Current Courses

Current Courses

Joern Fischer

Conservation ecology


The conservation of species and ecosystems to support both the proper functioning of ecosystems and the provisioning of natural resources to humans is a major sustainability challenge. This course provides an introduction to conservation science and its importance to sustainability. Topics covered will include background on the science of conservation biology; key drivers of biodiversity decline; and challenges of biodiversity conservation in the real world. Specific topics, among others, include habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, the effects of climate change, and invasive species. Underpinning ecological concepts such as metapopulations and connectivity will also be discussed. The course will make links to core concepts/frameworks of sustainability science such as ecosystem services, social-ecological systems, and governance throughout.

The course will be taught through a combination of lectures and student-led discussion. For the discussions, students will organise in groups, select a current 'hot' topic, provide relevant literature for the other students to read before the class, and facilitate a structured discussion including a short presentation. Students will also write individual research papers on the significance of conservation biology for a specific sustainability topic.

A particular highlight will be three guest lectures and discussions that will be presented via zoom, focusing on conservation case studies around human-wildlife conflicts in Romania, oil palm development and biodiversity conservation in Malaysia, and global amphibian declines driven by a fungal disease affecting many species worldwide.

Ziel: The course picks up one of the key cross-cutting challenges affecting human societies in the 21st century -- the rapid loss of biodiversity. By the end of the course, the students will have a clear understanding of the drivers of biodiversity decline, as well we key ecological concepts relevant to halting this decline. Students will also learn to present scientific information in English.

Further information about courses you will find in our academic portal myStudy.

Current Courses

Felipe Benra

Balancing ecological and social elements in the spatial design of environmental policy


Providing solutions to environmental and social issues is a common target of environmental policy. However, environmental and social issues are often assessed separately, generating unbalanced policy outcomes. An example, is a policy that considers only environmental efficiency but it is not socially just, or a policy that focuses only on social aspects but neglects environmental efficiency aspects. In order to avoid these types of unbalanced situations and to contribute to solving many of the “wicked” problems that environmental policy faces, like climate and land use change or the distribution of natural capital, we need to include a variety of environmental and social elements that will increase the positive effects and acceptance of policies.

n this seminar, students will learn spatial aspects of assessing terrestrial ecosystems using southern Chile as a case study, focusing on interactions between societal and environmental systems. In the first part of the course, students will be introduced to core applied spatial analysis concepts, databases and ways to model and map environmental and social elements within socio-ecological systems with focus on the study area. For instance, students will learn how to map and model ecosystem services and how to combine that with social spatial variables. This will provide a focus and understanding relevant interactions in the design of environmental policy with a particular focus on Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES). In the second part of the course, students will develop an own project in a selected subset of the study area and develop a spatial project on a selected environmental policy topic.

Ziel: Students will learn applied aspects of the design of environmental policy in terrestrial ecosystems.

Further information about courses you will find in our academic portal myStudy.

Current Courses

Further information about courses you will find in our academic portal myStudy.

Current Courses

Sarah Gottwald

Sustainable urban transformation of a cross-border city - a social-ecological systems approach


This course is planned for 2 semesters, where the following 4 steps will be realized: (1) Definition of research objective and design (first semester), (2) Co-creation of knowledge (first semester), (2) (re-)integration of knowledge to provide input for action-plans (second semester), and (3) knowledge communication and dissemination of results (second semester).

Currently there are two apparently opposing trends regarding national borders: growing nationalism demanding for more border protection or even border closure, and simultaneously very high cross-border mobility. While sometimes treated as rather abstract concepts or pass-through/transition areas within the European Union, cross-border regions are home to almost 40% of Europe’s population. This means, living close to the border or even cross-border is part of their everyday life, and tangible as well as intangible values are attributed to various places along and across the border. A specific case is the double city of Slubice and Frankfurt(Oder) at the Polish-German border. Every day, thousands of people cross the border at the innercity bridge over the Odra river. Here, abstract border and cross-border debates become very concrete and localized. The city governments aim for a sustainable cross-border city center that integrates the border bridge as the central points in an urban area of a ca. 1km radius, which is the focus of current planning activities.

Our course connects directly to these activities. The students will work together with different local stakeholder groups and practice partners on sustainable urban transformation visions and strategies. Our practice partners are 1) policy and planning authorities, specifically the cooperation center of Słubice and Frankfurt-O, and the Municipal development Advisory Council of Frankfurt-O, 2) the citizen-led city of SLUBFURT (https://nowa-amerika.eu/slubfurt-3/), and more-than human actors present in this cross-border social-ecological system.

Key parts of the first semester:

Part 1 Definition of research objective and design

The aim of the first part is to jointly frame the problem with local key partners, to form groups according to the students’ individual interests, to develop a basic understanding of project management, and to gain insights on key topics such as sustainable urban transformation and more-than human actors/multispecies justice.

Part 2 Co-creation of knowledge

The aim of the second part is to co-develop visions with each stakeholder group (Slubfurt, more-than human actors, citizens (survey), policy/planning). Furthermore, a first synthesis will be carried out in August to compile preliminary results and share them with stakeholders.

Ziel: • To apply transdisciplinary knowledge and methods in a concrete case of urban transformation. This application will allow students to deepen in their understanding of transdisciplinarity while directly acting in a real-world scenario.

• To understand the social-ecological dynamics in border regions, including the different challenges of bringing together multiple stakeholders.

• To co-create visions for sustainable urban development through a social-ecological systems perspective using participatory approaches.

Further information about courses you will find in our academic portal myStudy.

Current Courses

Dr. Manuel Pacheco Romero

restoration


Ensuring food security for a growing human population and halting biodiversity decline are two of the most significant challenges of the 21st century. The two challenges are interrelated in numerous ways. Because of this, this course addresses the intersection of food security and biodiversity conservation through a social-ecological systems perspective. The course is a combination of lectures, student-led discussions and literature-based work by small groups of students. Assessment is individual.

Ziel: The seminar aims to provide students with skills in interdisciplinary sustainability science.

Conservation ecology


The conservation of species and ecosystems to support both the proper functioning of ecosystems and the provisioning of natural resources to humans is a major sustainability challenge. This course provides an introduction to conservation science and its importance to sustainability. Topics covered will include background on the science of conservation biology; key drivers of biodiversity decline; and challenges of biodiversity conservation in the real world. Specific topics, among others, include habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, the effects of climate change, and invasive species. Underpinning ecological concepts such as metapopulations and connectivity will also be discussed. The course will make links to core concepts/frameworks of sustainability science such as ecosystem services, social-ecological systems, and governance throughout.

The course will be taught through a combination of lectures and student-led discussion. For the discussions, students will organise in groups, select a current 'hot' topic, provide relevant literature for the other students to read before the class, and facilitate a structured discussion including a short presentation. Students will also write individual research papers on the significance of conservation biology for a specific sustainability topic.

A particular highlight will be three guest lectures and discussions that will be presented via zoom, focusing on conservation case studies around human-wildlife conflicts in Romania, oil palm development and biodiversity conservation in Malaysia, and global amphibian declines driven by a fungal disease affecting many species worldwide.

Ziel: The course picks up one of the key cross-cutting challenges affecting human societies in the 21st century -- the rapid loss of biodiversity. By the end of the course, the students will have a clear understanding of the drivers of biodiversity decline, as well we key ecological concepts relevant to halting this decline. Students will also learn to present scientific information in English.

Further information about courses you will find in our academic portal myStudy.