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2023/2024

Environmental Negotiation

Code: 102813 ECTS Credits: 6
Degree Type Year Semester
2501915 Environmental Sciences OT 4 2

Contact

Name:
Julia Miralles-De-Imperial Pujol
Email:
julia.mirallesdeimperial@uab.cat

Teaching groups languages

You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject. Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2023.


Prerequisites

It is necessary to read generalist newspapers and to have interest in the current environmental political conflicts and negotiations. Finally, the kind of activities and evaluation of this subject makes essential the assistance to the majority of the sessions. Other ways of pursuing the subject are considered exceptional and should be previously agreed with the lecturer.


Objectives and Contextualisation

Negotiation is a key element in the process of elaboration and of public policies and the management environmental conflicts. The objective of this subject is to offer to students the theoretical and practical tools to understand and manage public controversies, and to introduce students in the negotiation theory and tecniques in the framework of public policy processes and environmental conflicts. 

The subject combines the theoretical and practical dimensions. During the course we will analyse public controversies and explore different ways to negotiate by means of simulations and practical cases, from the most simple to the most complex ones and combining the perspectives at the different levels of government. 


Competences

  • Adequately convey information verbally, written and graphic, including the use of new communication and information technologies.
  • Analyze and use information critically.
  • Demonstrate adequate knowledge and use the tools and concepts of the most relevant social science environment.
  • Demonstrate concern for quality and praxis.
  • Demonstrate initiative and adapt to new situations and problems.
  • Information from texts written in foreign languages.
  • Teaming developing personal values regarding social skills and teamwork.
  • Work autonomously

Learning Outcomes

  1. Adequately convey information verbally, written and graphic, including the use of new communication and information technologies.
  2. Analyze and use information critically.
  3. Apply the concepts and approaches of political science, especially the explanations of social inequalities between classes, between genders and among ethnic groups, the implementation of public policies and the resolution of conflict situations.
  4. Demonstrate concern for quality and praxis.
  5. Demonstrate initiative and adapt to new situations and problems.
  6. Describe and properly use the main concepts in the field of study of the relationship between politics and society: regulation of social conflict, political power and legitimacy, political system.
  7. Describe the main elements of the political process: socialization, attitudes and political ideologies.
  8. Information from texts written in foreign languages.
  9. Make a diagnosis of the problems of conflict and cooperation to the countries, regions and areas of the international system as it takes.
  10. Make a diagnosis of the problems of security and development to countries, regions and areas of the international system as it takes.
  11. Political actors describe and critically evaluate the political behavior in different socio-political and historical contexts.
  12. Show whether these policies cause conflicts or respond to a consensus.
  13. Teaming developing personal values regarding social skills and teamwork.
  14. Tests to distinguish between political science and value judgments on democracy, human rights, social justice and sustainable development.
  15. Work autonomously

Content

Lesson 1: Negotiation in public interventions

  • General framework.
  • Distributive negotiation and positions negotiation.
  • Negotiation based on principles. Harvard model of negotiation.

Lesson 2: Negotiation tecniques

  • Planification of a negotiation.
  • Formats, strategies and instruments during negotiation.

Lesson 3: Agents and power

  • Who participates and who influences in a negotiation.
  • Power in the negotiating table.

Lesson 4: Negotiation and participation

  • Negotiation and participation in public interventions.
  • Potentialities and limits of participation.

Lesson 5: Negotiation and mediation

  • Third parts in a negotiation process.
  • Mediation as an instrument of negotiation.

Methodology

The subject Negotiation of Public Interventions has 6 ECTS credits, that is, a total of 150 hours of dedication by the student (25 hours per credit). These hours are structured in the various types of training activities and teaching methodologies described below with the objective of combining a well-founded theoretical approach with practical exercises, to allow a direct approach to the reality of negotiations linked to the implementation of public policies.

The theoretical foundations will be exposed in the sessions dedicated to theoretical lectures, that will be at all times open to the participation of students for clarification and debate.

The fundamentals of the theory will be settled on the reading of texts and the autonomous study, both the material exposed in the classes and other materials that will be indicated in class or through the Virtual Campus.

The study work will be complemented with seminars related to the readings and practical exercises in the classroom, from which a debate will be held between the students led by the lecturer. During the course there will be a total of 10 class practices that will be worked only orally in class and in some of them the student will be asked to do previous readings of preparation. All class practices will be evaluated based on oral contributions of the students in the session. It will be communicated through the Virtual Campus sufficiently in advance in which specific activities each class practice will consist and the necessary preparation on the part of the students.

The practical paper will consist of research on a real negotiation process chosen by the students. The work will be carried out in teams of 3 to 5 people, with the exceptions that can be considered for working or other kinds of reasons duly justified.

On the days of oral presentations of papers, a round of questions will be made by the lecturer and thestudents. Finally, a debate will be opened on the set of topics addressed in the oral presentation.

During the course, individual and group tutorials will be carried out for the accomplishment of the practical paper and on the follow-up of the course in the hours that will be previously fixed through the electronic mail at the request of the students as well as by indication of the teacher.

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.


Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Practical exercices in the classroom. 19.5 0.78 2, 3, 5, 4, 12, 11, 7, 6, 14, 9, 10, 8, 1, 13
Theoretical lectures: explanations by the teacher with ICT support and debate in a large group. 30 1.2 3, 12, 11, 7, 6, 14, 9, 10
Type: Supervised      
Tutorial: individual and group tutorials for support for the accomplishment of the work and monitoring of the work done in the subject. 25.5 1.02 5, 4, 1, 15
Type: Autonomous      
Elaboration of the course paper. 25 1 2, 3, 5, 4, 12, 11, 7, 6, 14, 9, 10, 8, 1, 15, 13
Study: Carrying out diagrams and summaries of theoretical contents. 20 0.8 2, 3, 11, 7, 6, 14, 8, 15
Texts reading: individual exercice of comprehensive text reading. 20 0.8 2, 3, 11, 7, 6, 14, 9, 10, 8, 15

Assessment

 

The evaluation of this subject is composed of the following evaluation activities:

- Final exam: 30% of the final grade.

- Oral participation in the class practices: 35% of the final grade.

- Course work: 35% of the final grade.

  • 10% of the final grade the oral presentation and 25% the written paper.

Important considerations

  • It is a necessary condition, but not enough, to pass the exam in order to pass the subject.
  • To pass the subject it is necessary to approve the class practices, such as the course work, such as the exam.
  • The dates of the seminars as well as the oral presentations of the course papers will be specified within the framework of the course programme through the Virtual Campus.
  • It is required to assist to the class practices. Any abscence due to labour or medical issue appropiately documented will not have any effect on the final mark. 
  • The exam will be at the end of the semester on the day and schedule set by the Faculty, which will be made public in sufficient time and that students will have to confirm through the Faculty website.
  • Students must notify the composition of the group and the subject chosen for the course paper through the teacher's email during the first two weeks of the semester. Otherwise, they will not be allowed to deliver it.
  • The fact of doing the exam, or presenting the course paper or participating in at least 4 class practices exempts the student from the "Not Presented" qualification.
  • Students who have not passed the whole of the class practices or the course paper or both may submit a new individual written work, determined by the lecturer, to obtain the necessary grade to pass the assessment activities that they had failed. The lecturer will specify to the students in this situation the characteristics and date of delivery of the corresponding work.
  • Studentswho have not passed the exam will have the opportunity to take part in the compensation activities, that is to say, they will be able to re-test the failed exam on the day the Faculty determines, after the end of the second semester. To ask for a reevaluation the student must have been received a mark in activities that represent at least 2/3 of the global mark during the course.
  • Any student who, due to justified work or health reasons or because he is performing an exchange programme, can not attend the course normally, must notify this situation to the lecturer during the first two weeks of the semester in order to agree the corresponding compensatory activities. In case this notification occurs later without a justification, the student can not pass the subject.
  • In accordance with article 117.2 of the UAB academic regulations, the assessment of repeat students may consist of a single synthesis test. Repeating students who wish to take advantage of this possibility will need to contact the teacher at the beginning of the course.

  • Single assessment evaluation:

    • Students who have taken advantage of the single assessment modality must take, on the one hand, a final test that will consist of a theory exam in which they must develop various topics and answer a series of short questions. On the other hand, they must take a practical test that will consist of two parts, first, the analysis of a negotiation and, second, a negotiation strategy proposal, both in relation to real cases that will be indicated in the text of the test. 
    • The student's grade will be the weighted average of the two previous activities (theoretical test and practical test), where the theory exam will account for 50% of the mark and the practical exam 50%. 
    •  If the final mark does not reach 5, the student has another opportunity to pass the subject through the recovery exam that will be held on the date set by the coordination of the degree. 

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Course paper 35% of the final grade 0.5 0.02 2, 3, 5, 4, 12, 11, 6, 14, 9, 10, 1, 15, 13
Final exam 30% of the final grade 4 0.16 2, 3, 12, 11, 7, 6, 14, 9, 10, 1
Oral participation in class practices 35% of the final grade 5.5 0.22 2, 3, 5, 4, 12, 11, 7, 6, 14, 8, 1, 15, 13

Bibliography

The subject does not have a reference bibliography that must be read compulsorily to follow the course. However, for the realization of the seminars, some texts will have to be read. These texts will be indicated by the lecturer during the course, well in advance so that students can work on them.

On the other hand, for those who want to expand their knowledge about theory and negotiation and mediation techniques, we propose the following publications:

 

Fisher, R. (1996). Más allá de Maquiavelo. Barcelona: Granica.

Fisher, R., Ury, W., Patton, B. (2011). Obtenga el Sí. El arte de negociar sin ceder. Barcelona: Ediciones Gestión 2000.

Lebel, P. (1990). El arte de la negociación. Barcelona: CEAC.

Mendieta, C. (2010). Tècniques de negociació i resolució de conflictes. Manual de Consulta. Barcelona: Diputació de Barcelona. Disponible a https://www1.diba.cat/llibreria/pdf/51553.pdf

Moore, C. (1995). El Proceso de Mediación. Buenos Aires: Granica.


Software

This subject does not require the use of any specific software.