701-1631-00L  Foundations of Ecosystem Management

Lehrveranstaltungen

Katalogdaten

Kurzbeschreibung	This 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.
Lernziel	Students 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.
Inhalt	Traditional 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.
Skript	No Script
Literatur	Chichilnisky, 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.
Kompetenzen	Fachspezifische Kompetenzen Konzepte und Theorien geprüft Methodenspezifische Kompetenzen Entscheidungsfindung geprüft Problemlösung geprüft Projektmanagement geprüft Soziale Kompetenzen Kommunikation gefördert Kooperation und Teamarbeit geprüft Kundenorientierung gefördert Menschenführung und Verantwortung gefördert Selbstdarstellung und soziale Einflussnahme geprüft Sensibilität für Vielfalt gefördert Verhandlung geprüft Persönliche Kompetenzen Anpassung und Flexibilität gefördert Kreatives Denken geprüft Kritisches Denken geprüft Integrität und Arbeitsethik gefördert Selbstbewusstsein und Selbstreflexion geprüft Selbststeuerung und Selbstmanagement geprüft

Leistungskontrolle

Information zur Leistungskontrolle (gültig bis die Lerneinheit neu gelesen wird)
Leistungskontrolle als Semesterkurs
ECTS Kreditpunkte	5 KP
Prüfende	J. Ghazoul, A. Giger Dray
Form	benotete Semesterleistung
Prüfungssprache	Englisch
Repetition	Repetition ohne erneute Belegung der Lerneinheit möglich.
Zusatzinformation zum Prüfungsmodus	There are three mandatory written assignments comprising a short individual essay (10%), and two groups reports evaluating and discussing the case study work (30%), and describing the structure of the participatory model that will be developed (20%). There will also be an oral examination at the end of the semester, comprising 40% of the final grade, that will cover key concepts, challenges, and approaches in ecosystem management.

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Studiengang	Bereich	Typ
Doktorat Umweltsystemwissenschaften	Wald- und Landschaftsmanagement	W
Raumentwicklung und Infrastruktursysteme Master	Vertiefung in Raum- und Landschaftsentwicklung	W
Science, Technology, and Policy Master	Wahlfächer	W
Umweltnaturwissenschaften Master	Anwendungen	W
Umweltnaturwissenschaften Master	Ökosystemmanagement	W