Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 78.00
Liaison Katie Maynard
Submission Date Feb. 29, 2024

STARS v2.2

University of California, Santa Barbara
AC-5: Immersive Experience

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Jewel Persad
Sustainability Manager
Administration
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution offer at least one immersive, sustainability-focused educational study program that is one week or more in length?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainability-focused immersive program(s) offered by the institution:
UCSB has several immersive experience programs focused on sustainability. The first few we will highlight are offered through UCEAP (University of California Education Abroad Program) . UCSB students are also given the opportunity to participate in the Wildlands Studies program.

Wildlands Studies offers field-based research courses on ecology, wildlife management, and conservation in the world’s most remarkable ecosystems. The Wildland Studies program is a field-work study program that allows students to immerse themselves in environments and conduct research on them to preserve and protect the environment. The program is either two or six weeks in length, depending on the location. The location varies through each semester. Some of the field-based work has been in South America while others in the U.S. or Europe. During the program, students gain valuable skills and knowledge about conservation methods which can contribute to achieving a sustainable future.
Website: https://es.ucsb.edu/field-studies

The School for Field Studies (SFS) program creates transformative study-abroad experiences through field-based learning and research. The program explores the social and ecological dimensions of the complex environmental problems faced by local partners, contributing to sustainable solutions in the places where SFS is operating. The SFS community is part of a growing network of individuals and institutions committed to environmental stewardship. Students are to be pushed to unleash their creativity through their group leaders to understand the environmental issues of our time. The locations of the program vary from South America, Africa, and Australia. Furthermore, The School for Field Studies model strives to create a supportive and nurturing environment that enables students to learn, explore, and flourish. With a shared aspiration to learn about the environment and its role in preserving it, students from diverse backgrounds live, work, and study together as a community on SFS programs. For the summer sessions, the program is typically 4-6 weeks in length. For the semester sessions, the program is 14-15 weeks in length.

Website: https://fieldstudies.org/

The Wild Rockies Field Institute is an academic institution primarily focusing on scholastic inquiry. The courses seek to understand the complex relationship between ecological processes and human behavior. The program takes place in the state of Montana. The Wild Rockies Field Institute offers academically rigorous, place-based field courses that develop engaged, informed citizens and strong leaders capable of addressing complex social and environmental issues. The Wild Rockies Field Institute fosters the next generation of leaders and environmental stewards through field-based education in the American West. For the programs occurring in the summer, the length of the program is about 3 weeks. The programs occurring during the school year (Fall-Spring) are about 8 weeks in length.

Website: https://www.wrfi.net/

There are also sustainability-focused immersive programs offered through the UCSB EAP program. The following study abroad programs included below allow students to develop their understanding of sustainability through immersive experiences. The Education Abroad Programs reported allowed students to immerse themselves in another culture and take rigorous courses involving sustainability and topics related to it. Students were then given the chance to showcase their skills in projects or fieldwork given to them by the program.

Social-Ecological Sustainability, Chile (Semester)
The Villarrica campus of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (PUC-Chile) is a small city in the Araucanía region of Chile. Environmental sustainability and the education that is necessary to accomplish its goals are the primary academic focus of this campus. The rural region has stunning landscapes, ancient Araucaria forests, and healing hot springs. It is the ideal setting to study social and ecological approaches to environmental sustainability. You’ll embark on such studies alongside professors who have chosen to teach here because they are dedicated to the area and all of its inhabitants. As you travel from one area of Southern Chile to another, you will experience a wide range of ecosystems, learning environments, and living arrangements. Instruction will take you through mountains, rivers, forests, and volcanic areas—and research of all varieties of species can take place during the day and after dark.
The program is about 20 weeks in length.

Optional Fields 

Website URL where information about the institution’s immersive education programs is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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