What is rural science?

What is rural science?

Rural Science is taught in over thirty colleges and universities around the UK.

What does it include? It includes some or all of the following:

• rural:
  • land use
  • agriculture
  • the countryside
  • the environment
  • anything to do with the natural world
  • human communities outside of the major towns and cities
• science:
  • specifically relating to rural, as above
  • knowledge in its broadest sense
  • knowledge resulting from scientific research
  • knowledge relating to best practice in any of the above areas

The terms rural science and rural studies are used interchangeably. Both terms have been used by colleges and universities in the UK to designate course programmes which include some or all of:

• agriculture
• agricultural sciences
• animal sciences
• crop sciences
• countryside management
• equine studies
• tourism
• forestry
• horticulture
• estate management
• environmental science
• wildlife conservation
• garden design

and similar course topics.

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