E0321 - Sustainable Development - Global Challenges and Aspects

Organisational information

Details on the organization of the lectures are in the attached *.xls document.


  • 1) Social challenges; 8MDG. demographic consequences of the mankind development. Characteristics of the population growth, demographic transition, gender issues, lack/surplus of food, famine as a political tool, diseases, income disparity.
  • 2) Life in Anthropocene. Planetary boundaries I: Biodiversity loss, Climate change, and Acidification of the oceans.
  • 3) Planetary boundaries concept II: Stratospheric ozone loss; Global nitrogen and phosphorus cycles, Global freshwater consumption, Chemical pollution and Atmospheric aerosols.
  • 4) History of the concept of sustainable development as a reaction to the developmental issues. Important global (Our Common Future, Rio Declaration, Agenda 21), European (Europe 2020), and national (Czech Republic 2030) documents related to sustainable development concept. UN project Sustainable Development Goals (2015-2030).
  • 5) Ecological nature of human beings and resulting impact on the environment. Roots and social manifestations of ecological crisis (migration of people, frustration, violence, etc.).
  • 6) Energy production - environmental, economic and social consequences of various types of energetics.
  • 7) Food production - environmental, economic and social consequences of industrial (conventional), sustainable and organic farming.
  • 8) Environmental ethics - people-environment relation from the perspective of values. Values versus facts. Anthropocentric and biocentric types of ethics. Biocentric ethic (A. Schweitzer), Land ethic (A. Leopold), The Rights of Nature ethic (R. Nash, P. Singer), Deep ecology (A. Naess).
  • 9) The environmental economy as a tool to reach the social prosperity with respect to the environmental boundaries. The tragedy of Commons, fiscal evaluation of the environment, internalization of externalities.
  • 10) Sustainable production and consumption. Limits of technological solutions as preferred tools in the way towards the sustainable life.
  • 11) Solutions in the field of personal values. Lifestyles, voluntary simplicity, postmodernism.

 

Consultation

Anytime when agreed with the lecturer
  • email: michal.bittner@recetox.muni.cz
  • telefon: 54949 3807