Examination arrangement

Course content

Environmental and natural resource 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 approaches. To understand value the course provides an introduction to key theories and analytical concepts of value, which structure political and economic debates over environmental management.

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 and international and multi-national case studies are used to elucidate 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.
• be 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.
• 1 full-day field course.
• 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

Further on evaluation

The portfolio submission (exam) consists of three reflection notes related to the three key questions in the course. Reflection notes will be due at different points throughout the semester.

Students will have opportunities to revise and re-submit their reflections. All reflection notes must be submitted and assessed as passed (E or better) in order to obtain a grade for the course. An overall letter grade will be given for the course based on an average of the final versions of the reflections submitted at the end of the semester. It is not possible to use previously submitted reflection notes when retaking the exam. It is only possible to repeat the exam in the semester in which the course in taught.

Recommended previous knowledge

Completed GEOG1010, GEOG1011, GEOG1012, GEOG1013, GEOG1014.

Required previous knowledge

None.

Credit reductions