Master's Degrees and Specializations

Specialization in Planning and Management of Protected Areas

It is proposed as an academic space for training, professional updating, reflection and debates on modern approaches to the management of protected areas.

Modality

Virtual

Duration

7 months

Language

Spanish and English

Credits

Curriculum

This specialization program is proposed as an academic space for training, professional updating, reflection and debates on modern approaches to the management of protected areas inserted in complex territorial matrices.

The teaching team is made up of professionals from various countries in our region, with extensive experience in training professionals in Latin America, as well as in conservation programs and projects and in protected area management; this gives the Program a combination of technical and conceptual solidity, with real experiences of many years of work in different territories.

Conceptual frameworks and innovative methodologies for the different processes will be addressed, in order to provide graduates with practical tools for direct application in their professional reality.
The aim is also to generate links between colleagues from different countries, both among students and with invited professors and experts, allowing for training with an international outlook, through first-hand knowledge of successful cases and their protagonists, in the conservation and management of protected areas in different countries. It also generates a space for cooperation and exchange, typical of the University for International Cooperation and its Latin American School of Protected Areas.

Module I

Module II

Conceptual bases on territory, development, land use planning and global change.
Approaches to land use planning.
Land use planning instruments.
Multiscale, interinstitutional and community management of land use planning.
From environmental governance to territorial governance.

Module III

Territorial environmental, social and economic, and institutional dynamism as factors of constant change.
Conceptual framework for adaptive management.
The adaptive management cycle as a response for intervention in dynamic territories and institutions.
Adaptive management strategies.

Module IV

Processes for the creation of protected areas considering environmental, social and regulatory aspects within the framework of good governance.
Strategic and operational planning tools applied to the development of management plans and thematic plans or programs used in protected area management.
Site-scale management effectiveness evaluations.

Module V

Third generation protected areas and their relationship with modern approaches.
Mechanisms for good governance in PA; eight mechanisms used in the Region.
Criteria for defining effective PA management; IUCN Green List Standard.
Methodological approaches for modern planning; open standards.
Information analysis in biodiversity control and monitoring; the SMART.

Faculty

Degree requirements and profile

Entry requirements

Professionals (engineering, bachelor's degree, technical degree, diploma, university baccalaureate, etc.) with experience or interest in training and specialization in issues related to land use planning and management in general, and planning and management of protected areas with an ecosystemic perspective.

Profile of graduates

Graduates of the program will be able to obtain the following competencies:

Ability to participate in protected area planning processes, from a critical point of view.
Ability to use tools for the analysis and proposal of improvements in good governance processes.
Ability to apply management effectiveness evaluation tools for protected areas at the site scale.
Ability to promote adaptive management of a protected or conserved area.
Knowledge about the strengths and weaknesses of different innovative tools for planning, management and governance of protected and conserved areas.
Ability to lead or participate in multi-scale land-use planning processes.
Ability to analyze and understand the territorial context and contribute to the prevention and/or management of territorial conflicts.

Investment value

Program: Specialization in Planning and Management of Protected Areas

Investment

$1,500 USD