SFS-Italy: Rewilding Tuscany
Program Details
| Program Location |
Greve, Italy
|
| Sponsor |
School for Field Studies |
| Program Type |
Co-sponsored |
| Duration |
Summer
|
| Upcoming Program Dates |
| Summer 2025 |
07/06/25 to 08/05/25
|
Please Note: Programs may be altered or adapted with little notice
Overview
How do rebounding wolf populations impact the sheepherders in Tuscany’s agricultural highlands? What effects can wetland restoration have on small-scale coastal fisheries? Can farming and biodiversity thrive together? Using food systems as a lens, this program explores the diverse effects global biodiversity frameworks have on local food producers. With Tuscany as a case study, students will examine the economic and sociocultural complexities of global-to-local ecological restoration and rewilding efforts in historical agricultural ecosystems.
Program Highlights:
- Interview farmers, shepherds, fishers, and foresters to understand the benefits and drawbacks of ecological restoration projects in their local areas.
- Examine the successes and challenges for various agricultural practices posed by the return of wolf, wild boar, and roe deer populations.
- Identify the synergies and tradeoffs of forest area expansion and land use changes.
- Explore the cultural goods and services provided by wetland and lagoon conservation in southern coastal Tuscany.
For more program information, please visit the
program website.
This program is sponsored by:
School for Field Studies.
Eligibility
The program is open to Purdue students in good standing who have completed at least two semesters of university study by the start of the program. Successful candidates will demonstrate academic success, maturity, and a desire to experience another culture.
GPA Requirement:
2.6 on a 4.0 scale
Language Requirement: none
Purdue Credit
Direct Credit
available from the following:
[
College of Agriculture]
Students interested in completing courses while abroad from Purdue colleges or departments that are not listed above should discuss this with their study abroad advisor before applying to the program.
Academic Program
This academically rigorous program follows a five days/week schedule. The program explores the on-the-ground, local implications of commitments set in international frameworks, such as the Global Biodiversity Framework, the Green Deal, and Nature Restoration Law. Students will see first-hand the impacts of global and regional sustainability policies on food producers.
Major academic themes include:
- Human-wildlife conflict management
- Multiple and differing values of ecosystems goods and services
- Land use change, agroecological practices, and wild and domesticated biodiversity
- Social justice and equitable sharing of ecosystem services
- Climate change and ecological restoration
All students will take one 4-credit class titled Ecological Restoration in Agricultural Landscapes.
Excursions
You will visit different communities, protected areas, and agroecosystems, including vineyards and olive groves, arable lands, natural pastures, oak, beech, chestnut, and pine forests, salt marshes and wetlands, the Apennine Mountain range, Chianti hills, and the coastal flats of Maremma.
Housing
SFS will arrange housing in apartments with other students.
Two apartments housing up to 10 students each. Three to four rooms
per apartment with shared bathrooms. There may be up to 4 people per bedroom in twin beds or bunk beds. Each apartment has a kitchen, a living room, and small garden.
Classrooms and SFS Center are a 5-15 minute walk from your apartment.
Estimated Program Costs
Students pursuing program participation accept financial responsibility. Purdue will take measures to mitigate financial risks, although will not be liable for loss. Students should carefully note what costs need to be paid to Purdue University or to a co-sponsor or agency, and what costs need to be paid at the overseas study location. This will vary by program. Program fee includes tuition, books, academic activities and excursions, orientation, airport transfers, insurance, on-site support, and transcript.
Housing fee includes shared apartment housing, daily group lunch and occasional group dinners as well as a stipend to purchase groceries/meals.
Costs for this program are estimated and subject to change. The cost figures listed below are
for: Summer 2025
|
Costs per term to be billed by Purdue
and Co-sponsor
|
| Program Fee |
$4,950.00
|
| Study Abroad Fee |
$609.40 |
| Housing |
$1,750.00 |
| Purdue International Insurance (per month) |
$32.00 |
|
Approximate additional costs per term
|
| To be paid by the student.
|
| Round-trip Airfare |
$1,500.00 |
| Meals |
$200.00 |
| Miscellaneous Personal Expenses |
$0.00 -
$1,250.00 |
| Travel Documents (passport, photos) |
$175.00 |
Financial Aid
Purdue University financial aid may be applied to the costs of studying abroad. Students interested in receiving financial aid should
NOTE: Recipients of certain tuition remission and scholarship programs should pay careful attention to the regulations for using those benefits for study abroad. Ask your financial aid advisor about any limitations.
Click here for a list of scholarships and grants available to assist with the costs of studying overseas.
Application Deadlines
For full consideration, students must submit all supporting documents (typically an essay, transcripts, 1-2 recommendations, and copy of passport) before or by the application deadline. Popular programs fill quickly, often before the deadline. To ensure a place in a program, apply early.
As soon as a student submits an online application, a My Study Abroad account is created. Applicants should consult this page often to check on the status of the application.
| Program Application Deadline
|
| Summer Programs |
Mar 1 |
Returnees Information
Click below to search for Purdue students who have participated in this program and are willing to be contacted. If you get no results, you can use the search form to find people who studied in the country you are interested in.
Resources
The websites listed below contain information about this program. The accuracy of information at external sites cannot be guaranteed.
For more information on this program, please contact the Study Abroad Office by phone (765) 494-2383
or email
studyabroad@purdue.edu.
