PhD courses at University of Copenhagen

Environmental Collaboration and Conflict Resolution – Framework for Analysis and Intervention
Provider: Faculty of Science

Activity no.: 5245-17-03-31
	Enrollment deadline: 01/07/2017

Place

DanHostel Roskilde
Vindeboder 7, 4000 Roskilde

Date and time

28.08.2017, at: 09:00 - 01.09.2017, at: 16:00

Regular seats

Course fee

200.00 €

ECTS credits

5.00

Contact person

Charlotte Bukdahl Jacobsen E-mail address: cja@ifro.ku.dk

Enrolment Handling/Course Organiser

Jens Emborg E-mail address: jee@ifro.ku.dk

Written language

English

Teaching language

English

Block note

Course fee: This course is free of charge for students enrolled at NOVA and BOVA institutions (see www.nmbu.no/en/students/nova), while participants from other institutions will pay a course fee of 200 Euro. Participants will have to cover own transport and accommodation. Details about meals and accommodation options, below.

Exam form

Written assignment

Exam form

Written assignment

Exam details

Evaluation criteria Pass/Fail - based on the post-course writing tasks and active participation during the course

Course workload

Course workload category	Hours
Colloquia	7.00
Excursions	8.00
Lectures	25.00
Preparation	50.00
Project work	60.00

Sum	150.00

Aim and content

Theme: GREEN ENERGY: GLOBAL POTENTIAL –– LOCAL CHALLENGE
Cases from Denmark and Kenya

www.nmbu.no/en/students/nova

The aim of this PhD-course is to give an introduction to analysis and understanding of environmental conflicts and the possibilities to resolve them through collaborative management, participatory interventions and mediation. This year’s theme is: “Green energy: Global potential – Local challenge”. The global potentials of green energy are currently challenged by public resistance and emerging conflicts. Across the World small as well as large green energy projects – wind-power, hydro-power, solar energy or geo-thermal plants – are confronted with local protest and heated conflicts. Such conflicts will be analyzed and discussed in a cross-cultural context by use of a holistic unifying framework and illustrated by green energy cases from the north and south. Conflict cases from Denmark and Kenya, two world-leading nations of green energy, create the red thread through the course.

The course provides student with knowledge, theory, tools and competencies to comprehensively analyze and better understand environmental conflicts. Students will explore and discuss the potentials to resolve environmental conflicts through collaborative management, participatory interventions and mediation. The course is both academic and practice-oriented, with opportunity for students to connect theory and tools to own cases and research.

Target group:
The course is relevant for PhD students from various fields - including natural sciences, engineering, geography, social/political sciences and e.g. anthropology. If your research or case somehow touches on environmental conflict issues or green energy dilemmas – this course may be highly relevant for you? Even though, we particularly focus on green energy challenges the course is equally relevant for other kinds of environmental conflicts, e.g. related to nature conservation, land-use, forestry, recreation, extractive industries or climate change adaption. The course is cross-cultural and thus equally relevant for PhD-students working in a European, African, Asian or American context. A very mixed group of students in terms of research focus and backgrounds will only stimulate the learning, discussion and exchange of ideas about how to effectively deal with environmental conflicts, public policy and democratic dilemmas.

Learning outcome

In short, this course provides theory, analytical tools and skills for students interested in environmental conflict – with opportunity and support to apply theory and frameworks on own case and to develop personal conflict resolution skills.

The course presents theory and analytical frameworks that supports analysis and management of complex, multiparty environmental conflicts. Conflicts will be seen from different perspectives including government, public policy, planning, private sector, developer, community and stakeholders. The course covers themes like Policy discourse, Culture, Institutions, Power, Capacity, Incentives, Cognition, as well as Social Psychological Factors, in relation to environmental conflict and as a basis for designing decision making and negotiation processes. The role of social learning is emphasized as a strategy to deal with complex conflict while exploring how to integrate expert and local knowledge.

Wind-power implementation in Denmark will showcase conflict issues and paradoxes in a European social-institutional context (NIMBY, value differences and democratic dilemmas). Geo-thermal energy development, wind-power and violent forest related conflicts (with ethnic undertones) in Kenya will showcase issues of particular relevance in an African / developing countries contexts (such as power differentials, ethnicity and political culture).

Lecturers

An international team of leading experts will give lectures and supervision: Prof. Steven Daniels, Utah State University and Prof. Gregg Walker, Oregon State University, Prof. Njroge Karanja from the STAKE project, Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies, Nairobi, Kristian Borch and Laura Tolnov Clausen, Danish Technical University, Christian Gamborg and Jens Emborg from University of Copenhagen. Steve and Gregg have influenced the theory and practice of environmental conflict management in the USA – in the fields of forestry, water management, rural development and climate change. Prof. Karanja was the lead mediator in the recent conflict regarding resettlement four Masai villages in Rift Valley, Kenya – to give way for construction of the World’s largest geo-thermal power plant. Kristian and Laura works on technology transfer, change processes and democracy and involved in the Wind 2050 project about public acceptance of wind energy in Denmark. Christian and Jens have founded and developed the field of environmental conflict, management and ethics at the University of Copenhagen and they both have extensive teaching and supervision experience within this field.
This course is developed in collaboration with University of Eastern Finland (Academy Research Fellow Irmeli Mustalahti and Professor Lasse Peltonen), SLU (Dr. Hans Peter Hansen) and NMBU/Agderforskning (Prof. John McNeish/Dr. Mikaela Vasström) who will be available to broaden the discussions and support the individual supervision.

Remarks

Sign-up not later than 1 July 2017 – Priority to NOVA/BOVA students and first come first serve,

For more information - contact Jens Emborg: jee@ifro.ku.dk

Costs and practicalities:
NOVA students*: Course fee: none. Meals free of charge. Accommodation: 50-100 Euro/night***.
BOVA students**: Course fee: None. Meals: approx. 150 Euro. Accommodation: 50-100 Euro/night***
Other students: Course fee: 200 EUR. Meals: approx. 150 Euro. Accommodation: 50-100 Euro/night***

*Students studying at NOVA member institutions: University of Copenhagen, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Aarhus University, Science and Technology, University of Helsinki, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, Agricultural University of Iceland, University of Eastern Finland, School of Forest Sciences.
** Students studying at Aleksandras Stulginskis University, Estonian University of Life Sciences and Latvia University of Agriculture
***DanHostel – we have pre-booked single rooms at the venue: approximately 80-100 Euro/night; and shared rooms (2,3 or 4): approximately 50-80 Euro/night.

Lunch at all days and three dinners will be provided. Participants will have to cover own transport and accommodation. Pre-booked accommodation options (50-100 Euro/night) are available at the venue (DanHostel, Roskilde). Detailed practical information will be available by 15 April, 2017.