Uruguay has experienced tremendous development in its forestry sector as a result of the National Forestry Law of 1987, which introduced incentives for increasing forestry production. Forestry curricula for higher education must also be revised in order to respond to these changes.
The Faculty of Agronomy (FA) at the University of the Republic of Uruguay has revised their curricula throughout the years, mainly in 1963, 1980 and 1989. Besides the rigidity of the older curricula, the primary motivations for revision have been the students' initial lack of knowledge about agronomy and rural life, as well as a general lack of field experience.
The most recent multi-disciplinary curriculum is a five year program, divided into three cycles: an introduction to the realities of agriculture, the core agronomic courses and training and the synthesis and specialization cycle, during which a final project is completed. This curriculum was developed through discussions with the main stakeholders, including faculty members, students and graduates. The main steps of the process were: the diagnosis of student and societal needs; the identification of curricula objectives; the organization of curricula content; identification, development and organization of teaching materials; and determination about how to evaluate curricula. In contrast to the previous curricula, the objectives of the revision were to create a program of study which provided students with a global understanding of the rural environment as well as the opportunity for field experience early in their careers.
The last three curricula revisions have improved the students' understanding about the agricultural realities in the field. Students now have a better appreciation of the problems in forestry and how these can be solved, as well as a global understanding of rural practices. However, in order to make further improvements, a new shared vision is required between teachers, managers, decision makers, students and other stakeholders about how to design a more adequate forestry curriculum for the twenty-first century.
