BIO-3004 Ecosystem-based management - 10 stp

Students will learn the rapidly emerging research field associated with sustainability science and ecosystem management. The ecosystem approach embraces broader interdisciplinary approaches to understand the interactions between natural and social systems, and how those interactions affect sustainability. Students will learn the conceptual and analytic foundations for analyzing terrestrial and aquatic socio-ecological systems.

The following topics are covered in this course:

• Global environmental change and ecosystem-based management
• Protected area management and surrounding landscapes and seascapes
• Biodiversity and ecosystem services approach
• Adaptive monitoring /management
• Community-based management/Co-management and adaptive governance
• Socio-ecological systems in the Arctic

Local admission, application code 9371 - Master's level singular course.

Admission requires a Bachelor`s degree (180 ECTS) or equivalent qualification, with a major in biology of minimum 80 ECTS.

Students will learn:

• Key principles of ecosystem-based management
• The relationship between the concept of biodiversity, ecosystem services and socioecological systems and their application in ecosystem-based management
• Adaptative monitoring and management

• Community-based management and Indigenous - and Local knowledge systems
• Resilience and ecosystem-based adaptation

Students will have the ability to:

• Formulate and answer research questions relevant for communities, policy makers and ecosystem-based management
• Demonstrate ability to apply knowledge relevant for ecosystem-based management
• Read and understand articles in the field of ecosystem management.

General competence:

• Can communicate the principles underlying ecosystem-based management in an appropriate and accessible way  
• Understand the differences between disciplinary and interdisciplinary research
• Can read, write essays and present scientific literature in this field for the broader audience
• Competence in discussing the scientific knowledge on policy relevant questions in plenaries/workshops

To teach students concepts and analytic approaches relevant for ecosystem-based management, a variety of teaching and assessment techniques will be used. 

The course is structured around 6 topics, each taught in 2 weeks modules.  

Lectures (14 hrs) introduces the students to the concepts and issues relevant for each of the 6 modules. Thereafter the students will have seminars where articles are presented and discussed (28 hrs). In the seminars, students will learn to critically analyze both seminal and recent articles in ecosystem-based management research. The topics of the seminars will be related to a final workshop/panels. There will be 2 student workshop and 4 workshop/panels with invited experts that will train students to synthesize research and evaluate questions relevant for policy makers and managers (18-22 hours). The preparations for seminars and the supervised preparations and the participation in workshop/panel are an essential teaching method in this course. Total workload for the student, including the participation in classes, is estimated to 300 hours. 

The seminars and the workshops will communicate and bridge different disciplines and teach students to present research papers to a broader audience. Oral feed-back on the presentation in class will be provided. Teaching will also be supported by online tools available in Canvas. 

Finally, the written and oral exam will be also designed for learning. The essay will train students to synthesize what they have learnt in the course. The oral exam questions, including the presentation of a selected paper, will be available 24 hrs in advance to encourage learning rather than memorization and regurgitation on the exam. 

The date for the exam can be changed. The final date will be announced at your faculty early in May and early in November.