Program Overview

Module - Landscape Carbon Stock Assessment

Overview

Understanding carbon stock in a landscape is key to informing sustainable land management and provides fundamental baseline data needed to access carbon finance schemes. This module aims to demystify the language of landscape carbon storage and explores the benefits and challenges of quantifying and optimising landscape carbon stocks.

Course Details

• Course Location: Ambleside
• Institute: Institute of Science and Environment
• Delivery Style: Blended (includes in-person and online sessions)
• Course Duration: Part-time: 6 weeks, Short Course
• Course Start Point: undefined
• Award: Module

What You Will Learn

• Complete a realistic carbon stock assessment for a diverse landscape containing a range of different land uses.
• Understand carbon and the carbon cycle, how carbon is stored within the landscape and why this matters, particularly in the context of Environmental Land Management schemes.
• Appreciate the basis of carbon stock assessments, in terms of their effectiveness and their limitations.
• Understand how an evaluation of carbon stock can be used to inform land management decisions, including accessing voluntary or regulated carbon finance schemes.

Key Details

• Recruiting to: UK / RoI / Settled in UK
• Tuition Fees: £550 (UK)

Course Structure

What You Will Learn

• Context – climate policy, Net Zero targets, habitat restoration funding, current approaches for carbon trading
• Understanding of carbon – carbon cycle, transfer, sequestration, storage, where is it, how is it stored, what is it, why is it important?
• Field visit to discuss landscape carbon stocks in a mixed landscape, design and undertake field sampling for laboratory analysis.
• Laboratory analysis to understand how carbon is quantified from soils and vegetation.
• Understanding and evaluating carbon stock assessments – implications for land management, relationship with land stewardship, biodiversity net gain, business benefits.
• Navigating carbon markets and finance schemes.

Teaching & Assessment

How You Will Learn

• Tutor-led sessions will be a mix of in-person at our Ambleside campus (classroom and laboratory) and online live sessions, as well as a full-day field visit within Cumbria.
• Teaching and learning activities will include tutor presentations, small group discussions, supported digital skills workshops and practical laboratory and fieldwork activities.

How You Will Be Assessed

• Your learning will be assessed through completion of a realistic portfolio task which allows you to demonstrate the core skills and knowledge from the course.
• The task includes collecting field samples and analysing these in the laboratory, and evaluating what this data means across a landscape, what does the carbon cycle look like in this landscape, and consider opportunities for enhancement of carbon stocks.
• The assessment portfolio will comprise:
  • A completed spreadsheet of organic carbon content of samples analysed;
  • A recorded presentation or report analysing this data and making land management recommendations to optimise landscape carbon stock or access carbon financing.

Career Outcomes

• The skill of undertaking a carbon stock assessment and explain how this can inform land management can help take your business current business or institutional practice, including acting in an advisory role to others.

Qualifications

Entry Requirements

• GCSEs: Level 2 (e.g. GCSE Grade C/4) English and Mathematics, or equivalent competency through experience.
• A-levels: Level 3 (e.g. A Level, NVQ level 3) any subject, or equivalent competency through experience.
• Alternative routes: We accept equivalent competency through experience. Holding higher qualifications does not preclude applicants from studying these courses.

Fees & Funding

Tuition Fees

• £550 (UK)

Funding

• Sponsored places may be available, please enquire.

Additional Costs

• Students will need to arrange their own travel to Ambleside campus and for site visits.
• Books and Journals: None specified. Core reading materials are freely available online.
• Stationery: Notetaking materials for outdoor use.
• Clothing and Equipment: Clothing and footwear, suitable for walking in an upland environment in Cumbria, whatever the weather.
• Field Trips: Participants are responsible for their own travel to and from field visits.
• Other: Personal computer equipment with word processing and spreadsheet software. Internet access suitable for use of live video and audio during online taught sessions, and for browsing to access learning materials.