical implementation of resilience principles. The course includes tours of infrastructure and other features used to manage physical hazards, along with lectures/presentations from local planning staff. Additionally, students can explore cultural and social resilience issues through experiences at local sustainable farms, farmers' markets, and agricultural communities. Students will discuss the impacts of natural hazards on local businesses and the importance of resilience planning to promote sustainable businesses. The course will be an immersion in resilience best practices that will provide students with a broad understanding of issues and opportunities in the field.

Tropical Agriculture, Culture and Environment:
This course covers agricultural production in a tropical Caribbean environment and culture. It introduces tropical agriculture systems and compares Caribbean tropical environments to temperate area conditions and culture, including the challenges of tropical agriculture production abroad under changing global environments.

Bahamas - Tropical Restoration:
This three-credit course will cover the ecological and fundamental principles of tropical restoration.
Much of the Bahaman forests on Andros Island were historically mismanaged (clear-cut in some areas while overgrown in others), resulting in across-the-board degradation on the island. While on the island, we will be helping the Bahaman Forestry Unit with their tropical restoration initiatives in forests that include but are not limited to Bahaman pine forests, mangroves, and scrub forests. We will also visit a coral reef undergoing restoration. Students will learn about the ecological, cultural, economic, and personal values of restoration, learn about the restoration process, and work through strategies for a successful restoration. We will be hosted by the International Field Studies program while staying at the Forfar Field station.

Sustainability in Action – offered in fall 2022 Experience Scotland program:
This course explores the principles and practices of sustainability in the home, in organizations, in local communities, and as national and world citizens. Topics include current environmental challenges, a critique of current cultural and societal practices that impact the environment, and practical steps that can be taken as individuals and in association with others.

Planning for a Sustainable Society - offered in fall 2022 International Traveling Classroom program:
This course will explore what it means for a society to be sustainable, the methods that community planners use to achieve sustainability in local communities, the societal trends that influence society's sustainability, and examples of how communities already implement sustainable development practices. Using Amsterdam, Almere, and the surrounding environs as a laboratory, students will gain an understanding of sustainability initiatives in the Netherlands and how the United States might learn from them.

All programs listed above are at least 1 week long in duration.