Ecosystem Services from Forests and Nature

This course focuses on enabling students’ ability to apply scientific knowledge and reasoning to critically assess, and discuss synergies and trade-offs.

 Knowledge

• Understand categories and key contemporary issues on ecosystem services
• Understand ecosystem functioning leading to ES
• Understand interactions between ecosystem services and effects of utilization and conservation
• Understand underlying synergies and trade-offs between ecosystem services and how management can affect the provision of ES
• Understand the ecosystem services in relation to climate change
• Summarize environmental economic and policy theory and knowledge of the decision support tools utilized in management of ecosystem services

Skills

• Develop, quantify and apply theoretical and practical models and software for ecosystem service quantification
• Apply decision support tools to model, analyze, and prioritize the provision of ecosystem services
• Assess the possibilities and limitations of theories and methodologies
• Tackle problems by collecting, analyzing and evaluating appropriate qualitative and quantitative information and using it creatively

Competences

• Turn demands on ecosystem services into concrete priorities, potential actions and projects based on both natural and social science
• Transfer theories and principles to new situations and assume independent and professional responsibility
• Manage operations and development tasks in the framework set by society (legislation, regulations, realities)
• Display the competences, key skills ,behaviour and attitudes required in a professional working life
• Transfer problem analyses, theories, secondary data and analysis into priority suggestions, reflecting trade-offs and synergies as well as the objectives of multitudinous stakeholders
• Independently evaluate and structure own learning processes and assume responsibility for own professional development with a view to life-long learning