Environmental Management in Europe
Course content
Environmental Management in Europe is an interdisciplinary
distance learning course offered by the University of Copenhagen
with contribution from the Swedish University of Agricultural
Sciences, the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in
Vienna, the University of Hohenheim and the European Environment
Agency. It is open for MSc students from Denmark, other countries
in the EU and the rest of the world.
The focus of the course is environmental management of natural
resources (soil, water, air, biodiversity and climate) from a
European perspective. The European Union (EU) sets the policy frame
for almost all environmental regulation in the member states. This
frame determines both the possibilities and the limitations for
carrying out environmental management and developing environmental
solutions in the EU.
In the first part of the course the concept of environmental
management and the online learning platform used in the course is
introduced. A short overview of European natural resources and the
current state of the environment within the EU is given.
Environmental ethics and sustainability concepts are discussed.
There will be an introduction to environmental monitoring and
assessment, EU environmental law and EU environmental policy.
Economic tools for environmental valuation and cost benefit
analysis will be discussed.
The second part of the course features a number of case studies
based on actual EU environmental policy initiatives (e.g. the
Habitat Directive, the Water Framework Directive, the Air Quality
Framework Directive, the Climate Action and Renewable Energy
Package and the Soil Framework Directive. It is investigated how
these initiatives originated and how they are implemented from the
EU level to the national, regional and local levels. The scientific
and political background for the different initiatives are analysed
and discussed. It is investigated how environmental assessment and
economic tools are used to support decision-making and evaluate
environmental policies. It is analysed how EU directives are
interpreted and implemented in the different member states. The
environmental, economic and social consequences of EU environmental
policies and the need for EU environmental policy integration are
discussed. In this discussion the Water Framework Directive is
central, since it links to a number of other EU directives.
For more information see the course homepage at
www.environmental-management.dk
Note 1: In week 34 all students will meet at the University of
Copenhagen for one day to get to know each other, meet the
teachers, and learn about the online learning system used in the
course.
Note 2: Students may follow the course in the first or second year
of their Master programme, e.g. as a part of the Basic Semester
Package in the EnvEuro MSc programme in Environmental Science (see
www.enveuro.eu).
MSc Programme in Agriculture
MSc Programme in Environmental Science
The aim of the course is to provide a solid understanding of how
environmental management in Europe is applied at different scales,
from the EU level to the national, regional and local levels. Focus
is on environmental management of natural resources to achieve long
term sustainability for soil, water, air, biodiversity and climate.
The course covers a wide range of the UN Sustainable Development
Goals with a focus on SDG3 (good health and well being), SDG6
(clean water and sanitation), SDG12 (responsible consumption
and production), SDG13 (climate action) and SDG15 (life on
land). After completing the course the student should be able
to:
Knowledge:
- Summarise the background, the fundamental principles and the
managerial approaches embedded in EU environmental law
- Identify how different tools and resources for environmental
management can be used to acquire knowledge about the state of the
environment and solve environmental problems
- Describe how insight and skills in natural sciences are used
together with economics, law and planning in contributing to
contemporary environmental management
- Reflect about own environmental ethics, and how environmental
ethics and sustainability concepts of different stakeholders affect
actual environmental policy in the EU.
Skills:
- Apply environmental management tools and resources to analyse
environmental policy initiatives
- Compare the implementation of environmental policies in different
EU member states
Competences:
- Cooperate and work independently with environmental management in
the context of environmental policy
- Discuss how environmental management in Europe is applied at
different scales, from the EU level to the national, regional and
local levels
Internet based E-learning modules (E-modules) featuring E-lessons with weekly deadlines as well as team assignments and individual assignments. Each E-module is composed of an introduction to the E-module topic and two E-lessons featuring: 1) an introduction 2) learning objectives, 3) learning resources - which can be text, video and/or audio files and questionnaires and 4) an online learning activity in the form of a discussion. The role of the teachers is to assist student learning by serving as E-moderators for the various E-lessons and give feedback to the students.
The learning resources consist of uploaded presentations with video and/or audio as well as selected scientific articles, reports and book chapters, which will be made available online.
Academic qualifications equivalent to a BSc degree is recommended.
Individual feedback from the course teachers is provided as comments together with the assessment of individual assignments.
Collective feedback from the course teachers is provided as comments together with the assessment of team assignments.
Continuous feedback from the course teachers and peer feedback between students is given in the interactive online discussions that are running throughout the course.
- ECTS
- 15 ECTS
- Type of assessment
-
PortfolioDescription of examination: Description of examination: Students will be assessed on the basis of a portfolio of deliverables from online exercises, two team assignments and four individual assignments. The first team assignment must be submitted as a report comprising of approximately 3.000 to 5.000 words and the second team assignment must be submitted as a poster. The individual assignments should comprise of a maximum of 2 pages each. Details of the portfolio assessment will be given at the course start. The final grade will be given based on the level of participation and the quality of the contribution to online exercises, individual contribution to team assignments and performance in individual assignments.
- Aid
- All aids allowed
- Marking scale
- 7-point grading scale
- Censorship form
- External censorship
Criteria for exam assessment
Please see the description of learning outcome
Single subject courses (day)
- Category
- Hours
- Preparation
- 204
- Theory exercises
- 102
- Excursions
- 4
- Project work
- 102
- English
- 412
Kursusinformation
- Language
- English
- Course number
- LNAK10043U
- ECTS
- 15 ECTS
- Programme level
- Full Degree Master
- Duration
-
2 blocks
- Schedulegroup
-
Outside schedule: Please note that the course begins in week 34, which is one week before the start of Block 1 (more information at www.environmental-management.dk).
- Capacity
- 120
- Studyboard
- Study Board of Natural Resources, Environment and Animal Science
Contracting department
- Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences
- Department of Food and Resource Economics
- Department of Geoscience and Natural Resource Management
Contracting faculty
- Faculty of Science
Course Coordinator
- Elizabeth Heather Jakobsen Neilson (2-687143736f6871316e7831676e)
Teacher
Inez Estelle P Harker-Schuch (co-responsible)
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