Wageningen University and Research Center

This course is a study of grasslands and rangelands, which can be defined as the type of vegetation in which grasses and forbs are dominant. This course covers the importance of grassland as natural vegetation but also addresses the prevalence of semi-natural and agricultural grasslands, which are often managed by humans to provide food for domestic animals. This course explores a range of topics including the taxonomy and morphology of grassland species; the growth, development, and physiology of grassland species; grassland management, including aspects of grazing methods, botanical composition, soil quality, carbon sequestration, and the water and nutrient supply of soil; nutrition of ruminants, forage quality, forage conservation, and feeding systems; grass breeding, variety selection, and seed production; plant species diversity and productivity of semi-natural grasslands; and sports field turfgrass. Selected topics are highlighted for students through case studies and excursions. Amongst other skills, students learn to identify the most important grassland species using a classification key, understand grassland plant growth, production, and reproduction, and analyze societal, agronomic, and scientific problems related to grassland management and use.

This course explores how to create a sustainable future by moving away from dependence on fossil resources to biomass resources for the production of food, chemicals, and energy carriers. Microorganisms and catalysts to create biobased products are discovered and then learning how to market and sell those products within a profitable business model is reviewed. This course provides a solid foundation of relevant concepts in the biobased economy and biobased products by reviewing an introduction to biobased sciences, production of biomass, biorefining, achieving sustainability, consumer behavior, bioconversion, (bio)chemical conversion, business, logistics and supply chains, and economy and regulations.

The course starts from the premise that climate change calls for new approaches to sustainable development that take into account complex interactions between climate, social, and ecological systems. This course focuses on experiences, actions, and approaches aiming at the production of services for a society that addresses both adaption and mitigation and promotes long-term climate resilience.

This course introduces the fascinating field of environmental history, focusing on the tensions between economic growth, resource scarcity, and environmental degradation in the distant past as well as in present-day societies. The course pays ample attention to the transition from pre-industrial to industrial modes of production and the environmental consequences thereof - the making of the Anthropocene. Analogies are drawn from the collapse of ancient civilizations to contemporary environmental problems, such as global warming and mineral resource depletion. The course also specifically addresses the various strategies that historical civilizations have developed in order to survive climate change, deforestation, soil erosion, or other ecological threats to human livelihood. Finally, the course addresses the emergence of present-day environmental consciousness in the wake of modern urbanization, industrialization, and unprecedented demographic growth.