CUE2

Anthropocene (Summer School)
2023-07-03 - 2023-07-08
Should the Anthropocene be recognised as an official subdivision of geological time? The proposition of this term has raised much discussion during the past decade. Is our species’ imprint visible geologically? What was the tipping point towards anthropogenic impact to such a degree that it defines a geological epoch?
The nature of this debate necessitates crossing disciplinary boundaries, and while the term has not been officially accepted by the geological community it is already in use by a broad academic society. To truly understand this debate, one must get to its essence and critically examine the validness of definitions and arguments used.
In this summer school you will learn how to participate in an academic debate, how to formulate your own arguments and present these to an academic audience. Experts in different fields will present their case for the Anthropocene and share relevant insights. By exploring human imprints observed in various relevant research domains, this school will try to elucidate the essence of the debate and discuss how it relates to our current perception of human impact on the environment.

The school will be structured around four themes discussed during the first four days:

Shifts in subsistence and environmental impact (history, archaeology, economy)
Are we friendly neighbours? Interspecies relationships (biology, ecology, paleoecology)
Will Homo sapiens leave a geological mark? (geology, earth system science)
How anthropocentric is the Anthropocene? (philosophy, anthropology)

The fifth day will conclude the school. Students will present their stance on the Anthropocene based on arguments debated during the previous days. We aim to procude an academic output as a group following the school.

Practical Information

Dates
3 – 8 July 2022

Location
Groningen, the Netherlands

Level
PhD, Master, and advanced Bachelor students

Fees
€ 275, including welcome tour and drinks, lunch, coffee and tea, and closing dinner with speakers
€ 200 for University of Groningen students (limited availability, on the basis of first come, first served)

Academic coordinators
Daniella Vos, University of Groningen, Faculty of Spatial Sciences
Kees Klein Goldewijk, University of Utrecht
Martine Maan, University of Groningen, Faculty of Science & Engineering

Contact
anthropoceneschool@rug.nl

Urban Ecology (Course)
2023-06-05 - 2023-06-30
Course Objective
The student will be able to:

relate ecological and environmental theories and concepts of relevance for urban areas and ecosystems;
describe and appreciate the complex and diverse relationships between cities and ecology, and between human and the built environment;
apply principles and concepts of urban ecosystems to analyze our surrounding urban habitats;
place urban areas in the landscape – describe interdependencies between urban and rural biodiversity
compare perspectives on urban green areas and biodiversity from ecology and landscape architecture
explain principles of spatial planning of urban areas for biodiversity and ecosystem services
address urban ecological question, resulting from above approaches, and design (field) experiments to resolve these questions.

Level 300: specialisation
Course Content
With over half of the world’s population now living in cities, cities have assumed a critical role in shaping local, regional, and global ecologies. Urban areas have an inherent ecological nature with cities and the built environment as ecosystems. This course focuses on ecological theories examining urban sites as interaction hot spots between species, humans, the biophysical environment and the surrounding natural ecosystems. We will use our campus and Amsterdam as a “living laboratory” in which students will apply these theories to field observation, case studies, and landscape perspective.

Additional Information Teaching Methods
The first part of the course consists of lectures about the theory underlying Urban Ecology. In the second part of the course the students will perform (field) experiments in and around Amsterdam.

Method of Assessment
Written exam about the theory (50%)
Presentation and/or written report about the experimental work (50%)

Literature
Mandatory reading: The Biology of Urban Environment, Philip James

Additional Information Target Audience
Keuzecursus voor tweedejaars BSc Biologie.

General Information

Course Code
AB_470074

Credits
6.00 EC

Period
P6

Course Level
200

Language of Tuition
Dutch

Faculty
Faculteit der Bètawetenschappen

Course Coordinator
dr. Z.V. Zizzari

Examiner
dr. W.H. Halfwerk

Teaching Staff
dr. W.H. Halfwerk
prof. dr. M.A.P.A. Aerts
dr. Z.V. Zizzari
