Harper Adams University - Prospectus 2024

Why does land managementmatter? Demands for land are many, varied and competing, including • Food production (to feed an ever-growing population) • Housing (there is a need for 350,000 new homes every year in the UK) • Business development and job creation • Recreation and enjoyment *savills.co.uk , research article 2019. The way we produce food now is damaging our planet and our health. Biodiversity is being lost. Forests are being reduced. Freshwater is being contaminated, and aquatic life is being destroyed. 17 per cent of UK greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings and 12 per cent come from agriculture.** The UK Government has established a net- zero carbon target and has commanded that we preserve 30 per cent of our land for nature by 2030: the 25-year Environmental Plan is geared towards biodiversity net gain. Harper Adams University is committed to delivering the graduates needed to realise this ambition – as well as exploring and implementing changes we can make across our own land. If we continue with the status quo, we will not solve our problems. These factors represent massive challenges for those who own and manage our land – but also opportunities to drive forward change. In no other time has there been such a high demand for land management professionals. Read on to find out howHarper Adams can help you to take your first steps towards a specialist career as a professional surveyor, tackling many of these challenges. Choose from one of three accredited degree programmes, to specialise in rural land and property management. See page 40 **Climate Change Committee’s Sixth Carbon Budget. More than 70 per cent of the UK’s land is available for agricultural production* and competition for land use will only grow in decades to come. 38 | UNDERGRADUATE PROSPECTUS 2023