Outdoor Adventure and Environmental Studies

Outdoor adventure and environmental studies brings together two things that are deeply connected: the experience of being in the natural world and the scientific and social understanding of what that world is and why it matters. Adventure education uses physical challenge and the outdoors as a context for learning, personal development, and therapeutic benefit. Environmental studies asks how natural systems work, how human activity affects them, and what it means to care for places and communities that depend on healthy landscapes.

At the University of Cumbria, this three-year full-time programme is taught from the Ambleside campus in the Lake District, a UNESCO World Heritage site whose fells, valleys, and waters serve as an extended classroom. You will study the ecology and biodiversity of outdoor environments alongside the educational, societal, and therapeutic dimensions of outdoor practice. You will develop skills in outdoor leadership and safety, learning to plan and deliver activities in mountain, water, and wild environments, and will engage with the evidence base that supports the use of nature and outdoor experience in health, wellbeing, and learning contexts.

Access to a well-equipped kit store means you can work with real equipment across a range of outdoor disciplines.

You will also examine the social and political dimensions of the natural environment, considering questions of access, conservation, land use, and climate change that are central to the future of outdoor education and environmental management.

Graduates pursue careers in outdoor education and instruction, environmental education, community development, countryside management, National Parks, health and wellbeing services, and youth work. Many go on to work with schools, local authorities, NHS programmes, or environmental charities. Others progress to postgraduate study in outdoor education, conservation, environmental management, or therapeutic practice.