Ecological challenges : Planetary Boundaries

Ects : 2

Enseignant responsable :

Volume horaire : 18

Description du contenu de l'enseignement :

The first-year (L1) course unit provides an understanding of the environmental and systemic challenges posed by the three major ecological crises: climate, biodiversity, and the over exploitation of natural resources in a finite world. It presents the nature and anthropogenic causes of these global and systemic issues, as well as the connections between them.

 

Course themes will be allocated over 9 sessions:

 

Climate and energy:

  • Climate change.
  • Water cycle
  • Fundamentals of energy
  • The Kaya equation and critiques of technologies

 

Biodiversity and ecosystems:

  • Biodiversity and ecosystem services
  • Climate change and biodiversity collapse: what do we know and how do we know it?

 

Resources and society:

  • Natural resources and their geopolitical implications
  • Environmental justice
  • Ecological economics

 

Human–nature relations:

  • History of human–nature interactions

 

Action levers: climate, biodiversity, and resources

Pré-requis recommandés :

A keen desire to learn about climate and biodiversity issues in a world of finite resources.

Pré-requis obligatoires :

An open mind and a desire to act

Coefficient : 0.75

Compétence à acquérir :

Adopt a systemic approach:

  • Develop a systemic understanding of sustainability challenges through a multi- and transdisciplinary perspective.
  • Be able to critique the human–nature divide and reflect on the fact that humans are part of nature, not separate from it.
  • Know how to identify and categorise the services provided by ecosystems.
  • Identify and analyse the various causes of social and environmental inequalities.

 

Project oneself into the future:

  • Become aware of what is at stake: what crossing planetary boundaries implies.
  • Situate current Earth-system trends and future projections in relation to past developments.
  • Understand how models and scenarios are constructed.

Mode de contrôle des connaissances :

Ma Petite Planète Challenge, group presentations, final MCQ

Bibliographie, lectures recommandées

Figueres, C & Rivett-Carnac T. “The Future we Choose.” Manilla Press, 2020

Robinson, M. “Climate Justice.” Bloomsbury Publishing, 2018.

Thunberg, G. “The Climate Book.” Penguin Books, 2022