Bachelor in Research and protection of Cultural and Environmental Heritage
Riga, Latvia
DURATION
4 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Request application deadline
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2025
TUITION FEES
EUR 4,700 / per year
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
Introduction
- Degree to be achieved: Bachelor of Natural Sciences in Environmental Science
- Amount of credits: 160 credit points or 240 ECTS
- Accreditation: The program is accredited until 31.12.2024.
The "Research and Protection of Cultural and Environmental Heritage" is a unique study program in Latvia providing academic education at the Bachelor's level in the Natural Sciences. The uniqueness of this study program is in its pronounced interdisciplinarity – it has been developed in close cooperation with the Art Academy of Latvia. Apart from the lecturers from the Academy and the Faculty of Geography and Earth Sciences, the courses are taught also by the teaching staff from the Faculty of Humanities, Faculty of History and Philosophy, and Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Latvia.
The best professionals in the field of cultural and environmental heritage are also involved in the tuition of the program. The study content focuses on 4 main thematic modules: Environmental sciences, Environmental sciences and cultural heritage, Theory and methods of cultural heritage, and Humanities and arts. Practical works and involvement of high-level specialists and organizations from the field of Cultural and Environmental Heritage, such as UNESCO, ICOMOS, etc. in the study process make this program even more valuable for the students.
This study program aims to prepare academically educated specialists with the appropriate knowledge, skills, and competence required to successfully work in the field of assessment, preservation, protection, and sustainable management of cultural and environmental heritage monuments and sites.
Aim of the Study Program
- To provide the education of interdisciplinary study content in the field of cultural and environmental heritage rooted in environmental sciences for the preparation of students and graduates of the program for research activity, professional activity, and lifelong learning.
- To ensure the ability to responsibly and safely choose and appropriately use information technologies and other technologies relevant to the field.
- To create prerequisites and promote the development of cultural and environmental heritage as a direction of scientific research in Latvia.
The programme Tasks
- To provide the necessary theoretical and practical knowledge in environmental science, including the fields of nature protection, environmental management, and environmental technologies, by developing the skills and abilities demanded by the labor market
- To develop students’ abilities to in-dependently learn, critically analyze, and practically apply the knowledge in solving current tasks in the labor market of Latvia and the EU member states in the direction of environmental protection
- To contribute to the research in natural sciences, including environmental protection.
Admissions
Scholarships and Funding
- EUR 500 per month - citizens from these countries are eligible to apply for a Latvian state scholarship.
- Temporary students’ residence permit holders can work 20 hours per week.
Curriculum
Research and Protection of Cultural and Environmental Heritage
Mandatory Part
- Environmental Sciences and Cultural Heritage
- Environmental Sciences
- Humanities and Arts
General Education Study Courses
Mandatory Part
- Academic Study Practice Course
- Civil Protection
- Data analysis and Vector graphics in the Cultural Heritage field
- Historical Aspects of the Cultural Landscape Formation in the Baltic Sea Region
- Research methods of cultural heritage objects I
- Research methods of cultural heritage objects II
- Development of a Bachelor's Thesis topic project Coursework/project 2
- Development of a bachelor's thesis project Coursework/project 2
- Latvian Language for Beginners I Exam 2
- Latin
Program Outcome
Knowledge
- Understands the basic principles of the environmental sciences’ theories, regularities, types of natural and environmental resources, and orients in the problems of ecology and material science basics.
- Knows the basic sets of facts, ideas, and findings of art history, environmental history, and social history in the context of cultural heritage theories.
- Knows the requirements for evaluating and documenting cultural and environmental heritage and the basic methods of their visualization.
Skills
- Explains the properties and values of objects of environmental science and cultural heritage; defines the main research problems on a global, regional, and local scale.
- Applies stylistically and informatively appropriate forms of substantive and visual expression in solving research questions.
- Is able perform a to public speech and reasoned discussion on issues of environmental science and the protection of cultural and environmental heritage in an audience of both specialists and non-specialists and is able to decide on the ways of solving cultural and environmental issues in changing natural and social environment conditions.
Competence
- Identifies and critically analyses the issues of sustainability of the resources related to natural, cultural, and environmental heritage and environmental monitoring and revitalization questions in the context of natural and urban environment objects, performing a general assessment of the physical condition of natural cultural and environmental objects.
- Orients in the national and international regulation of the cultural heritage field and analyses the interrelationships of facts, data, and observations by working independently at information repositories, cultural heritage and environmental heritage sites, and social institutions.
- Initiates and engages in research-oriented projects using imaging technologies and methods in accordance with the purpose of the research or professional activity.
Program Tuition Fee
Career Opportunities
The labour market of graduates of the study programme is made up of companies related to culture, cultural and environmental heritage fields, real estate management enterprises, including the direction of property development, sectors of tourism and hospitality, environmental and cultural protection, and scientific research of cultural heritage. The main area of competencies that determines the competitiveness of graduates of the study programme in the labour market is the knowledge, skills and competencies required to manage and protect tangible cultural and environmental heritage, ensuring its sustainable and economically justified maintenance. Although the study programme is expected to be academic, the theoretical knowledge and practical skills it provides allow students to be better prepared for the demands of the labour market in the cultural and environmental management and research field.
In implementing the study programme, lecturers who are also practitioners are involved, providing a connection between education, practice and science, developing the knowledge base and competencies. Since the study programme is implemented in cooperation with the Art Academy of Latvia, part of the study courses is organized with the simultaneous participation of lecturers from both universities. Such cooperation opens vast opportunities for developing joint scientific research and applied projects – both as students’ scientific works and as further cooperation projects whose direct goal is an application in practice.