ENSn4633 Studying Local Rural Systems

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2025

The course is not taught in Spring 2025

Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Eva Fraňková, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Dipl. Ing. Willi Haas (lecturer), doc. Mgr. Karel Stibral, Ph.D. (deputy)
Dr. Simron Jit Singh (lecturer), doc. Mgr. Karel Stibral, Ph.D. (deputy)
doc. Mgr. Karel Stibral, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. Karel Stibral, Ph.D.
Department of Environmental Studies – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Mgr. Kristína Markechová
Supplier department: Department of Environmental Studies – Faculty of Social Studies
Prerequisites
! HEN633 Studying Local Rural Systems &&!NOW( HEN633 Studying Local Rural Systems )&&(SOUHLAS)
upper-intermediate English language skills
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 5 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/5, only registered: 0/5
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The course aims to provide insights and methodological training in studying local communities through the use of anthropological and social ecological field methods, and interpret the results within the framework of sustainability and development studies. Taking a systems perspective, the students are encouraged to look at rural systems as coupled socio-ecological systems (SES) with material, energy, land, labour and technology as relevant variables.
Learning outcomes
After finishing the course, the students will be able to:
* describe the main characteristics and methods of sociometabolic studies;
* identify main steps of a sociometabolic analysis on the local level;
* apply some basic methods of social metabolism in practice;
* analyze and interpret the results of a sociometabolic study in the broader context of sustainability studies;
* summarize and present the results of a local sociometabolic study.
Syllabus
  • The course itself begins with a one day pre-seminar in March (exact day is announced at the beginning of the semester) at the Institute of Social Ecology in Vienna with an overview of the theoretical and operational framework of social ecology and societal metabolism.
  • The actual seminar takes place as a 5-day block in May (exact days are announced at the beginning of the semester) in a culturally challenging environment of Třeboňsko (Františkov village, near Třeboň, Czech Republic) where further inputs are given and actual field work is undertaken. Here we learn and experience how to establish contact, build rapport and interact in a culturally sensitive way. We also learn to design innovative field methods of generating data that provides relevant information on the functioning of local rural systems such as material and energy flows, time use, land-use, and to estimate quantities of society’s stocks such as population, livestock, land, and artefacts. The seminar concludes with reflection on our experiences and results, and makes an attempt to interpret them within the framework of sustainability and development interventions.
  • Main topics: • Material and energy flow analysis • Land use • Functional time use analysis • Institutional aspects
Literature
    required literature
  • • Singh, S.J. et al. (2010) Local studies manual. A researcher’s guide for investigating the social metabolism of local rural systems. Social Ecology Working Paper, Vienna. Available at http://www.uni-klu.ac.at/socec/downloads/WP120_Web.pdf (10.2.2013)
  • • 3 – 5 shorter scientific articles on social metabolism, land use, Třeboňsko Biosphere reserve, small-scale farming etc., will be specified and provided in March
Teaching methods
Interactive block seminar: inputs, role plays, field work, analysis and writing in small groups. The course is designed for students interested in human-environment relations, anthropological and socio-ecological field methods, local sustainability and development paradigms from backgrounds such as sociology, anthropology, ecology, international development and related disciplines.
Assessment methods
Participation during the entire seminar (including the pre-seminar), field work, brief presentation of results and writing a short assignment in groups on the outcome and analysis of the field research.
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: in blocks.
Information on course enrolment limitations: Předmět je určen pouze studentům mateřských oborů.
Teacher's information
The course schedule details:

1-day theoretical pre-seminar in Vienna

5-day field course in South Bohemia (Třeboňsko)

The course is organized by the Institute of Social Ecology (Vienna) in collaboration with the University of South Bohemia and Masaryk University, Brno. The number of students is limited to 15 participants from Austria, 3 from University of South Bohemia and 3 from Masaryk University.

The field part of the course will take place in the village of Františkov.

The traveling, accommodation and meal expenses can be covered for the students by a grant of the Department of Environmental Studies if they are students of the department and have Czech nationality. These students are expected to cover their other possible small expenses eg. bike rent, entrance fee etc. Other students are expected to cover all their costs (approx. 2500 CZK) by themselves.

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