Degree | Type | Year | Semester |
---|---|---|---|
4313784 Interdisciplinary Studies in Environmental, Economic and Social Sustainability | OT | 0 | 1 |
Students need to show interest in the links between human cultures and biodiversity at the local and global levels. Basic knowlege on conservation science would be recommended (e.g. notions on natural resource management and/ or management of natural protected areas), since conventional approaches to conservation will be critically examined during the course. The course will also mobilise advanced concepts from Geography, Anthropology, Ecological Economics and Environmental and Social Science research in general and therefore background knowledge on these fields would also be beneficial, although not strictly required. Good command in spoken Spanish (read in English) and teamwork skills are required.
Biodiversity loss is a well-known phenomenon. According to most projections, over the next thirty years, 20 percent of the world's existing species may cease to exist. Less widely known, though attracting increasing attention, is the loss of the world's cultural diversity. Several authors have remarked that the overlap between biological and cultural diversity is not random and that the loss of cultural and biological diversity are linked.
In this course, we study biocultural diversity, what it is, why it’s important and what factors can result in its erosion and maintenance. Most of the lectures will be presenting case studies from ongoing research. Overall, the case studies have been selected to illustrate the overlap between biological and cultural diversity, how the loss of cultural diversity can affect biodiversity, and local responses to maintain biocultural diversity.
At a methodological level, this course will introduce the studen to the analysis of related literature through the use of tools for literature search (i.e., Web of Science, Scopus) and enhance their abiliy to construct a database for scientific analysis.
Many of the lectures will present case studies from ongoing empirical research. Overall, the selected case studies illustrate the overlap between biological and cultural diversity, how the loss of cultures – often involving indigenous and impoverished peoples' removal from their lands, suppression of their societies, and the loss of traditional environmental knowledge– can affect both biodiversity and livelihoods. From there, local responses, often stemming from environmental conflicts occurring worldwide, help to defend and sometimes restore their biocultural diversity. The contents of each part will be developed according to the calendar presented in the 'Bibliography' section, and include the following topics: Introduction to the module. The overlap between biological and cultural diversity. Indigenous and local knowledge: Status and trends. Indigenous Peoples and local communities’ contributions to biodiversity conservation and management. Indigenous People’s as nature stewards. The contributions of local knowledge to climate research. The domestication of organisms, landscapes and (socio)cultural niche construction. Understanding human-nature interactions through the lenses of Historical Ecology. Synergies and tensions between western and indigenous knowledge systems. Vulnerability and adaptation. The power of environmental knowledge. Conservation as cost. Decolonising conservation. |
The module consists in 12 sessions of 3 hours each. Sessions are divided in two parts. During the first part (1.5h), students attend a lecture and discuss associated readings (see program below). Students are expected to have read the 2 articles associated to each lecture before the class. Some of the classes will be more participatory, including reading and video debates. During the second part (1.5h), students will learn about the different methods used in biocultural diversity and conservation studies. They will also learn how to write an essay in preparation for the final essay they need to submit.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
---|---|---|---|
Type: Directed | |||
Lecture and reading discussion | 18 | 0.72 | 1, 3, 5, 2, 7 |
Type: Supervised | |||
Systematic litterature review | 18 | 0.72 | 4, 7, 6 |
Type: Autonomous | |||
Essay writting and oral presentation | 34 | 1.36 | 4, 3, 5, 2, 6 |
Search and reading of scientific texts | 80 | 3.2 | 4, 7, 6 |
- Active participation in class (15%), showing understanding of the topic and readings, as well as the discussions held in class. Attendance is mandatory. If a student misses a class, s/he will have to write a 500-word critical essay on each of the readings for the missed class.
- Training/learning essay 1 (15%).
- Main essay on a topic to be chosen by the participant (30%).
- 15 minutes oral presentation of the main essay during the last day of the course (30%).
- Role play exercise (10%).
Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Essays | 35% | 0 | 0 | 4, 3, 2, 7 |
Oral presentation of the final essay | 35% | 0 | 0 | 3, 7 |
Participation in the class | 15% | 0 | 0 | 4, 1, 3, 5, 6 |
Work in the systematic litterature review | 15% | 0 | 0 | 4, 7, 6 |
Adger, W.N. (2006) Vulnerability. Global Environmental Change, 16 (3): 268-281.
Balée, W. 2006. The Research Program of Historical Ecology. Annual Review of Anthropology 35:75–98. doi: 10.1146/annurev.anthro.35.081705.123231.
Bocarejo, D., Ojeda, D. (2016) Violence and conservation: Beyond unintended consequences and unfortunate coincidences. Geoforum, 69: 176-183.
Díaz, S., J. Settele, E. S. Brondizio, H. Ngo, J. Agard, A. Arneth, P. Balvanera, et al. 2019. Pervasive Human-Driven Decline of Life on Earth Points to the Need for Transformative Change. Science 366:eaax3100. DOI:10.1126/science.aax3100.
Ellis, E.C. (2015), Ecology in an anthropogenic biosphere. Ecological Monographs, 85: 287-331. https://doi.org/10.1890/14-2274.1
Eriksen, S.H., Nightingale, A.J., Eakin, H. (2015) Reframing adaptation: The political nature of climate change adaptation. Global Environmental Change, 35: 523-533.
Escobar, A. Whose Knowledge, Whose nature? Biodiversity, Conservation, and the Political Ecology of Social Movements. Journal of Political Ecology, 5: 53-82.
Garnett, S.T., Burgess, N.D., Fa, J.E. et al. A spatial overview of the global importance of Indigenous lands for conservation. Nat Sustain 1, 369–374 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-018-0100-6
Garteizgogeascoa, M., D. García-del-Amo, V. Reyes-García. Using proverbs to study local perceptions of climate change: A case study in Sierra Nevada (Spain). Regional Environmental Change. 20:59. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-020-01646-1
Haenn, N. The Power of Environmental Knowledge: Ethnoecology and Environmental Conflicts in Mexican Conservation. Human Ecology, 27(3): 477-491.
Levis, C., F. R. C. Costa, F. Bongers, M. Peña-Claros, C. R. Clement, A. B. Junqueira, E. G. Neves, E. K. Tamanaha, et al. 2017. Persistent Effects of Pre-Columbian Plant Domestication on Amazonian Forest Composition. Science 355. doi: 10.1126/science.aal0157.
Ludwig, D. 2016. Overlapping Ontologies and Indigenous Knowledge. From Integration to Ontological Self-Determination. Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science Part A 59: 36–45. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsa.2016.06.002.
Maffi, L. (2005). Linguistic, Cultural, and Biological Diversity. Annual Review of Anthropology, 34, 599-618.
Neumann, R.P. (2004) Moral and discursive geographies in the war for biodiversity in Africa. Political Geography, 23: 813–837.
Pretty J, Adams B, Berkes F, de Athayde S, Dudley N, Hunn E, Maffi L, Milton K, Rapport D, Robbins P, Sterling E, Stolton S, Tsing A, Vintinnerk E, Pilgrim S. (2009). The Intersections of Biological Diversity and Cultural Diversity: Towards Integration. Conservat Soc 7:100-12.
Reyes-García, V., Á. Fernández-Llamazares, Y. Aumeeruddy-Thomas, P. Benyei, r. Bussmann, S. Diamond, D. García-del-Amo, S. Guadilla-Sáez, N. Hanazaki, N. Kosoy, M. Lavides, A.C. Luz, P. McElwee, V.J. Meresky, T. Newberry, Z. Molnár, I. Ruiz-Mallén, M. Salpeteur, F. Wymdhan, F. Zorondo-Rodriguez, E.S. Brondizio. Recognizing Indigenous peoples’ and local communities’ rights and agency in the post-2020 Biodiversity Agenda. Ambio. (2021) doi: 10.1007/s13280-021-01561-7
Reyes-García, V., García-del-Amo, D., Benyei, P., Fernández-Llamazares, Á., Gravani, K., Junqueira, A., et al. (2019). A collaborative approach to bring insights from local indicators of climate change impacts into global climate change research. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 39 : pp. 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2019.04.007. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877343518301295
Savo, V., Lepofsky, D., Benner, J. P., Kohfeld, K. E., Bailey, J., & Lertzman, K. (2016). Observations of climate change among subsistence-oriented communities around the world. Nature Clim. Change, 6, 462-473. Available at: https://www.nature.com/articles/nclimate2958
Sletto, B. (2008) The Knowledge that Counts: Institutional Identities, Policy Science, and the Conflict Over Fire Management in the Gran Sabana, Venezuela. World Development, 36(10): 1938-1955.
Tengö, M., E. S. Brondizio, T. Elmqvist, P. Malmer, and M. Spierenburg. 2014. Connecting Diverse Knowledge Systems for Enhanced Ecosystem Governance: The Multiple Evidence Base Approach. AMBIO 43. Springer Netherlands: 579–591. doi:10.1007/s13280-014-0501-3.
Territories of Life report (https://report.territoriesoflife.org/)
Wilson, S. J., & Brondizio, E. S. (2019). The contributions of Indigenous Peoples and local communities to ecological restoration. Restoration Ecology, 27(1), 3–8. doi:10.1111/rec.12894. Available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/rec.12894
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None specifically needed