Degree | Type | Year |
---|---|---|
2503778 International Relations | OT | 4 |
You can view this information at the end of this document.
No prerequisites are required.
The environment has been a major topic in international relations for nearly half a century now. Typically of a cross-border nature, environmental problems have been identified as a quintessential policy area for international cooperation – interests, ideas and institutions play out at the international level and shape the who gets what in this domain. This has particularly been the case since the 1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment (Stockholm), which is generally taken as the first significant instance of global environmental diplomacy. Since then, states, intergovernmental organizations, businesses, NGOs and scientists have all deployed considerable resources to foster, influence or derail negotiations on international agreements regarding climate change, biodiversity, bio-safety, acid rain, stratospheric ozone, desertification, trade in endangered species, hazardous wastes, whales, the Antarctic, or marine pollution, among other environmental issues.
This course addresses both the analytical and empirical components of international environmental politics. Sessions are designed to link analytical and conceptual discussions (the study of actors, power, interests, institutions, ideas, etc.) with the presentation of specific international negotiations, conferences and regimes.
At the end of the course students will be familiar with the basic analytical tools and empirics of international environmental politics. More to the point, students will develop a critical understanding of key areas of international environmental politics in terms of the outcomes of negotiations, the objectives of actors, their motives, the resources they are able to mobilize, alliances, and the interests at play. In addition, the course also helps students to develop the capacity to understand, discuss and use some of the most relevant analytical and conceptual approaches to the study of international environmental politics which are often specific variations of broader approaches to global governance more generally.
BLOCK I: Cooperation, institutions and a bit of history
1. International environmental problems, collective action problems and cooperation
2. Change and continuity in the history of international environmental politics
3. Regimes, not organizations, and why that matters
4. The cycle of international environmental negotiations
BLOCK II: Actors, power, interests and preferences
5. States in international environmental politics: power, preferences and interests
6. Environmental NGOs: voice, access, and direct action
7. Companies and private authorities: the transnational governance sphere
8. International environmental politics and the UN system
BLOCK III: Negotiations, cooperation and conflict
9. Climate: the many changes of climate politics
10. Ozone: the model of environmental negotiations
11. Whales: a tale of three transnational actors
12. Biodiversity: North and South
13. Palm oil: private authorities
14. Acid rain: the role of knowledge and science
15. The debate on environmental security
Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
---|---|---|---|
Type: Directed | |||
Lectures | 30 | 1.2 | 5, 3, 2, 1, 8, 20, 29, 28, 30, 32, 12, 13 |
Seminars | 20 | 0.8 | 5, 3, 2, 1, 7, 31, 9, 18, 15, 33, 20, 28, 27, 26, 12, 13 |
Type: Supervised | |||
Case studies | 16 | 0.64 | 5, 3, 2, 1, 7, 31, 9, 18, 15, 33, 20, 28, 27, 25, 26, 30, 12, 13 |
Debates, discussions and quizzes | 4 | 0.16 | 5, 3, 4, 2, 1, 8, 7, 31, 9, 18, 33, 24, 19, 20, 23, 28, 27, 25, 26, 30, 12, 13 |
Type: Autonomous | |||
Student-led preparation of group exercise | 30 | 1.2 | 5, 3, 11, 4, 2, 1, 7, 9, 18, 14, 15, 17, 33, 24, 19, 20, 23, 29, 27, 25, 26, 30, 32, 12, 13 |
Student-led study | 50 | 2 | 5, 3, 4, 2, 1, 8, 31, 15, 17, 24, 20, 23, 29, 28, 25, 26, 30, 12, 13 |
See table above
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Final exam (open book) | 35% | 0 | 0 | 5, 3, 11, 2, 1, 8, 31, 9, 14, 17, 21, 29, 28, 27, 25, 26, 30, 32, 12, 13 |
Group exercise | 20% | 0 | 0 | 5, 3, 11, 4, 2, 1, 6, 7, 31, 9, 18, 14, 15, 17, 16, 33, 24, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 28, 27, 26, 30, 10, 32, 12, 13 |
Mid-term exam (open book) | 35% | 0 | 0 | 5, 3, 11, 4, 2, 1, 8, 31, 9, 14, 21, 29, 28, 27, 25, 26, 30, 32, 12, 13 |
Participation in class | 10% | 0 | 0 | 5, 3, 2, 1, 27, 26, 30, 12, 13 |
The evaluation of this course consists of the following:
1. A partial exam covering the first part of the course programme mid-way through the course: 35% of the final grade.
2. A partial exam covering the second part of the course programme at the end of the course (on the last day of class): 35% of the final grade.
3. A group exercise: 20% of the final grade.
4. Continuous assessment: participation in class and activities programmed by the teaching staff, such as debates, text commentaries, etc.: 10% of the final grade.
Important considerations:
In order to pass the course, it is necessary to obtain a minimum grade of 5 in each of the partial exams and the weighted average final grade of the course also needs to result in a minimum grade of 5. If failing to overcome the threshold, students will be able to take part in a retake exam if they have participated in assessment activities equivalent to 60% of the final grade. The retake exam will take place on the date of the retake exam scheduled by the faculty.
Single assessment:
Students who have so requested in due time and form, may participate in a single assessment activity consisting of an exam (70% of the grade) and a practical activity (30% of the grade). This single assessment activity will take place on the last day of class at the end of the term. To pass the single assessment activity, it is necessary to obtain a minimum grade of 5. In case of failing to overcome the threshold, the assessment activity can be retaken on the date of the retake exam scheduled by the faculty.
No software in particular.
Name | Group | Language | Semester | Turn |
---|---|---|---|---|
(PAUL) Classroom practices | 1 | English | first semester | morning-mixed |
(TE) Theory | 1 | English | first semester | morning-mixed |