BSc Minor Climate Change: Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Society (WUCLC) / BSc

Profile

During the last decade, it has become apparent that the world is facing significant changes in climate, some of which are already manifested today. The debate is no longer about: 'Will our climate change?' but rather about 'How will it change, how can we cope with its impacts (adaptation), and how can we limit future climate change (mitigation)?' These issues fuel a range of new challenges to natural and social science. Answers need to be found on questions such as: How will ecosystems be affected and how will these feed back to the climate system? How will national and international political agendas be set by climate change issues? How will citizens, consumers, companies, and other social actors respond to climate change? What will be the economic costs of the impacts and measures related to climate change, and how are these costs globally distributed? Will new social and economic opportunities emerge in the process of adaptation? As these changes and challenges become ever more apparent, the demand for scientists that are able to understand and investigate them will rise.
In the last period of this BSc minor students from both natural and social science BSc's will work together on Climate Change adaptation projects either in the context of developed or developing countries. In these projects natural and anthropogenic drivers, processes and feedbacks will be analysed and quantified. Next, based on these analyses scenario's and models will be used to design adaptation strategies in small working groups focusing on a specific problem area.
This BSc minor is a programme minor.

Learning Outcomes

After successful completion of this minor students are expected to be able to:
- demonstrate basic understanding of the physical, chemical and biological mechanisms and feedbacks that regulate the Earth System;
- demonstrate command of the basic social-scientific concepts that are relevant to understanding the interaction between climate change and society;
- use various methodological approaches to studying climate-related physical, socio-political and economic issues, including the prospects of mitigation of, and adaptation to climate change;
- cooperate within a multidisciplinary team and contribute to the design and development of policy measures dealing with climate change and its effects on society;
- demonstrate awareness of the widely divergent economic and cultural situations in which people live in different parts of the world and the effects that climate change, and measures to mitigate or adapt to it, may have on their well-being.

Language of Instruction

English

BSc Minor Coordinator

- Dr ir J.M. van Loon-Steensma
Phone: 0317-(4)85812
Email: jantsje.vanloon@wur.nl
- Dr. S.D. Keesstra
Phone: 0317-(4)82877
Email: saskia.keesstra@wur.nl

Target Group

This minor is interesting for students of the following BSc programmes: BBI, BBN, BBW, BIL, BMW, BPW, BBC, BEB, BIN, BCL, BGM.