Geographies of transformation: mitigating and adapting to rapid climate change
Undergraduate course
- ECTS credits
- 10
- Teaching semesters Autumn
- Course code
- GEO283
- Teaching language
- English
- Resources
- Schedule
- Reading list
Course description
Objectives and Content
Objective and content
This course examines the social, spatial, and political dimensions of climate change, focusing on mitigation and adaptation across different sectors and scales. Students will develop a critical understanding of the social drivers and consequences of climate change, engage in discussions about uneven spatial power relations, learn theories of transformation, examine the role of technology and innovation, and explore various pathways to alternative futures.
Students will learn to apply human geography theories and concepts to real-world cases, analyze policy and discourse framing, and identify opportunities and barriers for rapid, just, and deep transformation.
Lectures will address the relationship between local and global issues as well as north-south relations, including current debates in Norway.
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge
The student
- can explain the concepts of climate change mitigation and adaptation across different sectors (e.g. mobility, construction, food, energy, nature) and scales (e.g. individual, local, global)
- can identify different social and economic drivers of climate change, including globalization, culture, capitalism, and different features of modernity
- can outline different social implications and consequences of climate change
- can illustrate the uneven geographies of greenhouse gas emissions and critically assess the implications of spatial power relations and historical inequalities
- can explain different theories of transformation and identify opportunities and barriers to achieving a rapid, just and deep transformation
- can explain the concept of ecological modernization and discuss the role of technology and innovation in addressing climate change
- can outline and discuss different pathways for alternative futures, e.g. green growth and degrowth
Skills
The student
- can analyze the role that discourses, beliefs and worldviews play in framing climate problems and solutions
- can critically assess mitigation and adaptation policy with attention to geographical context
- can apply human geography theories to the analysis of empirical cases
General competence
The student
- has acquired theoretical knowledge and insight into contemporary debates about climate mitigation and adaptation
- can use concepts of place, space and scale to analyze how climate change and responses to it generate different challenges and opportunities in different contexts
- can demonstrate how social sciences can contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of climate change
ECTS Credits
Level of Study
Semester of Instruction
Required Previous Knowledge
Credit Reduction due to Course Overlap
Access to the Course
Teaching and learning methods
1-2 lectures á 2 hours pr. week. The lectures will consist of a combination of traditional lectures and active learning methods, in which students are expected to participate.
Total: 10-14 lectures
3 seminars.
Compulsory Assignments and Attendance
Forms of Assessment
6-hour school exam
- Part 1 (2 hours): without resources
- Part 2 (4 hours): with resources (no internet)
The exam will be given in the language in which the course is taught.
The exam can be submitted in English, Norwegian, Swedish or Danish.
Grading Scale
Assessment Semester
Assessment in teaching semester.
Students with valid absence as defined in the UiB regulations § 5-5 can apply for an extended submission deadline to studieveileder.geog@uib.no. The application must be submitted before the deadline for submission has expired.
Reading List
Course Evaluation
Examination Support Material
- Part 1 (2 hours): without resources
- Part 2 (4 hours): with resources (no internet)