| Department of Agriculture and Ecology | |||||||||||||||||
| Earliest Possible Year | MSc. 1 year | ||||||||||||||||
| Duration | One block | ||||||||||||||||
| Credits | 7.5 (ECTS) | ||||||||||||||||
| Course Level | MSc | ||||||||||||||||
| Examination | Final Examination written examination All aids allowed Description of Examination: Written individual project report describing the process of development of a future scenario of the European food system, the scenario itself and the route from the current situation to the future scenario. Weight: Project report 100% 7-point scale, internal examiner | ||||||||||||||||
| Requirement For Attending Exam | Essay on one of the four concepts introduced at the start of the course and a satisfactory contribution to an oral group presentation of a food system scenario. | ||||||||||||||||
| Organisation of Teaching | ER IKKE ENDELIGT GODKENDT. Lectures, tutorials, projects | ||||||||||||||||
| Block Placement | Block 4 Week Structure: B | ||||||||||||||||
| Teaching Language | English | ||||||||||||||||
| Optional Prerequisites | Essay on one of the four concepts introduced at the start of the course and a satisfactory contribution to an oral group presentation of a food system scenario. | ||||||||||||||||
| Restrictions | None | ||||||||||||||||
| Course Contents | |||||||||||||||||
| This course is based on the premise that issues related to sustainable food systems and detrimental effects on the environment transcend disciplinary and national boundaries. Students are presented with the four important concepts of sustainability, the precautionary principle, the European food system and the theory of scenario development and have to discuss and produce a reflective essay of not more than 2500 words on one of the above issues. Students learn the techniques of scenario analysis by studying two existing case studies before embarking in groups on the development of a suite of future scenarios for the European food system. Scenarios are defined as plausible future developments of a current system The case study looks at the production, processing and consumption of food in Europe under four scenarios based on those in the Netherland Government's study Grounds for Choices, the IPCC special report on climate change scenarios and the Millenium Ecosystem Assessment. Relevant issues are energy availability, climate change, food safety, organic agriculture and population. | |||||||||||||||||
| Teaching And Learning Methods | |||||||||||||||||
| Four scenario case studies on the plausible future of the European Food System will be developed by the students. Guest lecturers on the case study theme will provide specialist input. Discussion and tutorial sessions will be used to help participants prepare their scenarios. Students will submit a reflective essay on a introductory concept of the course, complete an group project and a group oral presentation in class before writing an individual project on their chosen scenario. | |||||||||||||||||
| Learning Outcome | |||||||||||||||||
| The main goals of the course are to provide students with knowledge of concepts relevant for food systems and their sustainability and scenario methods that lead to the development of plausible futures for the European food system. Thus, students develop plausible future scenarios of European Food Systems (EFS) and examine the implications of each plausible future for the EFS. When students have completed this course they should be able to: Knowledge - Show an overview of the concept of sustainability. - Reflect on the use of the precautionary principle. - Identify global and European sustainability issues within agri-food systems and the natural environment. - Describe the main features of the European food system. - Describe important concepts in scenario development and analysis Skills: - Explain and apply scenario methodology to concrete food system cases - Integrate disciplinary knowledge with interdisciplinary thinking. Competences: - Discuss the use of scenario methods to inform strategic discussions on food system sustainability - Work with multiple perspectives on social and environmental questions - Discuss ethical dilemmas and different value positions in the creation of knowledge and construction of meaning in important societal questions. | |||||||||||||||||
| Course Litterature | |||||||||||||||||
| Case study material, discussion boards. Additional text and references will be made available during the course. | |||||||||||||||||
| Course Coordinator | |||||||||||||||||
| John R. Porter, jrp@life.ku.dk, Department of Agricultural Sciences/Environment, Resources and Technology, Phone: 35333377 | |||||||||||||||||
| Study Board | |||||||||||||||||
| Study Committee NSN | |||||||||||||||||
| Course Scope | |||||||||||||||||
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