News

University of Turin to launch new degree programme on mountain science and technology

22.03.2023

The University of Turin will launch a new degree programme focused on mountains in the 2023-2024 academic year. The open-access course, titled "Science and Technology for Mountains (MONTES)", provides students an opportunity to understand and engage with the unique challenges faced by mountain environments, to drive positive change and create a sustainable future for mountain regions around the world.

The course aims to equip students with the necessary multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary knowledge and skills to analyse, design and manage sustainable development strategies for mountain environments. It integrates natural resource knowledge and management with primary production through the introduction of new technologies and business management. MONTES will enable students to develop measures that ensure ecological balance and functionality over time and enhance biodiversity and landscape management, while meeting economic and productive needs.

Upon completion of the three-year programme, students can choose to enter a profession or continue their studies with a Master of Arts offered by the University of Turin's Department of Agricultural, Forestry and Food Sciences (DISAFA) or the Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology (DBIOS).

"Education plays a vital role in achieving sustainable development in mountain regions," said Michele Freppaz, professor at the University of Turin and Mountain Partnership Focal Point. "With the launch of MONTES, we aim to empower the next generation of leaders and change-makers in the field of mountain science and technology."

MONTES is an interdepartmental degree programme developed and managed by the DISAFA, DBIOS and the Department of Earth Sciences.

The University of Turin is a longstanding member and partner of the Mountain Partnership and is dedicated to mountain environments and coordinates the UNITA Alliance, a consortium of six universities focused on mountain research in rural and cross-border mountain regions across southern, central, and eastern Europe.