The course is offered by the Department of Political Science at Lund University (Sweden) and sponsored by the ClimBEco graduate school.
Title: Global Environmental Governance Today – Actors, Institutions, Complexity
Language: The course will be taught in English
Time: 5-9 September 2022.
Place: Eden, Allhelgona kyrkogata 14, Lund
About the course
The course provides in-depth insights to the actors, processes and problems of global environmental politics and offers both practical and theoretical understanding about the world of international relations.
It is designed to be accessible for PhD students who come from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds. Participating in the course entitles the students to 3 ECTS, if they join the sessions and complete a short essay afterwards.
How to apply?
If you are interested in joining, please send an email to Nils Droste (nils.droste@svet.lu.se
Places are limited and we will notify you about your acceptance by 7th September 2021.
Preliminary course syllabus
1. Type of Course & General Information
The course is an interdisciplinary third-cycle course offered by the Department of Political Science and financed by the two-year graduate research school ClimBEco – Climate Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in a changing world.
Language of instruction is English.
We plan to hold the course in person at Lund University, but depending on further developments of the situation related to Covid-19 we cannot completely rule out an online solution at this point.
2. Learning Outcomes
Participants will be able to accomplish the following objectives by the end of the course:
Achieving these objectives will be of particular benefit for students with career goals that include serving as a practitioner in environmental politics or providing policy advice and consultancy.
3. Course Content
In September 2015, the United Nations General Assembly adopted 2030 Development Agenda. One essential component of this agenda are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals with their associated 169 targets. Less than three months later, at the UN climate conference in Paris in 2015, countries around the world subscribed to staying below an average warming of 2°C and submitted targets to reduce their carbon footprint.
How effective have these and other ambitious targets of the international community been, and how will they perform in the future? And how will regular changes in government, in the US and elsewhere, influence the long-term probability of meeting them? Are economic growth, political interest and human development compatible with environmental conservation? And is scientific knowledge about the state of the environment enough to mobilize a change in behavior?
The course frames this dilemma of global environmental governance as a problem of human interaction. It starts from the premise that, in addition to natural and physical barriers, there are severe social and political barriers that often stand in the way of an effective management of transboundary environmental threats. In other words: political processes and actors are not only the target of scientific advice (science for politics), but part of the problem – and hence objects of examination (science of politics), e.g. due to underlying constellations of power and interests or behavioural norms.
Based on concepts and theories of political science, the course seeks to provide Ph.D. students from different disciplines with an understanding of the current state of global environmental governance, its underlying causes and possible response options. The main modules of the course are:
Each of the modules above will conclude with an intensive simulation, game or group work session where students apply some of the presented concepts, theories and empirical information in an interactive setting. Moreover, students will, after the end of the course, write short final papers in which they apply selected political theories to help them explain governance developments in their own field of Ph.D. research.
4. Teaching and Assessment
The course will consist of 15 sessions that will all take place in one week, including three interactive seminars where students engage in group work and simulations.
The course is particularly designed to be accessible for students from very different backgrounds, including different natural science disciplines. Therefore, the introduction of key political concepts and international relations theories will include some elementary aspects. Students with a more advanced theoretical background in political science will nonetheless benefit from the application of these concepts and theories in a series of simulations and interactive sessions.
We also ask all participants to block sufficient time in the week before the course begins so that they can prepare the reading material. (Further instructions will be sent around to registered students in due time).
Evaluation will take place on the basis of participation and a short final paper of 1,500 words to be submitted about 3-4 weeks after the end of the course. In the paper, participants will apply the discussed theories and concepts to their own field of research or to an equivalent issue of their choice.
Re-examination is offered after the conclusion of the course. If necessary, a second opportunity for re-examination will be arranged at a later date.
5. Grades
The grades awarded are Pass or Fail. To be awarded a Pass the student must fulfill the learning outcomes specified and also demonstrate an independent, reflective and critical approach to the research field and to the theories presented in the course.
6. Admission Requirements
The course is open to Ph.D. students from all disciplinary backgrounds. The number of participants is limited however; in case of too many applications, priority will be given to students of the ClimBEco graduate research school, the Bolin Centre for Climate Research of Stockholm University, and Ph.D. students of the department of political science at Lund University.
If you are interested in joining, please send an email to nils.droste@svet.lu.se and
Before applying (by e-mail to nils.droste@svet.lu.se and
7. Literature
Recommended readings for preparation:
Further readings: