Costa Rica's wonderful nature gives everyone who experiences it the desire to cherish it. During four months in Costa Rica, you can experience the Caribbean and Pacific beaches, with everything in between: volcanoes and jungles with a diversity of species that you can hardly experience anywhere else on earth.

Based on theory and field experiences, the students work with issues related to climate change; protection and restoration of ecosystems; and how local businesses can operate sustainably and profitably.

Costa Rica is located in a 'hotspot' area for biological diversity. The country has adopted one of the most ambitious plans to achieve zero emissions. More than 95 percent of Costa Rica's energy is already produced from renewable sources, and forests cover more than 53 percent of the territory. This context makes Costa Rica the perfect arena to learn about sustainability while exploring its impressive biodiversity.

The subject is taken together with Spanish and Spanish

Field Studies

Included in the tuition fee is a five-day (four overnight stays and all meals) field trip to a growing traditional agricultural area that experienced massive deforestation pressure 40 years ago. However, the area was transformed into one of the most famous eco-tourism attractions in the whole world. In this local community, they have proven that by using a range of visionary policy measures, also of an economic and regulatory nature, sustainable development can be achieved by conserving and replanting forests, while promoting economic growth and social welfare.

Learning objectives and activities during the fieldwork:

• We will study the extraordinary biological diversity in this area. Among other things, we organize a night walk in the tropical jungle to see some of the most interesting animals that are most active after sunset.
• We will learn about some basic conditions in tropical forest ecosystems and how forests are regenerated.
• We get to know small-scale cultivation using organic methods in tropical areas.
• We analyze how a resilient local community can be better equipped to anticipate and adapt to natural disasters, economic crises and climate change.