Environmental Studies

This course provides a solid and global understanding of contemporary developments and challenges in the field of energy. It provides insight and overview to the particularities of the oil and gas industry, climate developments, renewables, the electricity sector, energy efficiency, and international energy affairs. Resource management in major producing countries is outlined. Energy economics and regulation is discussed both for renewable and non-renewable resources, for the environment and the prospects for a greener economy.

This course presents an integrated approach to the processes that have driven environmental changes at various time scales during the Quaternary period. Discussed are the interactions between the oceans, ice sheets and continents, and the way in which climate change drives/affects Earth surface processes. The archives that preserve records of environmental change on Earth on time scales of millions of years to decades are examined. Causes for environmental change through time are scrutinized in a global context. In addition to covering the general change in Earths climate over a longer period, there as a focus on the last glaciation and the transition into the modern Holocene climate. The causes for environmental change are studied from a marine and a continental perspective. Also, a computer simulation component highlights the processes having driven past climate change in addition to assessing future climate states. Computer based practical sessions are an important part of the course and introduce techniques used in retrieving information on, and reconstructing, past environments from environmental archives (e.g. sediments, corals) and comparing data from different settings.

What are the consequences of increasing processes of globalization and individualization for mobility and transport? Which problems occur from these developments in the field of health, social equity, and sustainability? How relevant is daily mobility for the performance of individuals and households? How can transport geography contribute to solve and mitigate mobility related problems? In view of constantly diversifying spatial-temporal relations and interdependencies, the course answers these questions by explaining trends and aspects of mobility in an urban and global context. Students acquire basic knowledge of processes and factors that lead to the demand for and development of mobility. This enables the identifying effects occurring from current transport developments and to evaluate strategies and measures targeting related problems. The set of lectures focuses on characteristics of different types and modes of travel, theoretical approaches, and practical concepts in the field of transport geography. Combined with a GIS practical and group work to apply these approaches and related knowledge, the course delivers insights into topical issues in the field of transport policy and planning. Note that an early exit for international students is possible. However, to receive 5 ECTS the students must attend the written exam and hand-in an additional individual assignment to compensate not attended tests, practicals, lectures or group assignments. 

As the planet’s land use and human population become increasingly urban, environmental problems and politics of cities are evermore critical for improving socio-environmental relationships and outcomes. Thus, this course explores the urban political conflicts of environmental issues like climate change, air pollution, water quality/quantity, resource and energy use, waste disposal, and more. Using a range of case studies from around the world and beginning with some of the contested material flows of resources that both transform and comprise cities, the course then moves to address politicized ideas of nature, conservation, and habitats in the city while concluding with discussions of human agency and responses to the uneven social impacts of urban environmental problems.

This course is intended for students with knowledge of basic ecology. The focus is on oceanography, with investigation on interactive biological, chemical, and physical processes in the ocean. The discussions range from physical effects on the biology to biological effects on biogeochemical cycling; the spatial scale ranges from individual organisms (e.g. viscosity and turbulences on plankton feeding and nutrient uptake) to ecosystem (e.g. remote sensing and circulation modeling); the organism ranges from virus to whales. The objectives are to cover environmental effects such as ocean physics and chemistry affect organisms, across temporal and spacial scales. Further, the course explores how biological activities feedback to Earth environments, such as biogeochemical cycling and carbon flux and global climate changes.