Geography Sustainability Fieldtrip

Students from DCU's BA in Climate & Environmental Sustainability travelled to the Netherlands for a week-long fieldtrip in early March focused on sustainability in practice. The visit brought together 50 students from Dublin City University, Tampere University (Finland), HZ University of Applied Sciences and Utrecht University (the Netherlands).

Over the course of the week, students engaged with a range of applied sustainability challenges, including climate adaptation, water and soil management, urban planning, and nature-based responses to managing environmental change. We visited leading Dutch infrastructural projects, workshops, and group activities provided opportunities to examine how sustainability is implemented in different national and local contexts. Highlights included engagement with Dutch approaches to flood risk management and climate resilience, as well as exploration of urban sustainability initiatives. This included a rare visit to the Oosterscheldekering flood defences, one of the largest flood defence projects in Europe and to NIOZ, the Royal Institute for Sea research on climate to biodiversity to learn about nature-based responses to managing environmental risks. 

The programme over the week emphasised interdisciplinary learning and collaboration, with students working in international teams to reflect on shared challenges and potential solutions to sustainability issues.

The fieldtrip provided a valuable opportunity for students to connect concepts explored in their coursework with real-world applications, while also developing intercultural and collaborative skills through engagement with students from across Europe. The trip was organised as part of ongoing teaching and research collaborations between our leading European undergraduate sustainability programmes.

We look forward to building on this partnership in the future and are already planning the fieldtrip in 2027!