Ecosystem-based management II

Students will learn the rapidly emerging research field associated with sustainability science and ecosystem management. The ecosystem approach embraces broader interdisciplinary approaches to understand the interactions between natural and social systems, and how those interactions affect sustainability. Students will learn the conceptual and analytic foundations for analyzing terrestrial and aquatic socio-ecological systems, both in the North and the South.

The following topics are covered in this course:

• Global change, the international environmental policies and global ecosystem assessments (MA/IPBES/IPCC)
• Managing and monitoring of biodiversity and ecosystem services
• Protected areas and ecosystem-based spatial planning
• Adaptive monitoring/management
• Ecosystem resilience,thresholds and cross-scale interactions
• Green economy and technology
• Co-management/ governance (incl. TEK, LEK)
• Socio-ecological systems in the South and the North.

Students will learn:

• Key principles of ecosystem management and sustainability science
• Conceptual and analytical approaches to socio-ecological systems (SES)
• Governance and management approaches to sustainability problems
• The differences and similarities of coastal and terrestrial socio-ecological systems in the South and the North.
• International policies and assessments, such as the UN Convention of Biological Diversity, Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.

 Students will have the ability to:

• Synthesize research to answer questions relevant for policy makers and managers
• Analyze and diagnose socio-ecological systems
• Identify appropriate solutions and innovations within the limits of different governance systems
• Communicate disciplinary and interdisciplinary knowledge of socio-ecological systems to a broader audience
• Read and understand articles in the field of sustainability science and ecosystem management.

General competence:

• Can communicate scientific findings in an appropriate and accessible way to policy-makers
• Have insights in opportunities and barriers in the science-policy interface
• Understand the differences between disciplinary and interdisciplinary research
• Can read, write essays and present scientific literature in this field for the broader audience
• Competence in discussing the scientific knowledge on policy relevant questions in plenaries/workshops

To teach students concepts and analytic approaches in sustainability science and ecosystem management, a variety of teaching and assessment techniques will be used.

The first four weeks ensure that students have a sufficient understanding of basic concepts in sustainability science/ecosystem management. Students will be encouraged to establish small reading groups depending on their prior knowledge in the field, and supervision will be given in weekly seminars. The first four weeks ends with an exam which students have to pass before continuing with the course.

After passing the exam, the course is structured around 8-10 workshop/panels that will train students to synthesize research and evaluate questions relevant for policy makers and managers. The supervised preparations and the participation in workshop/panel are an essential teaching method in this course.

In the weekly seminars (30 hrs), students will learn to critically analyze both seminal and recent articles in sustainability science/ ecosystem management research. The first seminar will teach students how to write a synthesis paper/essay and a selection of examples will be provided for this class. The topics of the remaining seminars will be related to the workshop/panels.

The seminars (non-obligatory) and the workshops will communicate and bridge different disciplines, and teach students to communicate research papers to a broader audience. Oral feed-back on the presentation in class will be provided.

Finally the oral exam questions, including the presentation of a selected paper, will be available 24 hrs in advance to encourage learning rather than memorization and regurgitation on the exam.

Language of instruction and examination

Portifolio assessment:

The exam will be assessed with the grades A-F.

Seminar assignment: A minimum of 3 approved oral presentations of selected scientific papers in class is required before the oral exam.The topics for the synthesis paper will be presented 14 days before delivery of the assignment and should be 2500-4000 words, not including references. Finally there will be an Oral Exam which includes the presentation of one paper, as well as questions from the different topics covered in the course. The final grade for the course is based upon a complete evaluation of the written assignment and the oral exam. The written assignment will account for 40%, while the oral exam will count for approximately 60% of the final grade. Students will be given questions 24 hr in advance to prepare for the oral exam. The marking scale ranges from A (best) to F (fail). The course is open for re-sit examination if failed (grade F).