Climate Change and Forestry: Monitoring and Policies

Course content

The first part of the course deals with climate change risks, mitigation, and adaptation in relation to forestry. It also introduces the concept of forest carbon projects and associated terminology such as additionality, permanence, leakage, and co-benefits. The second part of the course introduces global policies and voluntary initiatives to reduce emissions; particular attention is paid to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and enhancing forest carbon stocks in developing countries (REDD+). In the last part of the course, students write a supervised term paper, on one of the themes presented during the course.

Education

MSc Programme in Environmental Science
MSc Programme in Forest and Nature Management
 

Learning outcome

This course focuses on enabling students’ ability to apply scientific knowledge and reasoning to critically assess and discuss climate change and forestry with particular emphasis on monitoring mechanisms and policies

Knowledge: Understand key contemporary issues related to climate change and forestry, including forest-dependency, deforestation, national and global forest policy and processes, and the potential of using market based mechanisms to achieve sustainable forest management

Skills:
Apply principles, theories and frameworks on climate change and forestry. Make judgment on the quality of scientific publications. Communicate clearly, concisely and confidently in written format

Competences:
The students obtain (i) knowledge about climate change, forests and livelihood relationships, (ii) ability to critically assess and discuss discourses and evidence in this area, (iii) ability to assess how science is used in policy debates, and (iv) ability and experience in interacting and discussing in professional forums.

The course is entirely based on interactions in virtual space. Each theme is structured as a standard format e-module: (i) students study provided topic literature; texts and problems are continuously discussed online with module responsible faculty, (ii) students online discuss exercises with each other, facilitated by course responsible faculty and specially invited resource persons, and (iii) the students interact with supervisors on the term paper.

The course draws on basic elements of economic theory and management of renewable natural resources all or part of which are introduced in a wide range of undergraduate programmes.

Academic qualifications equivalent to a BSc degree is recommended.

Continuous feedback during the course of the semester
ECTS
7,5 ECTS
Type of assessment
Continuous assessment
Students eligible to participate in the exam will be assessed according to (i) their completion of exercises throughout the course, and (ii) a supervised term paper.

Weight: Completion of exercises count 2/3 of the final mark and the term paper 1/3.

The final grade is calculated as the weighted average of the results from the part-examinations.
Aid
All aids allowed
Marking scale
7-point grading scale
Censorship form
No external censorship
More than one internal examiner
Criteria for exam assessment

To obtain the grade 12 the student must fullfil the Learning Outcome

Single subject courses (day)

  • Category
  • Hours
  • Preparation
  • 60
  • Theory exercises
  • 20
  • Project work
  • 111
  • Guidance
  • 10
  • Exam
  • 5
  • English
  • 206