Postgraduate Course: Ecosystem Services 2: Ecosystem Values and Management (PGGE11169)
Course Outline
| School | School of Geosciences |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course focuses on the concept of ecosystem services, its history and rise to prominence. We explore the ways in which ecosystem services can be valued, measured and monetized by society, across the spectrum from extractive to aesthetic values. Both theoretical and practical applications of ecosystem valuation are explored through case studies of policies and projects, as well as fieldwork near Edinburgh. Real-world examples of ecosystem services being valued are presented, and current policy responses are examined including payment for ecosystem services projects, biodiversity offsets, certification schemes and REDD+. Students have the opportunity to explore a case study in depth in a group through both class work and assessment.
This course engages both critically and creatively with the idea of valuing ecosystem services, looking at the importance of governance and power structures, the difficulties in valuing complex and unpredictable ecosystems, and the trade-offs between efficiency and equity that often occur. Students will work in groups to design and implement an ecosystem assessment, a task that is typically too big and demanding to undertake individually. Strategies for effective group work will be explored and you will be able to reflect on your own participation and role within a learning community.
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| Course description |
Indicative course outline:
W1 Ecosystem processes, functioning, services and values
W2 Theory and practice of measuring ecosystem services
W3 Practical valuation techniques 1: introduction, revealed preferences and cost-based approaches
W4 Practical valuation 2: Stated preferences
W5 Beyond the (classical) economics of valuation
W6 Ecosystem service assessments: Feedback on study design and fieldwork plan
W7 Ecosystem service assessments: Fieldwork
W8 Frameworks for analysing the governance of ES
W9 Instruments for incorporating ES into policies, projects and decisions
W10 Ecosystem service assessments: student presentations
W11 Course overview and feedback
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | Students must have taken Ecosystem Dynamics and Functions (PGGE11170) and passed at MSc level (only applicable to those not on the MSc Ecosystem Services). If you have not, and wish to take this course, you will need to have passed ecosystem science/ecology at honours level as part of a previous degree.
Students must have some prior knowledge of statistics to satisfy the learning outcomes of this course. Students should contact the course organiser if they are unsure whether or not their background is suitable.
Note that, because the assessment forms and integral part of the course, students are not permitted to sit in and/or audit this course.
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Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2015/16, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 35 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 44,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
152 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
A1: Magazine article on key issue in ecosystem services (25%).
A2: Ecosystem assessment (group assignment) written report (40%) and
presentation (10%) (together composing 50% of module mark).
T1: Short test during workshop (25%). |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Understand the role that ecosystems play in terms of underpinning critical services for human wellbeing.
- Gain knowledge of case studies of services e.g. food, coastal protection, carbon capture, water supplies, and recreation.
- Critically analyse the ecosystem services paradigm and the application of these ideas in ecological assessments, and in public life more broadly.
- Develop capacity to apply non-monetary and monetary assessment to various ecosystem services.
- Learn to analyse the challenges to managing ecosystem services, from an ecological, social and economic perspective.
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Reading List
Key texts
Bateman, I.J. et al. (2010). Economic Analysis for Ecosystem Service Assessments.
Environmental and Resource Economics, 48(2), pp.177-218.
http://www.springerlink.com/index/10.1007/s10640-010-9418-x
Foster, J. (1997) Valuing nature? Ethics, economics and the environment.
Routledge, London.
MEA (2005). Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: Ecosystems and Human Wellbeing:
Synthesis. Washington, DC.
TEEB (2009) The economics of ecosystems and biodiversity for national and
international policy makers. The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity
Particularly Chapters 4 and 5. www.teebweb.org , full text at:
http://tinyurl.com/ae68gwt
UK National Ecosystem Assessment (2011) The UK National Ecosystem
Assessment Technical Report. UNEP-WCMC, Cambridge. http://uknea.unepwcmc.
org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=m%2BvhAV3c9uk%3D&tabid=82] and in
library
WBCD (2011): Guide to Corporate Ecosystem Services Valuation. World Business
Council for Sustainable Development.
http://www.wbcsd.org/Pages/EDocument/EDocumentDetails.aspx?ID=104
Beyond these core texts, each lecturer will provide links to reading materials for each
workshop. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | ecosystem services,valuation,PES,REDD |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Janet Fisher
Tel: (0131 6)50 5097
Email: Janet.Fisher@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Alice Heatley
Tel: (0131 6)50 4866
Email: alice.heatley@ed.ac.uk |
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