GRÓ LRT six-month training eligible for 30 ECTS credits

The GRÓ LRT six-month training is eligible for ECTS credits as from 2022. This means that fellows completing the training successfully will, in addition to GRÓ LRT Certificate of Completion, also receive a Postgraduate Diploma in Ecosystem Restoration and Sustainable Land Management (30 ECTS) from the Agricultural University of Iceland. This change will not have much impact on the content and structure of the six-month training; the programme curriculum will continue to be divided into eight modules and organised according to a project cycle framework. Yet, the six-month training will also be organised as two academic courses, each 15 ECTS, with the Faculty of Environmental and Forest Sciences at the Agricultural University of Iceland.

The first course is titled Ecosystem Restoration and Sustainable Land Management and is in the form of lectures, practical training, field visits, exercises, and group work. The aim of the course is to give comprehensive knowledge, understanding and skills in the field of ecosystem restoration and sustainable land management. It covers ecological theories and biophysical processes and principles; principles and approaches in planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating projects and interventions; and the socio-economic context of ecological restoration and sustainable land management.

The second course is titled Individual Project in the Field of Ecosystem Restoration and Sustainable Land Management and focuses on the development and execution of individual research projects on a topic of the fellows’ choice and under supervision of an expert(s). The research work culminates in a written report and an oral presentation, and qualified research reports are published on the GRÓ LRT website.