Foundations of Earth System Governance Research (2024/2025: Periode 1)

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Cursusdoel

Please note: the information in the course manual is binding.
After completion of the course, the student is able to:
  1. Recognize, explain and reflect upon core concepts and theories of governance for sustainable development and ‘earth system’ governance;
  2. Recognize, explain, and reflect upon the role of key political actors and institutions in this field;
  3. Critically review books and articles of leading authors within this field and relate them to each other;
  4. Form their own opinion about conflicting proposals and debates in this field.

Vakinhoudelijk

The MSc Sustainable Development consists of four tracks, one of which is Earth System Governance. The course Foundations of ESG Research introduces this track in a conceptually, theoretically, and empirically challenging way. Governance is the process of collectively steering societal actors towards desirable goals. Governments are an important part of governance, yet other actors (environmental activists, cities, youth movements, science associations, and so on) all play important roles as well. The course will cover all levels of governance, from the local level of village politics to the top level of decisions of the United Nations Organization or the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. However, all our discussions will follow a transformative approach and a planetary perspective, as also local action needs to be embedded in a global perspective and be cognizant of global interdependencies and interconnections. This is what we call ‘earth system’ governance.

The course is organized into four blocks of roughly two weeks each:
  1. Setting the stage: Key concepts (for example, the ‘Anthropocene’, ‘planetary boundaries’, 'planetary justice', or ‘resilience’) in earth system governance research are introduced and critically discussed, as well as the role of science and the role of students in society;
  2. Theories: Several of the major theories in social science are discussed, including institutionalism, policy analysis, and critical approaches;
  3. Actors: Central actors of governance will be introduced and their roles discussed, including civil society, the state, and international organizations;
Issues: We introduce six major empirical research fields of the Environmental Governance group at the Copernicus Institute. In particular, we discuss water governance, climate governance, urban governance, regional governance of socio-ecological systems, governance of sustainable economies, and global governance. Each of these fields will be presented by a leading representative from our group, providing students the opportunity to specialize in more depth in one area, also with a view to possible topics for their later MSc thesis.
This course is an entry requirement for:
  • Analysing Governance Practices (GEO4-2328) (students must have actively participated in Foundations of ESG Research in order to take this course);
  • Research Strategies ESG (GEO4-2304) (students must have actively participated in Foundations of ESG Research in order to take this course)
  • International Governance for SD (GEO4-2305) (students must have actively participated in Foundations of ESG Research in order to take this course.

Werkvormen

Lectures
Toelichting

Guest lectures and tutorials are compulsory.

Tutorials
Bijdrage

Students will participate in two group work exercises, each leading to a jointly authored essay.

Study of scientific literature
Toelichting

The Course Guide will provide a list of all required readings. All articles can be accessed through the UU library system (e.g. Scopus).

Toetsing

Eindresultaat

Verplicht | Weging 1% | ECTS 7,5

20% first group review essay 20% second group review essay 50% exam 10% literature review (oral presentation in class)

Ingangseisen en voorkennis

Ingangseisen

Je moet inschreven staan voor een van de volgende opleidingen:

  • Energy Science
  • Innovation Sciences
  • Sustainable Business and Innovation
  • Sustainable Development
  • Water Science and Management

Je moet een geldige toelatingsbeschikking hebben

Voorkennis

Students for whom this course is obligatory have priority. This course is strongly advised for all students of the MSc Sustainable Development who plan to write their MSc thesis within the track ‘Earth System Governance’ and/or under the supervision of a staff member of the Environmental Governance group of the Copernicus Institute. The course is an elective for all other students of MSc ES, MSc IS, MSc WSM, and MSc SBI.

Voertalen

  • Engels

Cursusmomenten

Gerelateerde studies

Tentamens

Er is geen tentamenrooster beschikbaar voor deze cursus

Verplicht materiaal

  • STUDIEWIJZER
    A Course Manual will list all required readings, along with a list of suggested further reading.

Aanbevolen materiaal

Er is geen informatie over de aanbevolen literatuur bekend

Coördinator

prof. dr. F.H.B. Biermann f.biermann@uu.nl

Docenten

A. Narayan Visweswaran MSc a.narayanvisweswaran@uu.nl
dr. M. Boettcher m.boettcher@uu.nl
dr. C. Dieperink c.dieperink@uu.nl

Inschrijving

Let op: deze cursus is niet toegankelijk voor studenten van andere faculteiten, bijvakkers mogen zich dus niet inschrijven.

Inschrijving
Van maandag 3 juni 2024 tot en met vrijdag 21 juni 2024

Na-inschrijving
Van maandag 19 augustus 2024 tot en met dinsdag 20 augustus 2024

Inschrijving niet geopend
Permanente link naar de cursuspagina
Laat in de Cursus-Catalogus zien