Example estate management dissertation topic 1:

Woodland management in an urban setting.

This dissertation seeks first to assess the state of woodland and tree management within the Unitary Authority of Derby with especial reference to Markeaton Park, bequeathed to the people of the town in 1929. In thereafter suggesting that there is a moral obligation upon the council as the Park’s guardians to ensure that the woodland heritage of the site is preserved and bettered for future generations, this dissertation proposes a 20 year cycle of planting and trimming out so that by 2050 a new generation of broadleaf trees are reaching maturity. This is a dissertation that deliberately places the demands of estate management into an urban setting so that additional issues can be addressed such as public engagement and education, and the need to remind the public that such ‘green open spaces’ do not just merely look after themselves but require sustained management and planning.

Suggested initial topic reading:

• Alexander, K.N.A. (1995). ‘Historic parks and pasture-woodlands: The National Trust resource and its conservation’. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, vol. 56(s1), pp. 155-175.
• O’Brien, E.A. (2005). ‘The public and woodlands in England: Well-being, local identity, social learning, conflict and management’. Forestry, vol. 78(4), pp. 321-336.
• Derby City Council (2012). Markeaton Park. (Including Heritage Lottery Fund applications and site management plans). Derby: Derby City Council.