Environmental Studies

This is an advanced course that is part of the Laurea Magistrale program. The course is intended for advanced level students only. Enrollment is by consent of the instructor. There are three versions of this course; this course, “GEOGRAPHY OF GLOBAL CHALLENGES,” UCEAP Course Number 177B and Bologna course number 95931, is associated with the LM in Local and Global Development degree programme. One of the other versions, “GEOGRAPHIES OF GLOBAL CHALLENGES,” UCEAP Course Number 177A and Bologna course number 81952, is associated with the LM in History and Oriental Studies degree programme. The final version “GEOGRAPHY OF DEVELOPMENT,” UCEAP Course Number 176 and Bologna course number 19695, is associated with the LM in Local and Global Development degree programme.
Climate change offers the opportunity for a multidisciplinary analysis. The course discusses various aspects of the topic through a primarily geographical approach. The course is structured into three parts. Part one introduces climate change as a global phenomenon, with its natural and anthropogenic root causes. Students discuss and reflect on the socio-spatial inequalities inherent in the climate crisis. Part two analyzes climate governance, the Kyoto Protocol, and the Post Kyoto adaptation and mitigation strategies. In addition to the policy-making process, the course critically examines theoretical frameworks of adaptation, notions of climate justice, and intersectional approaches to addressing the climate crisis and its colonial roots. Part three concerns climate change and mobility. The course examines the complex interconnections between climate change and (im)mobility. Empirical examples are drawn from the #ClimateOfChange [https://climateofchange.info/publications-press/] interdisciplinary research project to contextualize the climate crisis as it is manifested, resisted, and understood from diverse locations across the globe. At the end of the course students show understanding of some of the global challenges the population of the planet has been facing since the second half of the twentieth century. Among these, the critical relation with the natural resources and with the concept of development and, above all, climate change, with its connections to territorial development, ecological risk, food security, and the consumption of natural resources. At the end of the course, the students have acquired the theoretical and empirical tools to critically analyze the global strategies of climate resilience and cooperation and the relation between climate change and tourism.

This course gives an introduction to some of the approaches, theoretical concepts and tools used in sustainability studies. The course uses problem solving and critical approaches to explore some key sustainability challenges, e.g. climate change, biodiversity loss, ocean acidification and land-system change. The course integrates natural and social dimensions of these challenges. In this way it covers the scientific understanding of, theoretical perspectives on, and social perceptions of major sustainability challenges.

The study of climatic and environmental changes that have occurred over the past few million years is one of the most exciting branches of Physical Geography. This course examines spatial and temporal patterns of climatic and environmental changes during the late Cenozoic and their potential causes. It also assesses the contribution of palaeoclimatology to our understanding of present and future climate.  The course stresses the multi-disciplinary nature of research into past environments.  On completion of the course students will have knowledge of major global patterns of climate change and environmental response on tectonic, orbital and millennial timescales and their regional expression e.g. northern vs southern hemisphere, low vs mid vs high latitude, an understanding of the different climate forcing variables and an appreciation of how climate scientists have used palaeoclimatic data to support projections of future climate.

The course examines regional climates and anomalies with particular emphasis on the temperate and tropical regions. Topics include evapotranspiration, water balance concepts and Koeppen‘s classification system, general circulation, mid-latitude climates, tropical climates, and inter-tropical discontinuity (ITD) and weather zones of Ghana and West Africa.

This course develops an understanding of key concepts and theories related to climate issues, sustainability, and environmental governance in Africa. It debates climate adaptation and mitigation, sustainable development, and governing the environment, and discusses specific African cases related to climate-smart interventions, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and governance initiatives related to biodiversity conservation and rural development. The course examines key actors in Africa's development and the roles they play in responding to the climate crisis, in sustainability, and in governing natural resources. It discusses relevant questions concerning the relationship between climate, scarcity, and abundance; internationally-driven, climate-smart initiatives in Africa related to the role of state, market, and civil society; and the impacts and coping strategies related to implementing the SDGs in Africa. The course consists of a combination of lectures and workshop-like activities with active student participation and presentations by a number of external lecturers, including guests from the private sector, NGOs, and researchers. This version of the course is worth 6 quarter UC units and assessment consists of a written paper on a topic of the student's own choosing comprising 24,000-28,800 characters.

This course explores the processes and patterns of climate variability and change, and considers how these aspects of climate impact society. The course emphasizes the concept that climate is not only a determinant of human activities but is one of humankind's greatest resources. The course also examines how it can be one of humankind's greatest threats, due to the occurrence of climate extremes and anthropogenic-related changes to the global climate system. The course explores the relationship between climate and society; climate oscillations and teleconnections as well as the mechanisms underlying climatic variability; the nature of direct and indirect impacts of climate on society and the science of climate change and how climate change impact assessments are conducted; climate risk and its assessment; how climate knowledge can be applied to the problem of sustainable development.

The extensive independent study field research paper produced by the student is both the centerpiece of the intern's professional engagement and the culmination of the academic achievements of the semester. During the preparatory session, IFE teaches the methodological guidelines and principles to which students are expected to adhere in the development of their written research. Students work individually with a research advisor from their field. The first task is to identify a topic, following guidelines established by IFE for research topic choice. The subject must be tied in a useful and complementary way to the student-intern's responsibilities, as well as to the core concerns of the host organization. The research question should be designed to draw as much as possible on resources available to the intern via the internship (data, documents, interviews, observations, seminars and the like). Students begin to focus on this project after the first 2-3 weeks on the internship. Each internship agreement signed with an organization makes explicit mention of this program requirement, and this is the culminating element of their semester. Once the topic is identified, students meet individually, as regularly as they wish, with their IFE research advisor to generate a research question from the topic, develop an outline, identify sources and research methods, and discuss drafts submitted by the student. The research advisor also helps students prepare for the oral defense of their work which takes place a month before the end of the program and the due date of the paper. The purpose of this exercise is to help students evaluate their progress and diagnose the weak points in their outline and arguments. Rather than an extraneous burden added to the intern's other duties, the field research project grows out of the internship through a useful and rewarding synergy of internship and research. The Field Study and Internship model results in well-trained student-interns fully engaged in mission-driven internships in their field, while exploring a critical problem guided by an experienced research advisor.