3 ECTS credits
75 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 4020609FNR for all students in the 1st semester of odd academic years (e.g. 2013-2014) at a (F) Master - specialised level.

Semester
biennial: 1st semester of an odd academic year (e.g. 2013-2014)
Enrollment based on exam contract
Impossible
Grading method
Grading (scale from 0 to 20)
Can retake in second session
Yes
Taught in
English
Faculty
Faculty of Sciences and Bioengineering Sciences
Department
Biology
Educational team
Beyene Hailu Abebe (course titular)
Activities and contact hours

35 contact hours Lecture
10 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
20 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study
Course Content

Nature-based solutions are defined as living solutions inspired by continuously supported by and using nature, which are designed to address various societal challenges in a resource efficient and adaptable manner and to provide simultaneously economic, social and environmental benefits. During the past century, human population growth has been explosive, and increasing rates of environmental modification from human activities have been largely unchecked. Global population has increased nearly 4-fold since 1900 and is predicted to reach 9 billion by 2050. To support the population boom, humans currently use more than one third of terrestrial primary production and over half of accessible freshwater runoff. Soil loss rates, amplified by land clearing for agriculture and development, are more than 10 times greater than rates of soil formation.Atmospheric increases of CO2, driven principally by fossil fuel combustion and habitat conversion, will account for more than half of the anticipated global warming expected this century. The removal of top predators has destroyed entire trophic levels thereby further reducing ecosystem resistance and resilience to change. Consequently, there has never been a greater need or amore appropriate time to focus on holistic management of ecosystems in order to preserve their ecosystem services through nature-based solutions for sustainable development.

 

Firstly, this course will provide the students an introductory knowhow about nature-based solutions for interlinked environmental components in order to attain sustainable development.

 

Secondly, the students will learn about how to apply nature-based solutions for climate change mitigation and adaptation, for improved risk management, and resilience and for restoration of degraded ecosystems. 

 

Thirdly, the students will be applying nature based management research tools in practical exercises focusing on the use of indicators and markers for assessing the outcomes of nature-based solution management implementations.

 

  • The teaching approach comprises lectures, seminars and practical exercises.

 

Many nature-based solutions result in multiple co-benefits for health, the economy, society and the environment, and thus they can represent more efficient and cost-effective solutions than more traditional approaches. Nevertheless, implementation of nature based solutions requires multidisciplinary and multispectral approach. Hence, by looking at the nature based solutions in such approach, this course aims in designing nature based solutions into its broader context, as well as linking this course to the variety of the students’ professional and educational backgrounds.

Additional info

Course material

Course text (Required):

-All power point slides used will be made available and should be complemented with individual notes.

-Selected recent scientific articles from reputable international journals will be made available.

Recommended handbooks: Truth

  1. Chapin, F.S. (III), Kofinas, G.P., Folke, C., 2009. Principles of Ecosystem Stewardship: Resilience-Based Natural Resource Management in a Changing World. Springer Science+Business Media, New York.
  2. World Bank, 2010. Convenient solutions to an inconvenient truth: Ecosystem-Based Approaches to Climate Change. World Bank, Washington DC.
  3. UNEP, 2006, Ecosystem-based management:Markers for assessing progress. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Grafisch Centrum Mijdrecht, the Netherlands.
Learning Outcomes

General Competencies

This course explicitly contributes to the following competences of the curriculum (as defined by the Biology Department of the VrijeUniversiteit Brussel):

General:

  • To present scientific results
  • To evaluate the scientific relevance of data
  • To understand how scientific research plays a role in society

 

Field specific:

  • Problem solving as a thinking process using nature-based solutions
  • Knowledge on human-environment interactions
  • Critical analysis about the functions and effectiveness of nature-based solutions

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Oral Exam determines 45% of the final mark.
Practical Exam determines 30% of the final mark.
Other Exam determines 25% of the final mark.

Within the Oral Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

  • Oral exam with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 45% of the final mark.

    Note: The oral exam determines 45% of the final mark.

Within the Practical Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

  • Practical Assignment with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 30% of the final mark.

    Note: A practical assignment (term paper) determines 30% of the final mark.

Within the Other Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

  • Class Pres & Participation with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 25% of the final mark.

    Note: Class presentation and participation in discussions determines 25% of the final mark.

Additional info regarding evaluation

The final grade is based on the following categories:

  • The oral exam determines 45% of the final mark.
  • A practical assignment (term paper) determines 30% of the final mark.
  • Class presentation and participation in discussions determines 25% of the final mark.
Allowed unsatisfactory mark
The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context

This offer is part of the following study plans:
Master of Biology: Human Ecology
Master of Biology: AR Human Ecology 60 ECTS