An Eye Opener

Studying in Italy is very different from studying in Denmark. And doing an internship (‘Project in Practice’) in the Danish Nature Agency is like working on another planet. But this experience has given Elisa Marino a lot of self confidence and a clear view of what her future working life will include.

 

 

”Joining an internship In Italy, you will not work so independently and with so much responsibility as in Denmark.”

 

Elisa Marino, 24, explains the reasons why she chose to study in Denmark. Mainly, the Forest and Nature Management master appealed to her, as there is not a similar education in Italy. Other reasons such as high social security standards, and widely-spoken English also helped.

 

”Being a landscape architect I missed knowledge about protection of nature in general and forests in particular. One year into the study I can see it was the right choice for me, especially after having done the internship (also called ‘Project in Practice’).”

 

For 18 weeks Elisa worked part-time at the central office at the Danish Nature Agency, an office under the Ministry of Environment. Here she did a landscape analysis for an area in south-western Denmark and gave suggestions for improvement. It was both a challenging and an instructive process. 

 

Will produce guidelines

 

”First I had to determine the current state of the area. What was the purpose of the forests – production, recreation, tourism? That both included close studies of different types of maps, reading of various literature – much of it in Danish! - and interviews with local forest people. Finally I came up with several suggestions as to how the area could be changed in order for more people to be able to enjoy it.

 

We do not learn to do landscape analysis during our study, and there is not a fixed way of doing one at the Danish Nature Agency either.  So I had to develop my own method. My supervisor at the Danish Nature Agency trusted my ability to do so and for that I am very grateful.”

 

Actually, the Danish Nature Agency is so thrilled with Elisa's work that she has been asked to write guidelines about how she did the analysis. That has given her a boost of self confidence and pride. Furthermore, the internship has shown her how she can use both her background as a landscape architect and her masters education in future jobs.

 

 

”I would like to combine the two and take a more holistic approach. We should not just consider how a landscape looks, but also take deer population, biodiversity and sustainability into account. I would like to test this view in my final thesis and – hopefully – also in a future job.”

 

Read Elisa Marinos project: Blåvandshuk landscape analysis (pdf)