Degree | Type | Year |
---|---|---|
2501915 Environmental Sciences | OT | 4 |
You can view this information at the end of this document.
To take this subject it is recommended to have passed the following subjects:
- Medi Ambient i Societat
- Administration and Politics Environmentals
- Gestió i Planificació dels Recursos i del Territori
On the other hand, during the course concepts and knowledge previously acquired in the subjects of basic and compulsory education will be used:
- Usos Humans del Sistema Terra
- Introducció al Dret
- Dret Ambiental
- Economia Ambiental i dels Recursos Naturals
- Cartografia i Fotointerpretació
Course Description
Our planet is undergoing unprecedented changes that need urgent response, swift action and effective adaptation and mitigation policies. This course will examine how the international community, nations, cities and communities are mitigating and adapting to the impacts of global climate change. We will examine a variety of global systems including our oceans, biodiversity, urban systems and consumption networks. For each topic, we will aim to understand the core global challenge and the current responses to a changing planet. While climate change is the greatest global threat faced by humanity, we will examine other global environmental challenges such as biodiversity loss, resource extraction, the regulation of pollutants and environmental injustice. We will also debate policy alternatives, allowing students to develop their own policy positions.
The course will be organized around five primary themes: Oceans, Land, Cities, Consumption, and Policies, with 1 to 3 weeks devoted to each theme. In each theme, we will explore the global threats, mitigation efforts and alternatives. The final theme on policies will allow us to debate mainstream and alternative policy approaches to addressing global environmental challenges. You will also be expected to present and defend your own policy recommendation on a topic of your choice.
This will be the inaugural edition this course at the UAB. It will also be the first course time that the UAB has allowed our institute, l’Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA-UAB) to develop and take responsibility for teaching a course to undergraduates at this university. As such, the content of the course will be showcasing the research and expertise at ICTA, allowing students to become familiar with the specialization and research teams working on exciting topics in environmental science at ICTA. At the same time, a special effort will be made to create a coherent course that is pulled together with common themes and learning objectives.
We will explore several topics in environmental science which you have probably already encountered in your degree program, although the aim is to examine these topics from the perspective of adaptation strategies, mitigation efforts and policy alternatives.
The course may include occasional guest speakers, however to ensure course continuity and structure, the program will be led by one course instructor to ensure pedagogical coherence.
Learning Objectives
By the end of the course students should be able to:
Week 1. Introductions and Course Overview
Learning Objectives
Expectations
Strategies for migitation of climate change
Week 2. Global Climate Change
Feedback effects and tipping points
The current status of international climate negotiations
Adaptation
Warming in the Arctic and feedback effects
Week 3. Oceans: Global Change, Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies
Historic changes to our oceans
Overfishing and our food supply
Marine litter
Week 4. The Mercury Game Negotiation Exercise
International and multilateral negotiations
Preparing for negotiations and reaching agreements
Experiential learning
Week 5. Global Change in Terrestrial Ecosystems
Global Biodiversity Loss
Governance and Conservation Effectiveness
Traditional and Indigenous Knowledge
Week 6. Cities & Climate Mitigation
Greenhouse gas emissions from global cities
City and regional mitigation plans
Week 7. Climate Mitigation in Cities
Built Environment and Mobility
Transformational Urban Planning: Barcelona’s Superblocks
Bike Bus
Week 8. Climate Justice
Green space and wellbeing
Environmental justice
Green gentrification
Week 9. Climate Policies
Carbon trading, Carbon taxes and carbon prices
Artificial Intelligence (AI) for climate policy advice
Week 10. Consumption & Degrowth Part 1
Lifecyle assessment
Circular Economy
Week 11. Consumption & Degrowth Part 2
Degrowth
Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
---|---|---|---|
Type: Directed | |||
Classroom exercises (classroom practices) | 15 | 0.6 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9 |
Master classes (theory) | 25 | 1 | 2, 5, 6, 7, 9 |
Student exhibitions (seminars) | 10 | 0.4 | 1, 5, 7, 8, 10 |
Type: Supervised | |||
Group tutorials | 2 | 0.08 | 2, 5, 6, 8 |
Oriented readings | 12 | 0.48 | 1, 2, 5, 7, 10 |
Preparation of exercises | 10 | 0.4 | 2, 3, 4, 6, 10 |
Teamwork | 10 | 0.4 | 1, 2, 5, 7, 8 |
Type: Autonomous | |||
Individual tutorials | 1 | 0.04 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9 |
Reading and personal study | 28 | 1.12 | 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 |
Search for information | 10 | 0.4 | 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 |
Teamwork | 25 | 1 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 |
The teaching activities of the subject will be structured as follows:
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 | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Class Participation | 30% | 0 | 0 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 |
Policy Memo | 15% | 2 | 0.08 | 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9 |
Policy Memo Presentation | 15% | 0 | 0 | 2, 10 |
Short Assignments | 20% | 0 | 0 | 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 |
Student Choice Project | 20% | 0 | 0 | 1, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10 |
Class Participation 30%
Student Choice Project 20%
Short Assignments 20%
Policy Memo 15%
Policy Memo Presentation 15%
A course reader (dossier) will be made available for purchase at the Copisteria UAB (Canon) at the Plaça Civica. Each week students are expected to have come to class having completed the readings. Students should critically engage with the readings, identifying the central argument of the author(s), connecting those arguments with the themes of the course. It is highly recommended that students make notes on hardcopies of the reader (dossier). The readings are an essential element of the course. Students must complete the readings in order to learn in this course.
Students will also be asked to purchase and read one book:
Hickel, J. 2020. Less is More. How Degrowth will Save the World. Penguin Books. New York.
Standard software (MS Office) will be used throughout the course.
Name | Group | Language | Semester | Turn |
---|---|---|---|---|
(PAUL) Classroom practices | 1 | English | second semester | morning-mixed |
(TE) Theory | 1 | English | second semester | morning-mixed |