ACADEMIC YEAR 2022-2023

This course will focus on the linkages between gender, environment, economy, and human development. We will examine key contemporary environmental issues such as climate change, food security, the green economy, low-carbon development and degrowth; access to water, sanitation, and energy; pollution; and biodiversity conservation from the perspective(s) of gender equality. The course will explore how sexism, racism, classism, heterosexism, colonialism, imperialism, and other forms of oppression have shaped and continue to shape environmental discourses, and how we might confront and subvert such hierarchies and inequalities. Course materials will include academic and non-academic literature (including policy and journalistic literature), activist texts, fiction, and film.

This is a course where students will apply skills from research methods to carryout research relevant to their professional interests. The course is applied, meaning students will work on two projects (one individual and one group). The individual project is the writing and editing of an opinion piece for a news outlet of the student’s choice or for Ideas for Peace. The group project is carrying out research from defining the research question, gathering, and analyzing data, as well as preparing a manuscript in the format ready to submit to a peer-reviewed journal of the students’ choice. Guest speakers will be invited to discuss publishing in news and peer-reviewed journal outlets.

By 2050, it is estimated that two-thirds of the world’s population will live in an urban environment. In many countries in the developing world, this is already a reality, with 80-90% of their populations living in cities, with increasing and rapid rates of urbanization. Increased urban population growth, paired with other socio-economic realities that are characteristic to cities, poses enormous challenges to ensure quality of life and wellbeing for everyone, leaving no one behind.

This course looks into the role and application of sustainability frameworks in development projects, from a conflict lens. It examines how their implementation influences investment decisions, environmental and social practices, as well as local dynamics. During the course, students will be introduced to the main international frameworks that are used by development finance institutions (DFIs), private sector development actors, and international organizations (i.e., FAO); these include: World Bank Environmental and Social (ES) Safeguards, IFC Performance Standards, ADB Safeguards Policy, FAO’s Framework for ES Management, among others. In addition to the frameworks’ design and application, the course also looks into the dynamics and drivers of conflict around development projects, and will discuss the role of accountability and grievance redress mechanisms that deal with complaints from affected stakeholders.

The course adopts a participatory approach, where students actively contribute to class discussions, work on case studies and simulations.

One of the challenges for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals relates to strengthening public institutions, civil society organizations, development agencies, social entrepreneurs, and other actors to transform solution ideas and proposals into concrete realities that improve the well-being of our society.

This course aims at reinforcing the knowledge, skills and attitudes of professionals involved in sustainable development initiatives for delivering efficient and effective solutions with the available resources.

In this course, we will introduce concepts, processes and tools on better planning and management practices that lead to the successful funding and implementation of projects at the local or national level.

In this course, Eli Enns will take students through an exploration in geopolitics, international dispute resolution and nature conservation from the vantage point of an Indigenous Nation Builder in Canada - The world's only multi-national Indigenous-European state. What does the word "Canada" mean? Embracing the Nuu'chah'nulth worldview of Hishuk'ish Tsawaak, students will experience an intimate view into an advanced Indigenous societies perspective. We will also explore some of the successful examples arising in Canada over the past several decades of Indigenous-led conservation of nature through reconciliation, including Tribal Parks and The Pathway to Canada Target 1.

This class is an opportunity to explore in-depth how different land-uses and conservation approaches intermingle in one particular region: the Southwest of Costa Rica. The purpose of the field trip is to obtain critical direct experience and knowledge of important natural resources management issues in a developing country, given the real political, economic and natural resources context of the same. This course enables students to assess the contextual factors that affect natural resource management. Over the course of the trip, we will visit and be exposed to projects and issues with various resources, different actors involved in the management and different institutional settings. As such it will be a chance for you to integrate ideas from many of the classes 2 you have taken over the course of your program, as well as a chance to learn from some of your peers about the topics to which you were not exposed during your program.

The Seminar on Indigenous Perspectives on Environment & Development take as a point of departure the fundamentals of who are Indigenous Peoples in Costa Rica and around the world. Next, the seminar will provide an overview of the legal frameworks at the universal, regional and national levels that protect Indigenous Peoples' rights. This will be contrasted with cases of the on-going challenges that Indigenous Peoples face in conservation initiatives, and the criminalization and violence that many face when defending their rights. The seminar will enable participants to understand and discuss traditional or indigenous knowledge systems, its relevance and relationship with the previous other themes of the seminar. 

The number of undernourished people in the world is on the rise despite the fact that we currently produce enough food to feed our global population. In this course we examine how this paradox relates to inequality, conflict, and climate change. We analyze historical events that have shaped our current food security at different scales as well as frameworks and indicators to understand food security. We evaluate food crises, food riots, and how these crises link to the financialization of our food system. We also examine how different countries and actors have adopted food sovereignty to address economic and social inequalities in our food system. Other key themes in this course include: sustainable agriculture and aquaculture, food waste, nutritional transitions, urban food security, and sustainable diets, Students have the unique opportunity to learn course themes in practice during local field visits, invited lectures, and through gardening on the UPEACE organic farm.

In this course we will critically examine research methodology. Our course is designed to take student sequentially through the process of thinking about and designing research. Together, we will explore the basic structure of research and examine the philosophical origins of different research approaches. I will guide students as they learn to link different information-gathering methods to different research approaches. My emphasis will be on qualitative research methodology but we will introduce quantitative data gathering and sampling. To ensure that students gain hands on experience with the process of developing methodologies and implementing different information gathering procedures, I will complement lectures with workshops where students will learn by doing. Furthermore, I believe that learning about methods requires analyzing how these methods have worked (or not) in real-world case studies; thus, in class discussions of current case studies will complement workshops and lectures.

In this course we will critically examine research methodology. Our course is designed to take student sequentially through the process of thinking about and designing research. Together, we will explore the basic structure of research and examine the philosophical origins of different research approaches. I will guide students as they learn to link different information-gathering methods to different research approaches. My emphasis will be on qualitative research methodology but we will introduce quantitative data gathering and sampling. To ensure that students gain hands on experience with the process of developing methodologies and implementing different information gathering procedures, I will complement lectures with workshops where students will learn by doing. Furthermore, I believe that learning about methods requires analyzing how these methods have worked (or not) in real-world case studies; thus, in class discussions of current case studies will complement workshops and lectures.

Nearly 50% of the world’s population currently lives within 100 km of the coast, and nearly all humanity is dependent on the world’s coasts and oceans for a variety of cultural, economic and environmental reasons.

Despite, or perhaps because, of their value to social and ecological processes, marine resources face increasing pressures and conflicts over their utilization. Among the most pressing issues facing the world’s oceans, five major categories can be distinguished: i) lack of planning in both terrestrial (coastal and upper basin) and marine areas. This is an overarching category as the absence of adequate planning affects all of the remaining categories; ii) pollution (e.g., noise, sewage-water discharge, eutrophication); iii) resource over-use (e.g., overfishing); iv) habitat destruction and degradation (e.g., dying coral reefs, disappearing mangrove forests) and v) invasive species (e.g., lion fish in the Caribbean). Additionally, all of these major threats are affected by emerging crosscutting issues such as climate change. In the most general sense, this course is intended to enable students to familiarize themselves with the language, history and main management tools related to coastal resource management and to the nature of the problems being faced. 

Energy justice is one of the central global issues of our time, with profound implications for health and welfare; freedom and security; equity and due process; and technology development and implementation. Thus, an energy-just world is one that equitably shares both the benefits and burdens involved in the production and consumption of energy services, as well as one that is fair in how it treats people and communities in energy decision making.

This course explores the intersection of energy and equity issues related to a variety of international energy dynamics to include ways for rectifying persistent unequal distributions of energy resources to ensuring everyone’s right to accessible, reliable, clean, and affordable modern energy services. This course provides an overview of energy justice and energy transitions and how collectively, we might realize a just energy transition through examples of energy democracy and activism. This course seeks to merge academic learning and empower social responsibility in the context of energy related injustices and dreams for an energy-just world.

“Transition is inevitable. Justice is not.” - Climate Justice Alliance

Grassroots groups have consistently shown how climate change adaptation perpetuates existing inequity unless there is a systemic emphasis on social and economic justice. In this class, we will take a justice lens to analyze climate change impacts and adaptation efforts, with specific attention to the different solutions proposed by grassroots climate justice groups compared to corporate and state representatives in multinational climate governance meetings. 

Specifically, we will examine the following themes: 1) competing definitions of mitigation, adaptation, resilience, and justice, 2) frameworks and tensions in energy transitions, 3) Indigenous peoples and tribal sovereignty, 4) displacement, migration, and climate refugees, 5) gender, sexuality, and intersectional climate justice, and 6) climate reparations and critical theories on the root causes of socio-ecological injustices. 

Students will examine these themes through readings, multimedia resources, and contemporary case studies, culminating in a final project with presentation.

Deforestation is considered one of the main global environmental challenges of our times, because of its significant impact on biodiversity and its important contribution to Climate Change and Global Warming, as well as on the livelihoods of millions of people. This course analyzes the way deforestation and forest degradation have been and are being explained by both mainstream and alternative narratives. It critically engages with the way deforestation is defined and measured and discusses the various attempts in stopping or reducing it. We will look at a range of conservation approaches that go from traditional protected areas over community-based strategies, and the increasingly common market-based approaches and finally forest restoration. Illegal logging and timber trade will be looked at as a specific topic of particular importance since it is linked to development, poverty, and violent conflict. Additionally, this course looks at the links between poverty and deforestation, some of the possible strategies to reduce poverty through forest-based activities, and analyzes and discusses the importance of forests for humans and the challenges faced by those who try to manage them sustainably.

This course explores local water security and the “ripple” effects on societies. Students will reflect individually on how water insecurity may threaten or reinforce positive peace, particularly at the local level.

 The course will consist of an introduction to variations in water resources and uses over space and time, followed by an exploration of local water security, an understanding of the different ways in which we use and value water, consequences of water insecurity, the role of intersectionality in water (in)security, and examples of how to reduce local water insecurity.

 The course will be interactive, consisting of presentations by the lecturer and students, readings, discussions, assignments, group work, and field trips.

In this course we will become familiar with contemporary issues in sustainable agriculture and critically analyze key debates in the field. To provide context to our discussions, we situate the emergence of sustainable agricultural practices within their historic contexts (e.g., green revolution) and we will examine key economic agreements that shape current agricultural markets and trade. We critically examine our global modes of production, industrial, agroecological, and sustainable intensification and we link our analysis to the most recent programs and policies regarding agriculture promoted by the FAO of the United Nations (e.g., scaling-up of agroecology). In addition, we take on some of the most pressing agriculture issues including: climate change, livestock, water security, agricultural certifications, biotechnology (including GMOs), markets, local food, and gender. We mainstream a social justice angle in our class to ensure that we understand how programs and policies affect countries and people differently, by gender, age, and ethnicity.

This course will take a close look at the linkages between environment, conflict and development. We will discuss the different root causes of environmental and social or development crises as they come forward in the literature, focusing on a series of highly contested concepts and narratives around overpopulation, economic growth, and free market capitalism and globalization. Part of this discussion will be an analysis of the responses to these crises and what can, should and is being done to stop them.

We will take a closer look at the different linkages between environment and armed conflicts. We will discuss the literature on environmental security, going from older frameworks of scarcity induced conflicts to natural resource abundance, move the discussion to more complex issues of ecological limits, limits to growth, and ecological security, integrating globalization, and historical, political, ecological and economic issues that influence development, environment, and peace and conflicts.  We will end with