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Sustainable Livelihood Systems and Transformations in the Global South
Provider: Faculty of Science

Activity no.: 5136-26-00-00There are 25 available seats 
Enrollment deadline: 15/03/2026
Date and time06.07.2026, at: 09:00 - 10.07.2026, at: 16:00
Regular seats25
LecturersOle Mertz
ECTS credits2.50
Contact personOle Mertz    E-mail address: om@ign.ku.dk
Enrolment Handling/Course OrganiserPhD Administration SCIENCE    E-mail address: phdcourses@science.ku.dk
Enrolment guidelines
This is a specialised course where 50% of the seats are reserved for PhD students enrolled at the Faculty of SCIENCE at UCPH and 50% of the seats are reserved for PhD students at other faculties and universities. Seats will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis and according to the applicable rules.

Anyone can apply for the course, but if you are not a PhD student, you will be placed on the waiting list until enrollment deadline. After the enrollment deadline, available seats will be allocated to applicants on the waiting list.


Requirements for signing up
Registration requirements are a Master’s degree and relevant PhD thesis topic.
Please note that all applicants will be placed on the waiting list upon registration.
After registering for the course, please send a maximum 2-page CV to the course coordinator by e-mail latest on 15 March 2026.
About one week after registration deadline, all applicants on the waiting list will be notified whether they are given a seat.


Aim and Content
Understanding and enabling sustainable livelihoods is crucial as rural settings around the globe struggle with increasing climate and environmental challenges even as human development needs remain unmet. Yet rural livelihoods cannot be understood as autonomous practices; they are shaped by a complex interplay of social, production, market, and governance systems and relations. These interact across scales – from international markets and global environmental systems to highly localized livelihood practices and social and environmental conditions. Studying these interactions is therefore both challenging and extremely important for understanding sustainable livelihoods and futures in rural areas across the globe.
This course therefore equips students with an understanding of rural livelihood transformations from a systems perspective, with focus on Global South contexts. It provides insights into how livelihood transformations and outcomes are shaped by social, environmental, economic and governance relations and systems. It examines:
- The impact of climate and environmental conditions on livelihood options, risk and producer perceptions and strategies
- The role of social relations and transformations in shaping livelihood change, including socio-cultural changes, rural-urban relations and mobilities
- The role of production and market relations and systems, including value and commodity chains and access to markets
- The role of governance systems and policies, including formal state institutions, programs and practices; de facto governance through, e.g., market and private sector institutions; and producer organization and institutions
- Differentiated social, environmental and economic outcomes of livelihood transitions and transformations

The course provides participants with latest knowledge on these aspects shaping livelihood transformations in the Global South and understanding of how they interact in practice. It also provides analytical and conceptual tools that can be used to analyze livelihood transitions and transformation from a systems perspective, as well as applied experience using these tools.
The course can therefore support PhD students from the early to later stages of the PhD process, from developing their analytical and theoretical approach to strengthening their analysis.


Learning outcomes
Intended learning outcome for the students who complete the course:

Knowledge:
• Overall system factors and relations shaping rural livelihood transitions and transformation in Global South settings, including social, environmental, economic and governance aspects
• Empirical examples and applied understanding of systems factors and cross-scalar interactions in practice
• Livelihood transition and transformation outcomes, including sustainability outcomes from social, environmental and economic perspectives and differentiated outcomes across socio-economic groups
• Theoretical, analytical and conceptual approaches for understanding livelihood transition and transformation from a systems perspective

Skills:
• Identifying systems factors and interactions shaping livelihood transitions and transformations
• Understanding and analyzing the cross-scalar nature of livelihood systems and transitions
• Integrating sustainability and livelihood analyses into broader social, environmental, economic and governance systems perspectives

Competences:
• Ability to analyze complex, cross-scalar systems shaping livelihood transitions and transformations
• Critical understanding of the factors shaping sustainable livelihoods and differentiated outcomes
• Ability to apply systems thinking, including relevant theoretical, analytical and conceptual approaches, to studies of rural livelihood and development


Target Group
The course is relevant to all PhD students interested in sustainability, livelihoods and development in Global South countries. It is suitable for a broad range of academic fields and methodological approaches, including Geography, Environmental Science, Environment and Development, Area Studies, and other disciplines where interdisciplinary aspects of livelihoods and sustainability are relevant. It is well suited for students across stages of their PhD – from project development to analysis and writing-up.


Recommended Academic Qualifications
Students must possess a Master’s degree to participate in the course and should be enrolled in a PhD programme. If there are interested applicants that do not meet these criteria, they may apply. However, applicants meeting the course requirements will be prioritized.


Research Area
Relevant research areas include sustainable livelihoods and development; sustainable production systems; agriculture and rural livelihoods; climate change adaptation and resilience; resource management; biodiversity and conservation; market conditions and relations; value and commodity chains; and politics, governance and institutions.
Geography, Environmental Science, Environment and Development, Area Studies, and other disciplines addressing the interdisciplinary nature of livelihoods, environment and sustainability.


Teaching and Learning Methods
Teaching and learning methods include lectures, applied groupwork and exercises, and active in-course feedback.


Type of Assessment
After the course, each participant will write up and submit an individual reflection paper. This paper will document and reflect on what each student learns during the course.


Literature
Literature will be defined in collaboration with the international instructors and will be shared with the participants ahead of the course.


Course coordinator
Ole Mertz, professor, Section for Geography – Land, Environment and Society, Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management.

Guest Lecturers
- Assoc. Prof. Le Thi Hoa Sen, Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry, will provide input on rural transformation with focus on changing livelihood and social relations in areas affected by acute climate risk and resource degradation.
- Prof. Jesse Ribot, American University, will provide input on the role of market structures, relations and governance in shaping rural livelihoods and vulnerability in settings experiencing poverty and climate change.
- Prof. Jonathan Rigg, University of Bristol, will provide input on processes of livelihood transitions including coping and resilience, hazards and disasters, rural-urban relations, and migration and mobility.
- Senior Researcher Lily Lindegaard, Danish Institute for International Studies, will provide input on sustainable rural transformation from a governance and institutional perspective.


Dates
July 6-10, 2026


Course location
The course will be held at the Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, Øster Voldgade 10 1350 København K




Course fee
• Participant fee: 0 DKK
• PhD student enrolled at SCIENCE: 0 DKK
• PhD student from Danish PhD school Open market: 0 DKK
• PhD student from Danish PhD school not Open market: 3000 DKK
• PhD student from foreign university: 3000 DKK
• Master's student from Danish university: 0 DKK
• Master's student from foreign university: 3000 DKK
• Non-PhD student employed at a university (e.g., postdocs): 3000 DKK
• Non-PhD student not employed at a university (e.g., from a private company): 8400 DKK


Cancellation policy
• Cancellations made up to two weeks before the course starts are free of charge.
• Cancellations made less than two weeks before the course starts will be charged a fee of DKK 3.000
• Participants with less than 80% attendance cannot pass the course and will be charged a fee of DKK 5.000
• No-show will result in a fee of DKK 5.000
• Participants who fail to hand in any mandatory exams or assignments cannot pass the course and will be charged a fee of DKK 5.000


Course fee and participant fee
PhD courses offered at the Faculty of SCIENCE have course fees corresponding to different participant types.
In addition to the course fee, there might also be a participant fee.
If the course has a participant fee, this will apply to all participants regardless of participant
type - and in addition to the course fee.

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