Environment and Development – from Theory to Practice

This course focuses on the multiple theoretical and analytical approaches to understanding coupled human-environment systems in the context of achieving sustainable development in low- and middle-income countries. The course will focus specifically on approaches to address current grand environmental and development challenges, with a focus on how to feed the world while preserving natural resources at the same time. The course will involve methodological exercises aimed at understanding the data needs and methodological approaches that are relevant for designing interdisciplinary research on the topics discussed. The students will work with quantitative and qualitative datasets from both social and natural sciences to obtain an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches. The theoretical and methodological knowledge will be put into practice in interdisciplinary group projects in which students, with different disciplinary backgrounds, will develop a solutions-oriented research project to understanding a problem related to coupled human-environment systems, development and management of agro-ecosystems.