Ecological challenges : Planetary Boundaries

ECTS : 2

Language of instruction : French

Teaching hours : 18

Course content:

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

Skills to be acquired:

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.

Mandatory prerequisites

An open mind and a desire to act

Recommended prerequisites

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

Assessment:

Ma Petite Planète Challenge, group presentations, final MCQ

Weighting : 0.50

Bibliography, recommended reading:

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