Environmental Studies

The course takes an interdisciplinary perspective and approach and is jointly conducted by the Department of Psychology and the Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies (LUCSUS). It is aimed at those who wish to learn about the complex linkages between psychology, climate change, and sustainability, and apply them in their respective fields of work or study. Explore the ways our changing climate affect individuals and groups, including climate distress and its consequences, the psychological and behavioral factors that can drive the climate crises, and the theories and practices that can support skillful action across individual, collective and system levels. The course draws upon research from several fields, such as evolutionary, cognitive, social, industrial/organizational, and clinical psychology, behavioral economics, and sustainability science. The course includes experiential learning and practices drawing from evidence-based psychological methods (e.g., journaling, listening and communication exercises, values reflections), contemplative methods such as meditations and mindfulness, and nature explorations. The course is taught in English and includes both on-site and online education.

This course presents our planet and its specific features within the solar system and the Universe, as well as its genesis and evolution. The lessons focus on the Earth system, the structure, nature, and dynamics of its solid and fluid envelopes, as well as certain major cycles: the water cycle and the carbon cycle. It also covers the different quantitative and qualitative methods of geological time.

By critically examining the influence of science and technology on the governance of human and non-human communities, this course equips students with theoretical tools to analyze nature politics and reflective skills about the role of science and technology in the world they live in. Topics include public and political problems such as examining the concerns about environmental degradation, extractivism, climate change, development infrastructure, and land distribution. Students examine the framework of (Western) scientific knowledge as objective and truth-revealing, and technological innovations as horizons for progress. “Rendering Nature Technical” explores: (i) how scientific and technological practices shape nature (its elements, dynamics, relationalities), (ii) how nature governance takes place in the interplay of science, technology, and society, (iii) the co-constitution of socio-cultural, political and economic contexts, and, science and technology, (iv) the effects of these dynamics on power, contestation and resistance in distributional conflicts. 

In this course, students gain a fundamental understanding of the functioning of international energy markets and perform sound analyses on energy markets. Students learn about the national and international transport and consumption of the main energy sources. Topics also include external costs and steering instruments, insights into newest developments, and how to do cost accounting and capital budgeting with respect to energy economics. 

This course examines various environmental challenges in contemporary societies from a sociological perspective. Recognizing that environmental problems are often intricately connected with the conditions of societies that they are situated in, it explores the processes underlying social and environmental changes as well as the consequences that those processes may entail at national, regional, and global levels. Substantive topics to be covered include limits of growth and development, sustainable production and consumption, climate change and global governance, and environmental movement.

The course focuses on agroecological principles to analyze and design sustainable and productive farming systems. Agroecological principles include Recycling and efficiency; Living Soils; Biodiversity; Ecosystem services and multi-functionality; Resilience; Fair Markets; Culture & spirituality; Youth & Women; Adequate Policies & governance; Knowledge co-creation and collaboration. How agroecological farming systems are developed across the world, and how principles can be applied and translated into adaptive farming practices and management are explored There is a strong focus on methods, approaches, and indicators used to assess mechanisms that regulate the ecological functioning of farming systems. Methodologies to involve farmers and promote the dialogue between scientific and practical knowledge for the design of agroecological farming systems are learned.

In this course, aspects of quantity and quality of water are studied at the sub-catchment scale both in theory and in field and laboratory practices. Students learn to apply computational methods in hydrology and chemical & biological measuring techniques as applied in analyses of surface water systems and water quality. The course covers definitions, concepts, processes, flow equations, systems analysis, and (sub-)catchment modeling approaches, measuring methods, and quantification of elements. Specific topics are relationships between landscape morphology and water quality, hydrological cycle (precipitation, evapotranspiration, soil moisture, groundwater), the interaction of groundwater and surface water, (drainage theory, design discharge, dimensioning of drainage and discharge systems, rainfall-runoff relationships in catchments), characterization of water types and aquatic ecosystems by chemical and biological field measurements (nutrients, chloride, alkalinity, oxygen, light absorption, composition of macro-fauna), experimental analysis of eutrophication processes in the laboratory.

In this course, students explore the intersection between land use planning and environmental sustainability within the context of urban and rural development. Through a multidisciplinary approach, students study the principles, theories, and practical applications necessary for promoting sustainable land use practices in contemporary settings. The course explores the factors influencing land use patterns and methodologies to assess the environmental impacts of land use decisions, including climate change, biodiversity, and natural resource impacts. Through international case studies and policy reviews, students compare existing land use policies and develop strategies for integrating sustainability principles into land use planning, while exploring strategies to engage diverse stakeholders for equitable and inclusive decision making.

This course covers concepts and approaches to environmental ethics, including environmental ethics in the philosophical rationalities of Western culture, environmental ethics in traditional cultures, environmental ethics and biodiversity, environmental ethics and spirituality, environmental ethics and the major socio-environmental challenges of the national and international community, ethics and environmental education, and experiences in the construction of ethical-environmental values ​​in the processes of training multiplier agents in local communities.

This seminar takes a deep dive into histories and theories of rubbish, discards and waste, from the proposition that to be human is to make waste, through to the claim that humans can 'design out waste' in order to survive. Questions include when and where does something become rubbish, and how can its value be transformed? What does it mean to waste something, and when does waste become ’toxic'? This course examines how the politics of waste and its (mis)management lie at the heart of contemporary debates concerning environmental degradation, social and economic injustice, and the planetary crisis humans face.