Sustainable Resources Management

Aim

After completion of the course, the student should on an advanced level be able to: - Demonstrate practical knowledge of energy and water management. - Critically analyze and assess climate mitigation and adaptation strategies. - Competently use methods and tools relevant to sustainable resources management.

Content

This course addresses multiple aspects of sustainable resource management with focus on water and energy. As climate change will result in even greater challenges for both of these areas, in terms of both mitigation and adaptation, different policies, practices and techniques related to the planning and implementation of sustainable infrastructure and approaches will be analysed. Water and energy are essential for many functions in society. Provision is often organized in large technical systems connecting users with suppliers. These modes of provision have changed over time and can be very different depending on the context, e. g., industrialized and developing countries or urban and rural areas. Such differences will be explored throughout the course. The aim of the course is to prepare the student for work with water and energy management in a practical sense. Through exercises, such as strategy games, GIS-labs and educational visits, learning is achieved by way of hands-on experiences. Focus is on understanding the potentials and pitfalls inherent in different management strategies, and trade-offs with different societal and environmental goals. The course has three parts: 1. Water management. A strategy game, lectures, seminars and laboratory exercises will make clear and extend the practical and theoretical understanding of water management strategies and their trade-offs. 2. Energy management. A strategy game, lectures, seminars, laboratory exercises and educational visits will make clear and extend the practical and theoretical understanding of critical issues related to energy use and production. 3. Individual paper. The student shall write an individual paper where a particular water and/or energy management issue in a particular, community, country or region is reviewed and analyzed, including trade-offs with different societal and environmental goals.