HEN614 Case Studies of Sustainability Projects

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2013
Extent and Intensity
1/1. 2 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
Andrew Barton (lecturer), doc. Mgr. Bohuslav Binka, Ph.D. (deputy)
Simon Burandt, Ph.D. (lecturer), doc. Mgr. Bohuslav Binka, Ph.D. (deputy)
RNDr. Jana Dlouhá, Ph.D. (lecturer), doc. Mgr. Bohuslav Binka, Ph.D. (deputy)
Mgr. Jan Skalík (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. Bohuslav Binka, Ph.D.
Department of Environmental Studies – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Dana Pantůčková
Supplier department: Department of Environmental Studies – Faculty of Social Studies
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is offered to students of any study field.
The capacity limit for the course is 10 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/10, only registered: 0/10, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/10
Course objectives
Participants of the module will be acknowledged with the method syndromes of global change which allows sustainable development to be described and analyzed. Students will be also informed about aplication possibilities of this method. The aim of the course is to determine causes of global problems in local context. The module will offer methodological introduction to the students and will present method of sustainability evaluation in complex systems called syndromes of global change. It focuses impacts of global influences on a regional level. Furthermore, student will be taught about methods used to write case study reports. Case study written on a topic of chosen problematic phenomenon of Ústecký region followingly will be used in common preparation of regional development strategy. Students will learn about participatory methods.
Syllabus
  • 1. Introduction to virtual working space, teach-in 2. Sustainable development in global and regional context, syndromes of global change approach 3. Presentation of selected syndromes of global change and discussion about them (The countryside depopulation syndrome, The Aral Sea syndrome - environmental damage to landscape due to large-scale projects) 4. Selection of syndromes in a specific region, description of situation 5. Preparation for colaborative work, identification of interest groups 6. Theoretical introduction to work on case studie – method of real case description 7. Colaborative work on a problem in context of the region: data mining 8. Preparation of case study report, conceptualization of main problem areas 9. Wiki: presentation of case studies 10. Evaluation of reviews and reflexion of peer review 11. Proposal of development strategy of Ústecký region and discussion about it 12. Final evaluation of colaborative work and the results
Literature
    required literature
  • Bent Flyvbjerg, 2011, "Case Study," in Norman K. Denzin and Yvonna S. Lincoln, eds., The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research, 4th Edition (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage), pp. 301-316.
  • Petschel-Held, G., Block, A., Cassel-Gintz, M., Kropp, J., Lüdeke, M. K. B., Moldenhauer, O., Reusswig, F., et al. (1999). Syndromes of global change: a qualitative modelling approach to assist global environmental management. Environmental Modeling and
  • Baxter, P and Jack, S. (2008) Qualitative Case Study Methodology: Study design and implementation for novice researchers, in The Qualitative Report, 13(4): 544-559.
  • North-South, N. (2002). Research partnerships for mitigating syndromes of global change. NCCR North-South, Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), Institute of Geography, University of Berne.
Teaching methods
Module is based on a e-learning Moodle platform (http://www.vcse.eu/moodle/). Participants are expected to take active role on the discussion forum and to study mentioned texts. At the beginning and at the end of the module, there will be informatory meeting at Faculty of social sciences. Students are expected to present their activity each week of the semester. Module is taught in English.
Assessment methods
The grade will be given on a basis of continuous evaluation of outcomes which are mentioned above. Knowledge of the literature is not fully essential.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught only once.
The course is taught: every week.
Note related to how often the course is taught: e-learning.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2012, Spring 2014.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2013, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/spring2013/HEN614