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Global Environmental Management - a full term/30 ECTS-credits course

The course is taught through an interdisciplinary approach incorporating elements of sociology, economy, social anthropology, environmental studies, and political science. It combines a general introduction to environmental management studies with a specific focus on the West
African region. The course activities (lectures, discussions, seminars, excursions, projects, assignments, examination) as well as the literature are all in English.

Teaching
The course in Global environmental management combines traditional lecture- based teaching with workshop seminars, enabling students to discuss and work within smaller groups. Moreover, the teaching combines classroom methods, such as lectures and seminars, with practical sessions, such as field research, project work and visits to relevant local institutions and areas of interest. The first part of the course is a 5-week web-based self-study. After this, the students leave for Ghana to attend the regular course based on classroom teaching. The curriculum is covered by 30 two-hour lectures.
Additionally a permanent teacher will hold approximately 10 workshop seminars during the duration of the course.

The last part of the course is a field module, during which the students form groups and engage in actual projects in the local area. The field module is conducted in cooperation with local academic organisations and NGOs and provides an excellent opportunity for the students to integrate the knowledge and skills from the theoretical tutoring and apply them to real situations of problem-solving.

Objectives
The overall objective of the program is to give students an interdisciplinary understanding of substantive issues of international environmental management in general and in the West African region in particular. These two dimensions are integrated in a mutually reinforcing way. The program provides a basis for discussions, critical analysis and reflection on the causes and dynamics of environmental problems and management of natural resources.
The program is designed to provide a balanced understanding of the theory and practice of environmental management practices. More specifically the students should acquire knowledge of:

• The nature of important contemporary environmental issues;
• How economic, legal and social factors impinge on decisions and actions at the interface between human activity and the environment;
• The role of institutions, organisations and other stakeholders in managing and regulating human impact on the environment;
• Ideas, perspectives and debates in environmental management and planning;
• Challenges facing modern society in terms of the need to plan for a healthy environment and to manage it accordingly for a sustainable development.
• The interrelationships between economic and social development and impacts on the environment at a variety of scales, and how to produce effective and implementable solutions to policy and planning dilemmas
• Skills and techniques designed to develop appropriate and implementable solutions to a range of complex environment related problems.

Course Description
The Course Description can be downloaded here.