Jaboury Ghazoul: Catalogue data in Autumn Semester 2016

Award: The Golden Owl
Name Prof. Dr. Jaboury Ghazoul
FieldEcosystem Management
Address
Ökosystemmanagement
ETH Zürich, CHN G 74.1
Universitätstrasse 16
8092 Zürich
SWITZERLAND
Telephone+41 44 632 86 27
E-mailjaboury.ghazoul@env.ethz.ch
DepartmentEnvironmental Systems Science
RelationshipFull Professor

NumberTitleECTSHoursLecturers
701-0019-00LReadings in Environmental Thinking Information 3 credits2SJ. Ghazoul, G. Hirsch Hadorn, A. Patt
AbstractThis course introduces students to foundational texts that led to the emergence of the environment as a subject of scientific importance, and shaped its relevance to society. Above all, the course seeks to give confidence and raise enthusiasm among students to read more widely around the broad subject of environmental sciences and management both during the course and beyond.
ObjectiveThe course will provide students with opportunities to read, discuss, evaluate and interpret key texts that have shaped the environmental movement and, more specifically, the environmental sciences. Students will gain familiarity with the foundational texts, but also understand the historical context within which their academic and future professional work is based. More directly, the course will encourage debate and discussion of each text that is studied, from both the original context as well as the modern context. In so doing students will be forced to consider and justify the current societal relevance of their work.
ContentThe course will be run as a ‘book reading club’. The first session will provide a short introduction as to how to explore a particular text (that is not a scientific paper) to identify the key points for discussion.

Thereafter, in each week a text (typically a chapter from a book or a paper) considered to be seminal or foundational will be assigned by a course lecturer. The lecturer will introduce the selected text with a brief background of the historical and cultural context in which it was written, with some additional biographical information about the author. He/she will also briefly explain the justification for selecting the particular text.

The students will read the text, with two to four students (depending on class size) being assigned to present it at the next session. Presentation of the text requires the students to prepare by, for example:
• identifying the key points made within the text
• identifying issues of particular personal interest and resonance
• considering the impact of the text at the time of publication, and its importance now
• evaluating the text from the perspective of our current societal and environmental position

Such preparation would be supported by a mid-week ‘tutorial’ discussion (about 1 hour) with the assigning lecturer.

These students will then present the text (for about 15 minutes) to the rest of the class during the scheduled class session, with the lecturer facilitating the subsequent class discussion (about 45 minutes). Towards the end of the session the presenting students will summarise the emerging points (5 minutes) and the lecturer will finish with a brief discussion of how valuable and interesting the text was (10 minutes). In the remaining 15 minutes the next text will be presented by the assigning lecturer for the following week.
LiteratureThe specific texts selected for discussion will vary, but examples include:
Leopold (1949) A Sand County Almanach
Carson (1962) Silent Spring
Egli, E. (1970) Natur in Not. Gefahren der Zivilisationslandschaft
Lovelock (1979) Gaia: A new look at life on Earth
Naess (1973) The Shallow and the Deep.
Roderick F. Nash (1989) The Rights of Nature
Jared Diamond (2005) Collapse
Robert Macfarlane (2007) The Wild Places

Discussions might also encompass films or other forms of media and communication about nature.
701-1631-00LFoundations of Ecosystem Management Information 5 credits3GJ. Ghazoul, C. Garcia
AbstractThis course introduces the broad variety of conflicts that arise in projects focusing on sustainable management of natural resources. It explores case studies of ecosystem management approaches and considers their practicability, their achievements and possible barriers to their uptake.
ObjectiveStudents should be able to
a) propose appropriate and realistic solutions to ecosystem management problems that integrate ecological, economic and social dimensions across relevant temporal and spatial scales.
b) identify important stakeholders, their needs and interests, and the main conflicts that exist among them in the context of land and resource management.
ContentTraditional management systems focus on extraction of natural resources, and their manipulation and governance. However, traditional management has frequently resulted in catastrophic failures such as, for example, the collapse of fish stocks and biodiversity loss. These failures have stimulated the development of alternative ‘ecosystem management’ approaches that emphasise the functionality of human-dominated systems. Inherent to such approaches are system-wide perspectives and a focus on ecological processes and services, multiple spatial and temporal scales, as well as the need to incorporate diverse stakeholder interests in decision making. Thus, ecosystem management is the science and practice of managing natural resources, biodiversity and ecological processes, to meet multiple demands of society. It can be local, regional or global in scope, and addresses critical issues in developed and developing countries relating to economic and environmental security and sustainability.

This course provides an introduction to ecosystem management, and in particular the importance of integrating ecology into management systems to meet multiple societal demands. The course explores the extent to which human-managed terrestrial systems depend on underlying ecological processes, and the consequences of degradation of these processes for human welfare and environmental well-being. Building upon a theoretical foundation, the course will tackle issues in resource ecology and management, notably forests, agriculture and wild resources within the broader context of sustainability, biodiversity conservation and poverty alleviation or economic development. Case studies from tropical and temperate regions will be used to explore these issues. Dealing with ecological and economic uncertainty, and how this affects decision making, will be discussed. Strategies for conservation and management of terrestrial ecosystems will give consideration to landscape ecology, protected area systems, and community management, paying particular attention to alternative livelihood options and marketing strategies of common pool resources.
Lecture notesNo Script
LiteratureChichilnisky, G. and Heal, G. (1998) Economic returns from the biosphere. Nature, 391: 629-630.
Daily, G.C. (1997) Nature’s Services: Societal dependence on natural ecosystems. Island Press. Washington DC.
Hindmarch, C. and Pienkowski, M. (2000) Land Management: The Hidden Costs. Blackwell Science.
Millenium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Synthesis. Island Press, Washington DC.
Milner-Gulland, E.J. and Mace, R. (1998) Conservation of Biological Resources. Blackwell Science.
Gunderson, L.H. and Holling, C.S. (2002) Panarchy: understanding transformations in human and natural systems. Island Press.
701-1661-00LConservation and Development in Complex Landscapes
Does not take place this semester.
3 credits6GJ. Ghazoul
AbstractThe field course in Belize will develop an understanding of, and solutions to, issues of landscape management relevant to conservation and natural resources. Students will be expected to integrate skills in quantitative natural science with social science approaches in real world, and hence highly complex, settings.
ObjectiveTo address complex multi-dimensional environmental problems through the application of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary skills.
ContentDay 1: Ecology of the forest habitats
A first impression of the biology of the region will be gained through an exploration of the different forest formations, ranging from mesic forests to dry evergreen, dry deciduous, and mangrove forests. The learning objective will be to understand the underlying environmental conditions that determine forest formations within the relatively small area of Shipstern Reserve. This includes linking climate, soil, and geology with community processes to understand the mosaic of habitat types, their distribution, form, and function.
Day 2: The ecology of natural resources
Students will begin to explore how people use forest resources, ranging from timber, to a variety of non-timber forest products, and animals for hunting. This will lead to an evaluation of threats to species and habitats, and hence set the scene for subsequent work.
Day 3: Familiarisation with landscape scale dynamics
We will explore the land uses in the landscape in the vicinity of Shipstern and Freshwater creeks. This will encompass a range of land uses, including small scale to large scale agriculture, extractive forest reserves, and protected forests. In the process the students will gain a better understanding of the pressures on land and forests, and a chance to meet some of the local stakeholders involved in land use transformations.
Days 4 & 5: Problem conceptualisation
Working with reserve managers and local stakeholders the students will develop a conceptual understanding of the key problems in the region, including the underlying drivers of change.
Days 6-9: Integrative analysis
Students, working in small groups, will analyse selected natural resource problems in greater depth. Options include biodiversity responses to habitat fragmentation, conservation management of mangrove and coral reef systems, restoration ecology, community forest management, and tourism development, among others. Students will have opportunities to collect original data across natural and social sciences, and will use different modelling approaches to explore future development trajectories.
Day 10-11: Synthesis and presentation of results
Research will be synthesised and presented to the local management community of Shipstern and Freshwater Creek reserves. The course will conclude with an afternoon allocated to discussion and debriefing, including an appraisal of the challenges of addressing natural resource management issues in complex socioecological systems, and the lessons learned.
Prerequisites / NoticeFoundations of Ecosystem Management