Course of the Week; MSc. Landscape Planning and Conservation

The Master of Science Degree in Landscape Planning and Conservation is an interdisciplinary course that focuses on applying scientific skill for practical solutions aimed at developing sustainable environments for human comfort and nature conservation. The main disciplines of planning’, ‘design’ and ‘conservation’ are brought together to develop a focused yet flexible program that will allow for diverse areas of study and research in environmental topics. Landscape planning is the application of scientific knowledge to create practical land-use solutions against the challenges facing our developing society.

This scientific knowledge is drawn from areas such as soil science, arboriculture, botany, ecology, horticulture, hydrology, eco-physiology, and geology. Environmental landscape design is the art of arranging or modifying the features of urban, peri-urban or rural landscape for aesthetic or practical purposes. The third aspect of the program, landscape conservation, involves identifying threatened and sensitive landscapes, including cultural, biological, ecological, or historical landscapes, applying appropriate study approaches and developing sustainable solutions which are critical to the future development of key economic sectors such as agriculture, construction, tourism, transport, health, manufacturing and mining.

Admission Requirements

1.1    The common regulations for Masters Degree in the Faculty of Agriculture shall apply

1.2    Candidates for Master of Science in Landscape Planning and Conservation should have a minimum of ;

• A second Class Honours (Upper division) degree in either Ornamental Science and Landscaping, Horticulture, Environmental Engineering, Environmental Science, Landscape Architecture or other related Life, Earth and Social science courses OR
• A second Class Honours (Lower division) degree as in 1.2.1 with proven relevant experience and professional progression or academic advancement through research and publication since undergraduate graduation in the relevant field OR
• An equivalent qualification recognized by the JKUAT senate.

The programme is a full time course spanning two years and is offered at the Department of Land Resources, Planning and Management, in the Faculty of Agriculture. Students with a background in Agriculture, Architecture, Engineering or Building Sciences can particularly benefit from the course. The programme is available throughout our three intakes per year; January, May and September.

Core courses
Unit code        Title
AHL 3101        Landscape Design and Environmental Aesthetics
AHL 3102        Landscape Ecology and Conservation
AHL 3103        Remote Sensing and GIS
AGS 3101       Statistics and Experimental Design
AHL 3104        Policy and Legal Issues in Landscape Planning
ABE 3102        Project Planning and Management
AGS 3102       Research Methodology
AHL 3105        Ecological Sampling Methods and Spatial analysis
AHL 3106        Landscape Modeling
AHL 3107        Seminars

Electives
AHL 3108        Advanced Arboriculture
AHL 3109        Applied Turfgrass Science
AHL 3110        Planting Design and Management
AHL 3111        Park and Recreational Planning
AHL 3112        Urban and Regional Planning
AHL 3113        Eco-Physiology of Plants
AHL 3114        Landscape Restoration