Content

FIRST SEMESTER

 

PART 1. Theory and Practice of transdisciplinarity in environmental science

Prof. Eduard Ariza

 

DAY 1, TUESDAY 27 OF SEPTEMBER 2022 (15-18 h)

The history and theory of interdisciplinarity in sustainability research

• Philosophical concepts and recent evolution
• The need to clarify hidden assumptions: The reflexive approach
• Sustainability science as a value laden research
• The difficult task of framing of wicked problems
• Epistemological pluralism

Mandatory reading:

Lélé, S., and R. B. Norgaard. 2005. Practicing interdisciplinarity. Bioscience 55 (11): 967–975

 

DAY 2, WEDNESDAY 28 OF SEPTEMBER 2022 (15-18 h)

Weak vs Strong transdisciplinarity

• Multi, inter and transdiciplinarity.
• Weak transdisciplinarity (Max-Neef questions)
• Strong transdisciplinarity (levels of reality, overcoming dualism and complexity)

Mandatory reading:

Max-Neef, M. A. 2005. Foundations of transdisciplinarity. Ecological Economics 53: 5-16.

 

DAY 3, THURSDAY 29 OF SEPTEMBER 2022 (15-18 h)

The practice of Interdisciplinarity: the intellectual challenge

• Conflictual framings and search for answers
• Mismatches in methods and explanatory models of the epistemic communities
• How does an interdisciplinary project work?

Mandatory reading:

Farrell, K., Luzzati, T., and S. van den Hove. 2013. What lies beyond reductionism? Taking stock of interdisciplinary research in ecological economics. In: Farrell, K., Luzzati, T. and S. van den Hove (eds). Beyond Reductionism: A passion for interdisiplinarity. Routledge, London.

 

 DAY 4, FRIDAY 30 OF SEPTEMBER 2022 (15-18 h)

Whole Systems Thinking

• From Environmental and Sustainability Education to Whole Systems Thinking
• Transformative learning theory
• Transformative learning practice

Mandatory reading:

Sterling, S.R. 2010. Transformative learning and sustainability: sketching the conceptual ground. Learning and teaching in Higher Education 5: 17-33.

 

PART 2: Introduction to ecological economics: plurality of values and knowledge, institutions and research-activism  

 

Sergio Villamayor-Tomas 

 

This block and Prof. Claudio Cattaneo’s block constitute an introduction to Ecological Economics. Prof. Cattaneo’s focuses on the foundations of Ecological Economics that have to with biophysical analysis and connections to (de)growth. This block covers the foundations that have to do with heterodox economics, pluralism, and activism.  

The two blocks will be introduced in the session of the 4^th of October.  

 

4th of October: Introduction to Ecological Economics and the Barcelona School  

The goalof thissession is twofold: 1) introduce the basic history and tenets of Ecological Economics and the particular take of scholars working at ICTA (recently referred to as the Barcelona School of Ecological Economics and Political Ecology); and 2) to have a firsthand introduction to the history of the Barcelona School by one of its founders. 

 

Mandatory reading:  

Martinez-Alier, J., & Muradian, R. (2015). “Taking stock: the keystones of ecological economics”, in J. Martinez-Alier & R. Muradian (eds.), Handbook of ecological economics, Edward Elgar Publishing (pp. 1-26). 

 

 

5th of October: Frontiers and paradigm changes in science: the case of Ecological Economics? 

The goal of this session is twofold: 1) to become familiar with the process through which scientific standards and programs evolve, using the example of ecological economics; and 2) to have a firsthand introduction to the work on climate behavioral economics carried in one of the Ecological Economics research groups at ICTA.  

 

Mandatory readings: 

Walker, T. C. (2010). The perils of paradigm mentalities: Revisiting Kuhn, Lakatos, and Popper. Perspectives on Politics, 433-451. 

Villamayor-Tomas, S., Roy, B., Muradian, R., (2022). “The Barcelona School of ecological economics and political ecology:  Building bridges between moving shores”, in Villamayor-Tomas, S. and R. Muradian (eds.), The Barcelona school of ecological economics and political ecology, Springer: A Companion in Honour of Joan Martinez-Alier, Springer. 

 

 

6th of October: Plurality of values and knowledge 

The goal of this session is to have a firsthand introduction to the work on evolutionary economics and environmental psychology, and local ecological knowledge carried out by two of the Ecological Economics research groups at ICTA. 

 

Mandatory reading:  

Reyes-García, V., García-del-Amo, D., Benyei, P., Fernández-Llamazares, Á., Gravani, K., Junqueira, A. B., ... & Soleymani-Fard, R. (2019). A collaborative approach to bring insights from local observations of climate change impacts into global climate change research. Current opinion in environmental sustainability, 39, 1-8. 

 

 

7th of October: Institutions, justice and research activism 

The goal of this session is twofold: 1) to have a firsthand introduction to the work on institutional analysis and environmental justice carried out by two of the Ecological Economics research groups at ICTA; and 2) to critically evaluate the concept of transdisciplinary research and related paradigms and confront students with their epistemological and normative positions as current/future researchers/professionals of sustainable development.  

 

Mandatory reading:  

Otero, I., Niewöhner, J., Krueger, T., Dogmus, Ö. C., Himmelreich, J., Sichau, C., & Hostert, P. (2017). The position of scientists in transformations of human-environment systems. An inquiry into IRI THESys research practices. 

 

Optional Readings:  

Villamayor-Tomas, S., & García-López, G. (2018). Social movements as key actors in governing the commons: Evidence from community-based resource management cases across the world. Global environmental change, 53, 114-126. 

 

PART 3:

Prof. Claudio Cattaneo

This block of 4 sessions figures out hot topics in ecological economics that can offer valuable insights to industrial ecology and global change. The general framework of the biophysical limits to growth is then explored with a specific focus on climate change, extractivism and environmental conflicts (energy and materials) and a practical application to ecological urbanism is then intorduced.

October 10th: Entropy, environment, economics. The biophysical roots of the economic process, the (im)possibility of the circular economy and its implications for growth and social justice.

Mandatory reading:
Georgescu-Roegen, N., 1975. Energy and Economic Myths. Southern Economic Journal, 41(3). http://www.uvm.edu/~jfarley/EEseminar/readings/energy%20myths.pdf

October 11^th: Introduction to degrowth.

Mandatory reading:
Kallis, G., et al., 2018. Research on Degrowth, Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 43, 4.1-4.26

October 17^th: Climate Scenarios, commodity Frontiers, environmental conflicts and degrowth.

Mandatory reading:
Koch, 2015: Climate Change, Capitalism and Degrowth Trajectories to a Global Steady-State Economy. International Critical Thought http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21598282.2015.1102078

Anderson and Peters, 2016. The trouble with negative emissions Science 354 (6309), 182-183. [doi: 10.1126/science.aah4567]

Conde, M. and Walter, M. (2015) Commodity Frontiers (Ch 13) Degrowth. A Vocabulary for a New Era.
Additional readings:

Patel, R., & Moore, J. W. (2017). Introduction. A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things: A Guide to Capitalism, Nature, and the Future of the Planet. Univ of California Press.
Conde, M. (2017). Resistance to mining. A review. Ecological Economics, 132, 80-90.
Alimonda H., (2015) Mining in Latin America: Coloniality and Degradation, 149-162 In International handbook PE (Bryant (Ed.).

October 20^th: From ecological economics to industrial (urban) ecology: Barcelona Doughnut Economics

Mandatory reading:
eading: the City Portrait methodology

Additional Reading: Rueda, S. et al., El Urbanismo Ecológico. Agencia de Ecologia Urbana de Barcelona. (link to theory)

 

PART 4: Training stay in a natural space (Oct 13, Oct 14 and Oct 15)

Teaching staff: Jordina Belmonte & Carles Barriocanal (jordina.belmonte@uab.cat; carlosalfredo.barriocanal@uab.cat) 

 

The activities that we propose will take place in one of the natural spaces that the Fundació Catalunya-La Pedrera (FC-LP) owns and devotes to teaching and research activities. For more information visit: https://fundaciocatalunya-lapedrera.com/en/nature-spaces/monnatura-pirineus  

 

UAB and FC-LP signed a contract in 2012 to facilitate the development of activities to UAB members, especially in Alinyà but not exclusively. This campus will offer us the opportunity to learn natural sciences and socio-ecological aspects and to assist to explanations on projects that are being run in the area, at the time that all students participating get to know better each other and begin to collaborate and work together.     

 

A detailed agenda on the travel to the space (that will be done by bus and organized by ICTA-UAB) and the activities will be provided at the beginning of the Master. The students will be asked to contribute to the expenses of the travel and stay. The amount required will be stablished later and will not exceed 100 €/person (for the 2,5 days that the training will last). 

 

Aula activities, talks and debates related with the Knowledge and the sustainable use of the local environment. Main speakers: Jordina Belmonte (ICTA-UAB researcher & Dept. Animal Biology, Plant Biology and Ecology), Carles Barriocanal (Dept. Geography), personnel from the FC-LP to be determined and all master students in the debate. 

a)   Introduction to the space visited: climatology, geomorphology, biodiversity, biogeography.  

b)   Livestock and the management of pastures and forests 

c)    Research projects 

d)   Sustainable use of the local environment and practical interpretation of the landscape from a socioecological perspective.  

 

Field activities: Adapted to the natural space visited. 

 

 

PART 5:  Tools and methods of industrial ecology (Oct 3^rd, Oct 21, Nov 11 and Nov 25)

Prof. Laura Talens/ Carles Martínez Gasol

 

Block 1. Introduction to the circular economy, and the main tools of Industrial Ecology.

Introduction to Circular Economy:

• Introduction to the different schools of thought, with special emphasis on industrial ecology.

• Description of the various action plans inthe Circular Economy in the EU.

• Linking the plans in Circular Economy with other EU strategies such as ecodesign regulations and critical materials.

• Understand the EU Ecodesign implementation process.

• Case study.

Introduction to Ecodesign

• Introduction to ecodesign

• Ecological design strategies

• Review of current ecodesign legislation.

Development of life cycle analysis (LCA)

• Introduction to LCA as a tool for evaluating products, services and projects.

• Environmental tools and environmental certification systems for products and organisations

Introduction to the carbon footprint applied to waste management.

• Introduction of the carbon footprint concept

Use of the CO2ZW tool.

 

Methodology

Block 1 (2ECT). Introduction to circular economy, and the main tools of industrial ecology

- 12 hours of class that include theory and practical exercises.

- 6 hours of Circular Economy, Ecodesign and theory applied to case studies

- 6 hours of stroke theory and theory applied to case studies

- 25 hours of readings (documents and case studies) and studies outside the classroom (individual and in groups)

Classroom hours: Theory classes will provide students with the necessary knowledge to understand the application of LCA and Ecodesign tools in the analysis and design of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), as well as conceptualize a project proposal in circular economy.

Work outside the classroom consist on two exercises a paper review focused on a case study on LCA and one project.

The project of designing a project in circular economy will be carried out outside the classroom to ensure that the students have understood the theoretical classes and to learn to put the concepts into practice.

Group projects: The conceptualization and design of a project proposal based on circular economy issues such as:

• Circular supply: use of recycled and reusable materials, instead of new materials.
• Recovery of resources through innovative processes that allow a positive impact on the value chain.
• Extend product life through recovery, resale, or eco-friendly innovation and design.
• Products as services: offering payment services for a product while maintaining its ownership for the subsequent recovery of resources.
• Innovation in processes through closed-loop production, to maximize the use of resources and minimize environmental impact.

The project proposal will be presented as follows:

• A short video describing your project (max. 7 min). The video should highlight the main objective, the potential benefits in environmental, social and economic terms and the tentative methodological approach to evaluate it.
• A brief report with the following content:

• Section 1, general approach to the project:

o Description of the objective of the circular economy project.

o Methodological approach

o Possible benefits of the project.

• Section 2, evaluation of the potential impact project:

o Provisional environmental assessment of the project using tools that focus on a systematic and life cycle approach.

o Definition of the Functional Unit

o System and product description

o Discussion on the expected results of the evaluation using the selected environmental tool

The project proposals will be evaluated based on the following aspects:

• Speech and communication: clarity of the objective, the methodology and the results, and the correct use of vocabulary and terminology
• Time: adjusted use of time to important aspects 
• Format and data: easy to understand and follow the discourse (good listening and reading of the information presented)
• Project: real applicability and replicability of the proposal, originality, and innovative nature of the idea. potential benefits on environmental, social and economic aspects.
• Existence of clear and measurable objectives and indicators of tracing.

 

 

PART 6: Communication and academic dissemination, also related to the master's thesis (Feb 1, Feb 8, Feb 14, Feb 21 and Feb 28)

 

Prof. Laia Mojica          laia.mojica@uab.cat

 

Course and objectives

The goal of the course is to introduce students to the fundamentals of writing and presentations in the context of academic work. The main objective of the course is to help students to dominate the specific requirements of writing academic articles, reports and theses, and presentations at the graduate level. With this objective, we will specifically work on the design of the research, the critical summary, the synthesis, and the presentations.

Topics covered in class include discussion of academic writing, article structure, abstracts, introductions/conclusions, literature reviews, evidences, referencing styles, sources and citations, plagiarism, scholarly sources, and library resources. We will also address strategies for presenting information. The course offers opportunities for discussions and exercises.

 

Contents

Sessions include:

1) Readings: we will read academic articles selected by the teacher and the students. The readings will be discussed in class.

2) Short Writing: Throughout the classes, students will complete various short writing exercises in class. These will be exercises in the use of concepts learned in class/reading and will be incorporated into assignments.

3) Papers: students willwrite two individual essays:

(a) The first essay is a bibliographic review: students choose an academic book from their fields of study and write a summary-review.

(b) The second essay is a synthesis essay: students write an introduction on a topic they have worked on in their field of study.

4) Oral presentation: students will present their bibliographic review under the instructions of the instructor and will receive comments from the class.

 

Methodology

1. Lectures, problem solving and case studies

2. Learning based on real cases

3. Presentation and oral presentation of the research work developed

4. Participation in complementary activities