Deadline: 11 February 2019
GROW Observatory, in partnership with the University of Dundee and Future Learn, is offering a FREE MOOC with FREE UPGRADE for a certificate! Apply now and become a citizen scientist and help improve your soil and the environment.
Where can you find all sorts of useful and important information about your environment? You might be surprised to know it’s beneath your feet, in the soil.
On this course, applicants will discover interesting things about their own soil and become part of the new GROW Citizen Observatory European-wide community. Applicants will collaborate with other growers and scientists to discover the impact global soil practices have on major issues like the environment and food growing.
University of Dundee is offering everyone who joins this course a free digital upgrade, so that applicants can experience the full benefits of studying online for free. This means that applicants get:
- Unlimited access to this course
- Includes any articles, videos, peer reviews and quizzes
- A PDF Certificate of Achievement to prove their success when they’re eligible
Topics
- Citizen Science and Fieldwork
- Soils, Growing Sites and Plant Health
- Climate, Temperature and Moisture
- Landscape Representivity and Cover
- Soil Components
- Global Challenges for Soil
- Regenerative Techniques
- Landscape Ecosystems
- The GROW Observatory app
What will applicants achieve:
By the end of the course, applicants will be able to:
- Describe the type of soil they have, including details such as soil texture and stone content
- Explore how soil health influences plant growth and the environment
- Compare different approaches to growing food, and how these impact soil health and plant productivity
- Apply knowledge of their own growing space to how it connects to the wider landscape and global soil trends
- Describe key characteristics of their growing site, such as canopy cover and land cover
- Explore how they can become a citizen scientist to monitor and improve soil health
Eligibility Criteria
- This course has been created for anyone interested in the environment. Applicants don’t need any special experience but it might be of interest to small farmers, community and urban growers, gardeners, land managers and allotment growers, and teachers in environment-related subjects.
- As part of the course, applicants will have the opportunity to join the new GROW Citizen Observatory and learn how to take measurements of different aspects of growing sites and soil. If applicants do not have access to a garden or growing site, they are encouraged to identify a plot of land (it does not have to be big) in which they can carry out the activities, this could be their local community garden or farm, or maybe a neighbors’ garden who might be interested in learning more about soil.
- Applicant won’t require any special equipment for this course. For some of the activities, they will need easily available tools such as glass jars or garden poles. All the tools required will be detailed in the relevant sections of the course.
How to Apply
Interested Applicants can apply via given website.
For more information, please visit https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/grow-from-soil-to-sky