World-wide, humanity faces conflicts as to how to
preserve our biological heritage and yet AT the same time promote sustainable
economic activity. Special pressures are faced by many developing countries.
The UNESCO MAN AND BIOSPHERE PROGRAM (MAB) with its 580 + Biosphere Reserves
offers models as to how these goals can be attained.
A one-week, course on UNESCO Biosphere Reserves
to be offered at Utrecht University for PhD candidates will provide students with
background and analytical experience with B. Reserves—both in the developed
world and in developing countries. Lectures from the professor are combined with
discussion sessions, mini-research topics for each student, short oral
presen-tations by students, and 8-10 page homework assignments (the homework due
two weeks after the formal classroom work is finished). Classes will meet for
two hours per day for the first four days, plus one-on-one meetings of the
professor with each student. The course will be concluded on Friday with a
meeting-of-the-whole of the entire class with 20-minute presentations by each
student. The presentations on Friday will be for each student to present to the
class group his/her internet-based research findings from each student’s special
topic. The special topics will be selected individually by students, and may
encompass comparative analyses of two or more Reserves from different biomes, or
may be on specialized sub-topics relevant to B. Reserves in general (e.g.
biodiversity challenges, tourism in Reserves, pitfalls and successes of
Reserves, coupling biodiversity conservation with economic needs in specific
Reserves, and so forth). Each student’s presentation will be followed by
discussion from the full class.
Course participants can expect to finish with a solid
understanding of the Reserves program: its history, how Reserves differ from
other modes of protection of resources, the cate-gories of biotic communities
that have been protected within the Reserves, successes and failures regarding
sustainable development initiatives, management issues, mechanisms used to
establish Reserves and maintain them, national constraints on the Reserves,
ecological studies in the Reserves, the role of local people in relation to the
Reserves, integration of research and research networks linking Reserves, and
many other aspects of this UNESCO program.
Information:
Instructor: Professor Michael S. Adams, Professor Emeritus
of Environmental Studies and Botany, The University of Wisconsin, USA. Dr. Adams
has four decades of experience of teaching and directing graduate students in
environmental studies fields and ecology. A brief bio is available at
http://www.nelson.wisc.edu/people/profile.php?p=442.
General Information :
Dates of the course: 7 to 11 May, 2012
Cost per student: € 200,-
Registration: Send e-mail to N.P.R.Anten@uu.nl in which you
state your name, affiliation, and PhD program you are enrolled in.
Deadline: Register a.s.a.p., course will be closed when 18
students have registered.
Payment: ING Bank account