Emerging Theories and Methods in Sustainability Research: MARIE CURIE SUMMER SCHOOLS 2006 - 2009
A series of four Marie Curie funded summer schools in sustainability research will take place at four leading European universities between 2006 and 2009. The series will put emphasis on integrating analyses of complexity, appraisal methods and the role of institutions as well as interdisciplinarity, participatory learning and holistic approaches. PhD students and other early stage researchers could apply for one or several of these summer schools. The series will consist of the following four summer schools:
THE 1st SUMMER SCHOOL: Analysing Complexity, 7-17 June 2006, Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (ICTA), Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB), Spain. This training course is based on the observation that the effects of technological changes and the pressures of the economy on the environment cannot be assessed on a single scale. Complexity theory has emerged from the works of scholars in both economics and ecology and has changed the focus of how to study human-environment interactions. The participants will acquire insights into the following issues through theoretical seminars: a) The concepts of risk, uncertainty and ignorance in the management of the environment; b) Policy models under conditions of uncertainty and complexity; c) Biophysical analyses of the economic process; d) Multiple scales and non-equivalent descriptions of reality; e) Multi-criteria and scenario approaches to problems of complexity. The workshops will take the form of case studies focusing on methods and theoretical framework for the study of complexity. They will cover: i) Urban systems; ii) Ethnoecology and Agroecology; iii) Climate Change; iv) Energy systems; Social Metabolism; v) Water use; vi) Biological invasions.
Keynote speakers: Silvio Funtowicz (JRC-European Commission), Marina Fischer-Kowalski (IFF, Vienna). Lecturers include: Roger Strand (Univ. of Bergen), Joan Martinez-Alier and Giuseppe Munda (ICTA, UAB), Mario Giampietro (INRAN, Rome), Kozo Mayumi (Tokushima Univ., Japan), Arild Vatn (Norwegian Univ. of Life Sciences), Rainer Zahn, Antoni Rosell and Victoria Reyes (ICREA-ICTA, UAB). Applications for this summer School are now open. For further information, see www.umb.no/research/themes
THE 2nd SUMMER SCHOOL: Institutional Analysis of Sustainability Problems: 18-29 June 2007, Institute for Forecasting, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Slovakia. Keynote speakers are E. Ostrom, D.W. Bromley and J. Jilkova. Event will be arranged in cooperation with The International Human Dimensions Programme for Global Environmental Change.
THE 3rd SUMMER SCHOOL: Methods and tools for environmental appraisal and policy formulation, May 26 - June 6 2008, Ecological Economics and
Environmental Management Center, Foundation of the Faculty of Sciences and Technology, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal. Keynote speakers are Clive Spash and Felix Rauschmayer.
THE 4th SUMMER SCHOOL: Integrated analysis of complex adaptive systems, 15-26 June 2009 at the University of Sussex, Brighton, UK. Keynote speakers are R. Nelson, J. Gowdy and P. Allen.
Posted on March 22, 2006