The SLUSE collaboration
The SLUSE program - or formally the Danish University Consortium on Sustainable Land Use and Natural Resource Management - started in 1998 and was initially funded by the Danish Co-operation for Environment and Development (DANCED), but was taken over by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Danida) in late 2001. The external funding of the program ended in 2003 and the collaboration has since been funded by internal university funds. The consortium was initially composed of University of Copenhagen, the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University (which later merged with University of Copenhagen) and Roskilde University.
Joint teaching programmes were set up with partners in Malaysia, Thailand and Southern Africa and a number of joint courses and teaching was developed, including the 'Joint basic field course' (now entitled 'Practicing Interdisciplinary Field Research on the Environment') and 'Environmental Impact Assessment', both of which are still running. MSc Programmes were also set up in Thailand and Malaysia, and the Malaysian SLUSE programme at University Malaysia Sarawak is still running, see SLUSE-M (unimas.my).
The courses developed by SLUSE
Practicing Interdisciplinary Field Research on the Environment or 'the SLUSE Course', remains one of the most prominent legacies of the SLUSE programme and numerous new international partnerships have been developed over the course of time, including changing field destinations. Besides the initial partners, universities in Cambodia, Indonesia, Kenya, Poland, Italy, and Nepal have been (or still are) key partners. Today, it is a field-based MSc course offered jointly by three departments at the Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen.
The video below is from a field trip to Thailand, when the course had a different title. The content is very similar to the current course:
The course is compulsory for two MSc educations at University of Copenhagen (Environment and Development, Global Environment and Development) and restricted elective for students in Geography and Geoinformatics. The full course description is found on University of Copenhagen - Courses (search the course code NIFK23006U for the most current version). Students can register for the course through the regular course registration at KU.
The field course has taken place in the following countries and years:
- Botswana 2005
- Cambodia: 2009
- Denmark: 2021-2022 (due to COVID-19 travel restrictions)
- Indonesia: 2010
- Kenya: 2012-2024 (except 2013), 2026
- Malaysia: 1998-2026 (except 2007, 2021 and 2022)
- Nepal 2025
- Poland: 2024
- South Africa 2001-2003, 2007
- Swaziland 2004
- Thailand: 1999-2019
Reports from past years' courses are stored in the University of Copenhagen data storage platform ERDA. Please contact one of the course coordinators listed in the course description for access to previous reports.
The Environmental Impact Assessment course is also still in operation since its creation in 1999 and caters to a multiple educations due to its interdisciplinary nature. Read more about the course on University of Copenhagen - Courses (search the course code LNAK10010U for the most current version).
Publications about SLUSE and an alumni Linked-In group
Sithole B, Birch-Thomsen T, Mertz O, Hill T, Bruun TB, Thenya T. 2016. Collaborative education across continents: lessons from a partnership on sustainable resource management education. Pp 58-82 in Adriansen HK, Madsen LM, Jensen S (eds.) Higher Education and Capacity Building in Africa: The geography and power of knowledge under changing conditions. London and New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
Birch-Thomsen T, Mertz O, de Neergaard A, Juul K. 2011. SLUSE – an innovative fieldbased learning and research approach. Pp 141-146 i: Christiansen FV, Horst S, Holm C, Laursen KB (eds.) Forskningsbaseret undervisning – realiteter og potentialer. Proceedings fra 10. majkonference i naturvidenskabsdidaktik, København 18-19. maj 2010. INDs Skriftserie nr. 21, Institut for Naturfagenes Didaktik, Københavns Universitet, København
SLUSE - WHAT WORKED? By C.H. Traynor, A. de Neergaard & J. Magid. 2007, SLUSE, Dept. of Agricultural Sciences, KU-LIFE.
Treue T, Mertz O, Oksen P. (2004): Teaching interdisciplinary land use and natural resource management. Pp 192-214 in: Fincham R, Georg S, Nielsen EH (eds.) Sustainable Development and the University. New strategies for research, teaching and practice. Brevitas, Howick, South Africa
Feldballe, L., Mouritzen, H. (2002): En Verden til Forskel (A World of a difference). A documentary film providing information on the field course and interdisciplinary collaboration in the DUCED-SLUSE project (18 minutes) and a series following four students from preparation to exam in the DUCED SLUSE field course (3 x 28 minutes) shown on Danish Television channel DK4 in 2004.
Mertz, O., Triantafillou, P., Aalbaek, A., Agergaard, J., Birch-Thomsen, T., Buch-Hansen, M., Gausset, Q., Magid, J., Mueller, T. and Oksen, P. (1999): Danish University Consortium on Sustainable Land Use and Natural Resource Management (SLUSE). Methodology Workshop on Environmental Services and Land Use Change: Bridging the Gap between Policy and Research in Southeast Asia, Chiang Mai, Thailand 31 May - 3 June 1999.