Course content

Environmental management is one of the most central and contentious management areas today, both nationally and internationally. In order to understand the complexities and conflicts within these debates, this course focuses on how people value and conceptualize the environment, nature, and natural resources, and the consequences of different conceptualizations and strategies. To understand value, the course includes an introduction to key theories and analytical concepts of value, which structure political and economic debates in environmental management and governance.

Key questions in the course are:

1. Who are the actors in environmental and natural resource management, and what are the different ways these actors understand and relate to nature? How are these different perspectives considered in environmental decision-making and policies at local, regional, national and global scales?
2. What effects do different forms of governance and land tenure have on the environment, nature, and natural resources?
3. How is justice attended to (or not) in resource management in national and international contexts?

Norwegian, international and multi-national case studies are used to explore these issues. A field trip will provide empirical insight into current issues in Norwegian environmental management.

Learning outcome

A student who has completed this course should have the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge:

• will have, at minimum, an introductory understanding of key theories for national and international environmental and natural resource management. These include theories of scale, value, land tenure and environmental governance, justice, and situated knowledges.
• is able to define and identify similarities and differences among the empirical realities and concepts of natural resources, nature, and the environment.

Skills:

• should be able to apply, in writing, the theories they have learned to understand and interpret case studies at different scales and in different contexts.
• Through the group activity, students will develop the ability to communicate complex theories and environmental issues to a range of public and academic audiences.

General competence:

• will contually develop their abilities to independently analyze and reflect on existing approaches to national and international environmental and resource management.

Learning methods and activities

• Up to 26 hours of classroom instruction, which will be a combination of lectures and discussion seminars.
• Up to 8 hours of seminars.

Please note that compulsory activities and lectures may be scheduled earlier than the deadline for registering for the course.

Teaching will only be given if a sufficient number of students register for the course and if the Department has sufficient teaching resources. See www.ntnu.edu/studies/courses for the most up to date information on the courses not being offered.

Compulsory assignments

• Participation in field course
• Participation in peer-review sessions
• Group assignment

Recommended previous knowledge

Completed GEOG1010, GEOG1011, GEOG1012, GEOG1013, GEOG1014.

Required previous knowledge

None.

Credit reductions