The planned seminar deals with the vulnerability
of coupled human-enviornment systems to global change. At the beginning
we will give a thorough introduction to the topic. We will then ask students
to prepare seminars on topics related to vulnerability research (see suggestions
below). We will provide appropriate background material and will guide and
support students to read and understand seminal papers recently published
in this growing field of interdisciplinary research. Students are encouraged
to present their own thoughts. They are also free to base their presentations
on additional material of their choosing. We will specifically deal with
the following issues:
- the driving forces and processes of environmental changes in Europe;
- the evaluation of ecosystem services provided to society;
- a discussion what a vulnerability assessment, should include, e.g.
evaluation of exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity.
- how to involve stakeholders in this process.
- results of different vulnerability assessments.
In the global change context, vulnerability is the likelihood that a specific
coupled human-environment system may experience harm from exposure to stresses
associated with alterations of societies and the biosphere, accounting for
the process of adaptation. The term coupled human-environment system is
used to highlight the fact that human and environmental systems are part
of an integrated whole. Vulnerability is typically described to be a function
of three overlapping characteristics: exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive
capacity. Vulnerability assessments include not only the analysis of vulnerability
but also the identification of specific options for stakeholders to reduce
that vulnerability. Stakeholders are people and organizations with specific
interests in the evolution of specific human-environment systems. Given
these definitions, the general objective of vulnerability assessments is
to inform the decision-making of specific stakeholders about options for
adapting to the effects of global change. In this way vulnerability assessments
link directly with the broader aim of sustainable development and sustainability
science, where successful research is measured by not only pure scientific
merit but also by the utility of the resulting products and recommendations.
In the growing community of vulnerability science several methods are used
to assess vulnerability for different systems, to different stressors and
to different outcomes, ranging from loss of recreational opportunities in
a landscape to loss of lives due to starvation.
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