Bioengineer in forest and natural area management (120 credits, 2 years)

The Bioengineering Master's in Forest and Natural Area Management trains bioengineers to manage, monitor, lead and steer projects related to these ecosystems and their sectors, with a focus on innovation. It provides a solid grounding in forestry science and open environments, and opens bioengineers up to the disciplines of ecology, economics and social sciences, all of which provide a comprehensive understanding of the issues at stake.

In a context marked by climate change and a wide range of societal expectations, forests and natural areas are at the heart of major issues, on both a local and global scale. The bioengineering Master's degree in forest and natural area management trains executives to manage, monitor, lead and steer projects related to these ecosystems and their sectors, with a focus on innovation.
Through their contact with the environment and its stakeholders, students develop a specific ability to understand the long-term management of these ecosystems in a changing context, to manage the uncertainty generated by disturbances and their impacts, to integrate and make the most of the various ecosystem services, and to take account of interactions with other sectors and types of area.

Trained in an integrative approach combining engineering sciences and human sciences, graduates of this Master's degree will be able to put their operational skills and their capacity for strategic analysis to good use in a wide range of sectors: management of natural environments, policies linked to natural resources and ecosystem services, forest management, the timber industry, certification, environmental monitoring, support for public policies, regional planning and development, evaluation of ecological heritage, risk analysis and impact studies, information management, resources and supply, teaching and extension, research, development and innovation, etc.

The Bioengineering Master's in Forest and Natural Area Management includes a broad base of fundamental skills in engineering sciences and modelling, forestry and environmental sciences, environmental technologies, and human and social sciences. A series of options are available to add colour to the course and to respond to the diversity of careers.
Two projects structure the students' course, giving them the opportunity to mobilise skills and tools to answer applied questions, while developing their managerial and communication skills. The 30-credit dissertation reinforces their skills in research, experimentation, analysis and synthesis in a freely chosen field.

Learning in the field complements the auditorium, laboratory and computer room facilities: thanks to excursions, exercises and the ‘Forests, Natural Environments and Territories’ tour, a real immersion of several days supervised by the teaching team, students regularly apply theoretical concepts. Visits to companies and seminars given by professionals provide a link with current events in the sector and develop an entrepreneurial spirit. Students can choose to open up their course to international experience, by opting for a four-month period of mobility, a dissertation stay and/or a work placement abroad.

UCLouvain also has a number of assets to support this course. The Bois de Lauzelle, owned by UCLouvain, is a genuine field laboratory covering almost 200 hectares for management, teaching and research. The Centre de Développement Agroforestier (CDAF), attached to the Agro Louvain Services platform and based in Chimay, carries out forestry R&D and extension work; it regularly welcomes students for excursions, internships and dissertations. UCLouvain also collaborates with a number of regional players (the Department of Nature and Forests of the Walloon Public Service, the plant pathology laboratory of the Walloon Centre for Agronomic Research, the Walloon Forest Health Observatory, etc.) and international players (forest ecosystem monitoring networks, laboratories in Europe, North America and Africa), both public and private, particularly in the timber industry.