Postgraduate Course: Ecosystem Values and Management (PGGE11188)
Course Outline
| School | School of Geosciences |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course focuses on the concept of ecosystem services, its history and rise to prominence. We explore the ways in which ecosystem services can be
valued, measured and monetized by society, across the spectrum from intrinsic values (aesthetics, inspiration, cultural) to extractive (e.g. fisheries, forestry, mining). Both theoretical and practical applications of ecosystem valuation are explored through case studies of policies and projects, and case studies.
Real-world examples of ecosystem services being valued will be examined, including payment for ecosystem services projects, biodiversity offsets,
certification schemes and REDD+. Students have the opportunity to explore a case study in depth. The course concludes with a critique of the idea of valuing ecosystem services, looking at the importance of governance and power structures, the difficulties in valuing complex and unpredictable
ecosystems, and the trade-offs between efficiency and equity that often occur. |
| Course description |
The course is organised into two distinctive blocks as follows:
1. An introduction to the ecosystem services concept. (weeks 1-4) This block is largely contextual. It involves critical reflection on the ecosystems services concept and explore its emergence in policy and management.
2. Exploring ecosystem service valuation to support policy. (weeks 4-8) Both social (non-monetary) and economic valuation and their links to policy instruments are explored in this block by reading the foundational literature and exploring themed case studies.
Aside from the expected contributions to the weekly programme there are two coursework assignments (each of which is weighted at 50% of each student's final mark for the course).
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | This online course is only available to students registered on the Certificate in Global Health Challenges or the MSc in Global Challenges. |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2024/25, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 40 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
| Course Start Date |
13/01/2025 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
196 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Coursework 100%
Assessment 1 (10min presentation): 12:00 noon, Monday 24th February 2025
Assessment 2 ( 2000 words Essay): 12:00 noon Monday 7th April 2025
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| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- appreciate the role that core ecosystem functions and dynamics play in terms of underpinning critical services for sustainable humanity
- recognise examples in the case studies of services e.g. food, coastal protection, carbon capture, water supplies, recreation. Distinctions and diversities of environmental governance mode related to common property and private resource regimes
- construct and model different applications of non-monetary and monetary economic assessment to ecosystem components and services
- demonstrate interdisciplinary scenario analysis examining application of different ecosystem service concepts for different habitat and cultural contexts
- understand ecosystem provisioning, regulating, cultural and supporting services; intrinsic and extrinsic valuation, interdisciplinary frameworks, adaptive institutional design, scenario analysis
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Reading List
MA, (2005) Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Synthesis. Washington, DC.
Ostrom, E. (2009). "A General Framework for Analyzing Sustainability of Social-Ecological Systems."
Turnhout, E., et al. (2020). Enabling transformative biodiversity governance. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 45, 10-16.
Carpenter, S. R., et al. (2009). Science for managing ecosystem services: Beyond the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(5), 1305¿1312.
(Reason): Broadens the scope with post-Millennium Ecosystem Assessment perspectives.
Participatory scenarios: Enhancing ecosystem services governance for sustainability. Ecology and Society, 24(4), 17.
Grimm, V., et al. (2005). "Pattern-Oriented Modelling of Agent-Based Complex Systems: Lessons from Ecology."
Bateman, I. J., et al. (2023). Natural capital accounting: Integration into decision-making for sustainable outcomes. Nature Sustainability.
Tallis, H., & Polasky, S. (2009). "Mapping and Valuing Ecosystem Services as an Approach for Conservation and Natural-Resource Management."
Seddon, N., et al. (2020). Nature-based solutions in tackling societal challenges. Global Sustainability, 3, e14.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Ecosystems,Distance Learning |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Rafael De Oliveira Silva
Tel: (0131 6)50 6095
Email: Rafael.Silva@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Lynn Taylor
Tel:
Email: Lynn.Taylor@ed.ac.uk |
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