MA in Outdoor- und Erlebnislernen (Pfade)

This course uses the fundamental process of actual lived experience to explore the cultural, ecological and political lenses which influence our thoughts and behaviour. In contrast to more formal approaches to learning, this course exemplifies experiential learning in its delivery, as well as in the content of its curriculum.

To reflect this contemporary trend, there are 3 pathways to choose from which reflect current applications of experiential learning.

• Outdoor & Experiential Learning
• Outdoor & Experiential Learning (Bushcraft)
• Outdoor & Experiential Learning (Health & Wellbeing)

You will consider the histories, contemporary application and growth of outdoor and experiential learning at the intersections of professional practice, pedagogy and philosophy via debate & discussion, creative reflection, critical analysis and critique of research and evidence.

From your base in Ambleside, you can take advantage of more than 150 lofty peaks, 16 lakes and an abundance of rivers across the Lake District – quite literally a classroom on your doorstep.

On this course you will...

• Be part of a Lake District campus that prioritises hands-on and skills-based learning.
• Be part of an innovative and creative course that is tailored to the individual for professional development and enhanced employability
• Have the opportunity to be creative and critical in challenging accepted ideas about both the contexts of experiential learning and about yourself.
• Be part of a transdisciplinary course including teaching on anthropology, philosophy, Bushcraft, therapeutic landscapes, art, pedagogy, eco-psychology, outdoor and environmental education, experiential learning, environmental humanities, and more.
• Explore options for your personal and professional lives derived from many disciplines and cultures based on a reconsideration of the very processes of sensation, perception and cognition.
• Be taught by an internationally renowned, highly-qualified, experienced, empathetic, and diverse staff team with a breadth of expertise in pathway areas and in creative and imaginative teaching and learning.

We are the University of Cumbria, where the impossible is made possible.

A distinct university in a unique place that has inspired generations to conquer the problems of their age.

Pioneers of mountaineering, art, literature and conservation all started here. Now their spirit lives on through teaching, experience and a learning community that prepares you for every future, for every possibility.

All this combines together to amplify how we provide a unique learning environment to equip and empower international students ready to embrace the future you desire.

Why choose Cumbria?

• We are ranked 8th in the World and 1st in the UK for Quality Education (SDG4) (Times Higher University IMPACT Rankings 2020)
• We are rated amongst the best in the UK for graduate employability, with 96% of our graduates in employment or undertaking further study within 15 months of graduating (Higher Education Statistic Agency, HESA, 2020)
• We have one of the top 8 Law Schools in England (according to the Guardian University Rankings 2020)
• With Cumbria, you can study at a University that keeps you safe and supports you every step of the way
• We are a University born of pioneers:
• Pioneers of Art
  • Our Institute of the Arts has produced a number of movers and shakers in the cultural and creative industries sectors, including a Turner Prize winner (the highest accolade available to a British Artist)
• Pioneers of Education
  • We are highly rated as a supplier of teachers regionally and nationally, our reputation is built on an exceptional legacy of education training spanning over 100 years,
  • The legacy of Charlotte Mason, a world-renowned educator who lived in Ambleside at the turn of the 19th Century, lives on within Cumbria, as evidenced by our performance in the Times Higher (World) University Impact Rankings 2020.
  • The Charlotte Mason method is based on her firm belief that a child is a person and we must educate that whole person, not just their mind. A Charlotte Mason education is three-pronged: in her words, “Education is an Atmosphere, a Discipline, a Life.”
  • The Charlotte Mason method and philosophy forms the basis of the USA approach to Home School, which is widely used throughout the USA to this very day.
• Pioneers of Conservation
  • As a University, we also house the National School of Forestry, on our Ambleside campus in the heart of the Lake District National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Centre, where students learn the science and art of conserving and sustainably managing trees, woods and forests
  • Cumbria’s natural habitats support 25% of all species in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan and 80% of our coastline is classified as being of international wildlife importance. Our Conservation courses are so unique due to the practical use of these priceless natural resources.
  • Our planet needs woodland ecologists and conservation graduates to secure its future, and so, we’ve designed courses (such as Woodland Ecology and Conservation, Marine and Freshwater Conservation and Forestry Management) for people who are passionate about protecting woodlands and the future of the earth.
• Pioneers of Mountaineering
  • As a sport, rock climbing is generally accepted as having started in the Lake District in the 1800s. This was soon followed by the formation of the early clubs, with the early British pioneers making bold and epic ascents in the Alps and other areas of the Continent. The Alpine Club, the world’s first mountaineering club, was formed in 1857.
  • Scafell Pike, the highest mountain in England, is located in the middle of the Lake District in Cumbria. This mountain is nearly 978 meters tall and the summit stretches along for 100 miles; on a crystal clear day, you get a panoramic view of Wales, Scotland, and even Ireland
  • World-famous mountaineer Simon Yates recently led an online interactive panel at the University of Cumbria to explore big questions about some of the country’s best and most loved landscapes. A team of experts were at the ready to answer crucial queries about our national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty.
• Pioneers of Digital Health
  • The piloting by UoC in the summer of 2017 of a new “tele-triage” scheme has helped reduce the number of elderly patients admitted to hospital; the scheme makes use of high definition iPads which are issued to the care homes. Instead of dialling 111 when a resident falls ill, trained staff will be able to contact a senior nurse at any time of day or night. The iPad’s camera - together with information provided by staff who’ll be trained to take blood pressure, oxygen saturation levels and temperature - will enable the nurse to help diagnose and recommend treatment.
• Pioneers of Literature
  • Taylor Swift sings that our beautiful Cumbrian fells are where poets come to die but, as she found out, here is where they come to write.
  • Cumbria and the Lake District are the birthplaces or home of choice to some of the UK's most famous writers including none other than children's book author and creator of the famous Peter Rabbit - Beatrix Potter , poet William Wordsworth, Sir Samuel Coleridge, walking guide writer Alfred Wainwright , author and broadcaster Sir Melvyn Bragg , writer and philosopher John Ruskin , author Arthur Ransome , and writer and creator of our beloved Postman Pat - John Cunliffe.  So, as a writer (or songwriter) you will be in good company.
  • Not only is William Wordsworth one of the most influential British poets in terms of the development of poetic language, but his insights regarding the importance of living in harmony with the natural environment also seem to speak more powerfully to us today than ever before. the poet was also one of the first environmental campaigners.

History and heritage

As a modern university, we are only 13 years old, but we can trace our origins back as far as 1822 (and even to AD120).

Arts and the Creative industries have a long history within the University of Cumbria, starting in Carlisle, in the North West of England, with the establishment of the ‘Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in 1822, changing its name a number of times until finally being

Our Brampton Road campus in Carlisle which houses the Institute of the Arts also sits on the site of the vallum for Hadrian’s Wall . The vallum was a wide deep ditch flanked by large mounds of earth, providing an extra defence for the wall.

The University of Cumbria was established in 2007, bringing together Cumbria Institute of the Arts, St Martin’s College and the Cumbrian campuses of UCLAN.

Today we operate from campuses in Carlisle, Lancaster, Ambleside and London, with a presence on the Cumbrian West Coast, providing a unique timeline of the rich and diverse history of our campuses.

Our 10,000 current students and 43,000 alumni are located worldwide.

Our values and legacy

Life and study at the University of Cumbria orbits around ‘ possibility’ – a world of possibility, where the impossible becomes possible.

Our values:

• Personal
• Supportive
• Passionate and
• Progressive.

Research for impact

The research undertaken at the University of Cumbria is all about “impact”.

The academic impact is the demonstrable contribution that excellent social and economic research makes in shifting understanding and advancing scientific, method, theory and application across and within disciplines

Economic and societal impact is the demonstrable contribution that excellent social and economic research makes to society and the economy, and its benefits to individuals, organisations and/or nations.

All the research at the University of Cumbria tries to measure impact in respect of one of three criteria:

• Degree of change – how much did someone change things?
• Significance of impact - how much difference did it make to someone’s life?
• The scale of impact - how many people did it reach?

The University of Cumbria houses eleven research centres, two of which are of national and global significance in terms of the research work undertaken and their impact

Centre for National Parks and Protected Areas (CNPPA)

Initiative for Leadership and Sustainability (IFLAS)

Examples of our recent national and international research projects and their impact include:

• University carries out vital research into Kazakhstan Snow Leopards.
• TV nature star backs species fightback mission.
• Threatened native dormouse could make a northern comeback.
• Technology and motorbikes for virus protection in the race to save monkeys.
• Cumbria leads an international effort to support radiographers during the coronavirus pandemic.

Our areas of expertise

Art / Design / Media:

• Be part of a dynamic, creative and supportive global community and make the impossible happen
• Develop the flexible and entrepreneurial skills that are in demand worldwide to succeed as a confident, forward-thinking practitioner in today’s constantly shifting cultural landscape

Business/(Project) Management/Leadership:

• Engage with experts with international reputations in the field of sustainability and leadership
• Be empowered through imaginative practical assignments and be challenged to take action
• Contribute to the debate around leadership and sustainability as instruments and concepts to affect social change
• Experience a personal transformation and develop skills that will help you to excel in the globally competitive marketplace

Conservation /Forestry/Geography/Outdoors:

• Embrace adventure and inspiration at the only UK campus in a National Park and UNESCO site, minutes from epic mountain trails and Lake Windermere for a study experience like no other on the planet.
• Learn to protect the future of animals and their habitats on a course where the Lake District – one of the UK’s oldest national parks - is your outdoor classroom.
• Learning and living in this inspiring environment, you’ll be discovering many of the UK’s most iconic and endangered wildlife, diverse habitats, ecosystems and important conservation sites with hands-on research opportunities throughout your studies here.
• Explore a future career as a sustainable leader as climate disruption increases
• Our leading world-renowned researchers will help you develop the skills you need to excel in a globally competitive workplace.
• We have the ultimate outdoor research lab to explore exciting questions, awesome landscapes, diverse habitats and ancient woodlands. Crammed with valleys, mountains and lakes where better in the UK to study geography, conservation, outdoor studies and forestry.

Health:

• Be more than you thought possible. We equip you with all you need to become a world changer lifesaver, caregiver or influencer and make someone’s day, every day.
• Care for others and change the world around you every day.

Law:

• Study Law at a modern, forward-thinking, practice-oriented Law School, taught by nationally and internationally renowned solicitors
• Gain vital professional insights and hands-on legal experience working with clients and law firms in real cases
• Access and use our unique virtual Law clinic platform to develop digital lawyering skills to boost your awareness and application of legal ethics, professional values and responsibility

OT/Physiotherapy/Sports Rehab:

• Study these globally respected, high demand professions to help people worldwide to improve the quality of their lives
• Small class sizes, an excellent balance between academic skills and hands-on practice, fantastic facilities and individual support and guidance, make Cumbria the stand-out choice
• Approved by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), you will be eligible to apply for registration to practice in the UK upon successful completion of the course

Teacher Training

• Make a career change; make a difference to the world you live in
• Make a positive difference locally, nationally and internationally
• A career that gives you the power to inspire a whole generation, worldwide
• Train to Teach at one of the UK’s largest and most effective providers of teacher training

Link to our International Hub:

https://www.cumbria.ac.uk/study/international-students/