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The School for Field Studies (SFS) Costa Rica - Environmental Justice from the Ground Up (Summer II) (Outgoing Program) Print  Save  Share
  • Locations: Atenas, Costa Rica
  • Program Terms: Summer
  • Homepage: Click to visit
  • Program Sponsor: The School for Field Studies (SFS) 
  • Restrictions: WVU applicants only
Dates / Deadlines:
Dates / Deadlines:
Term Year App Deadline Decision Date Start Date End Date
Summer 2027 05/01/2027 ** Rolling Admission 07/01/2027 08/01/2027

** Indicates rolling admission application process. Applicants will be notified of acceptance into this program and be able to complete post-decision materials prior to the term's application deadline.
Fact Sheet:
Fact Sheet:
Language of Instruction: English Minimum GPA: 2.6
Program Description:

SFS COSTA RICA: ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE FROM THE GROUND UP
(SUMMER II)

A small group of hikers, seen from behind, walks a gravel track beneath tall moss-draped trees in a Costa Rican cloud forest

PROGRAM DETAILS

Term | Summer Session II | 4 weeks

Credits | 4 semester-hour credits (8 credits if taken with Session I)

Prerequisites | No course prerequisite | 2.6 GPA | 18 years of age by program start

Application Deadline | May 1. Rolling admissions: apply early, programs fill fast.

Financial Aid | All students are encouraged to apply for SFS financial aid, which includes need-based scholarships and SFS loans.

OVERVIEW

Environmental justice stops being abstract the moment you sit across the table from the family it affects. This program brings you into rural Costa Rican communities where land rights, water access, and conservation policy collide.

You'll learn to listen before you analyze: conducting interviews with community members, mapping environmental-justice cases for a global atlas, and documenting how grassroots movements shape the landscapes people depend on.

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

→Sit with farmers, water-association members, and Indigenous community members to document firsthand perspectives on land use, water rights, and conservation.

→Research a Costa Rican case of environmental injustice, build a profile of it, and add your work to the global Environmental Justice Atlas.

→Compare Costa Rica's landmark environmental laws with on-the-ground outcomes in the communities they were written to protect.

→Measure what protection looks like at Los Chorros, the springs that supply most of Atenas's drinking water, and what happens when it fails.

LOCATION

Students live and study at the SFS Center for Ecological Resilience Studies. The center sits on an active farm in Atenas, overlooking the Central Valley. Iguanas sun themselves on the porch while hummingbirds work the gardens. Costa Rica is a country you can drive across in a day, with cloud forest, dry forest, lowland rainforest, and páramo above the cloud line each a few hours apart.

Students live in shared dormitories with communal dining. They gather mangoes from campus trees, collect eggs from the chicken coop, harvest kale from the garden, and help turn kitchen scraps into compost. The small town of Atenas is nearby.

SUMMER COMBINED

Take both summer sessions back-to-back and earn 8 credits, at the same center or across centers. Each session is a separate program with its own focus. Start with Biodiversity and Sustainable Food Systems in Summer Session I, or with a four-week Summer Session I program at another SFS center, then take this one.

LEARN MORE REQUEST INFORMATION APPLY NOW

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