1.1 Introduction to module 1

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来自 University of Geneva 的课程

Ecosystem Services: a Method for Sustainable Development

134 个评分

University of Geneva

Ecosystem Services: a Method for Sustainable Development

134 个评分

Ecosystem services are a way of thinking about – and evaluating – the goods and services provided by nature that contribute to the well-being of humans. This MOOC will cover scientific (technical), economic, and socio-political dimensions of the concept through a mix of theory, case-studies, interviews with specialists and a serious-game. By the end of this course, our aim is to enable you to: • define the concept of ecosystem services, its principles and limitations • understand the key services associated with any ressource (e.g., fresh water) through readings and case-studies • appreciate the advantages and potential risks of monetising ecosystem services • appreciate the social dimensions (power issues, cultural biases) embedded within any method • integrate tactical advice on mainstreaming this approach into policy and standard government practices • Optional: learn how to map ecosystem services with GIS tools The session that runs May 29th- July 10th will be actively monitored by the instructors, and learners will have the opportunity to ask questions. This course was developed by instructors from the University of Geneva with the help of numerous researchers and input from the Geneva Water Hub and the Natural Capital Project. The course was financed by the University of Geneva, the Global Programme Water Initiatives of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), and the Luc Hoffmann Institute. This MOOC is supported by the Geneva Water Hub and the University of Geneva along with the MOOC in « Water Resources Management and Policy » (www.coursera.org/learn/water-management) and the one in « International Water Law » (www.coursera.org/learn/droit-eau). We look forward to you joining us!

从本节课中

Module 1: Frontiers in Ecosystem Services

Play the TRADE-OFF game (online), meet the primary instructors of this course, and discover the key questions that we will be revisiting throughout this course in this introductory module.

1.1 Introduction to module 15:33

1.2.1 Trade-off game - Part A2:15

1.2.2 Trade-off game - Part B3:33

1.3 Introductory round table6:17

1.4 Why bother with the ecosystem services method?6:21

1.5 In what context can the ecosystem services method be used?10:59

1.6 What are some weakness and drawbacks of the ecosystem services method?6:20

与讲师见面

Martin Schlaepfer
Senior Lecturer
Institute of Environmental Sciences
Anthony Lehmann
Associate Professor
Section of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Institute for Environmental Sciences and
Juliet Jane Fall
Professor
Department of Geography and Environment, Geneva School of Social Sciences

[MUSIC]

Welcome to the course on Ecosystem Services.

My name is Martin Schlaepfer and I'm a Senior Lecturer at

the University of Geneva, where I teach a graduate course on Ecosystem Services.

The primary purpose of this first introductory video

is just to make sure you're at the right place and taking the right course.

We want to make sure that what we have to offer

matches roughly with your expectations.

And we also want to outline roughly what we think you need to be able to commit

in terms of time commitment in order to complete the course.

So let me first begin by saying briefly how I

arrived at becoming interested in this concept of ecosystem services.

I was trained as a conservation biologist, and at some point in my career,

I was working in a remote town of Arizona.

Working on the shape of tadpole tails, and the response to novel predators.

And I must have been around the measurement of my 10,000th

tadpole tail when suddenly I had this realization that I had gotten

pretty far from some of my basic interests, which were,

how do I make nature more relevant to the economy and to society.

And so since then, I have been spending a lot of time thinking and

working in this field of ecosystem services.

You may ask, is the time even right for a course in ecosystem services given

that the field is young, is changing rapidly and is far from being stabilized?

What we hope to convey in this course is that a lot of ideas have come

to maturity in the last few years, a lot of institutions have been put into place,

a lot of international initiatives are now ongoing.

And we think the time is right for a fairly advanced course where you can

quickly acquire enough basics so that you too can start to contribute to this field.

So what is this course about?

This course is essentially about three things.

On one hand, we have our natural capital, which includes biodiversity and nature.

And some ecological functions that come from this natural capital

produce what we call Ecosystem Services.

Ecosystem services are basically goods that contribute to our human well being.

But not just any human well being,

we are specifically talking about a sustainable and equitable well-being.

So it's important to understand that this field is fairly value laden

that we're trying to push the world down a pathway that is better for

many people that is so called more sustainable.

So let's basically start by trying to answer some of your more pressing

questions.

Who is this course for?

We envision this course is not for beginners.

We expect that you've at least heard of the term ecosystem services and

you know at least what some basic services are.

If that's not the case, we encourage you to consult one of the links below,

where there's, for example, a link to a MOOC that was produced by

the Natural Capital Project at Stanford, which is a good introduction.

There also are some good introductory documents,

which we encourage you to read, just to make sure that you're at the right level.

Finally, we expect you to be people who are also committed on a personal level,

to making this world a better place.

because this is really a lot of what the concept is all about.

So we will have five basic instructors, but

we'll also be calling upon a lot of international experts from different

fields who sometimes will be presenting divergent, contrasting views.

We hope that, ultimately, all these things will come together and

help you have a critical view of the concept so that you too can

judge what is relevant, what is not as the field continues to develop.

How is this course organized?.

You'll see that each module follows a similar structure.

We'll begin with a few theoretical concepts given by professors

which will be followed by some case studies or some concrete examples.

And then we'll have some interviews that are led by Professor and

we'll call the Tony's interviews,

which will give you access to some high level world specialists.

And finally, there'll be a quiz and some additional resources at the end

where we can wrap things up in the entire course.

How much time will you expect to have to spend on this course?

We expect roughly that you’ll have to spend between two and

five hours per module.

And there are five modules, so it’ll be somewhere between 10 and 25 hours.

That may seem like a fairly large discrepancy, but we realize that

you’ll be consuming this video at different ways depending on your interest.

Some of you will probably just view the videos fairly quickly,

take the quiz and be done with it.

Other people will want to read the suggested readings and

really get a grasp of specific subjects, which of course will take more time.

How will I be evaluated?

Well, the evaluation is going to match these different types of

users in the course that we anticipate.

We expect that you will be able to pass the course and

obtain the certificate if you view all the videos.

And take the quiz right behind that.

You'll at least have sufficient points to get a passing grade.

But we will also include in the evaluation some more advanced and

complex questions to reward if you will the people who have made the extra effort

to do some of the readings.

Okay, so this wraps up our first segment.

We will begin the course itself in a somewhat unusual way.

We'll be playing a game.

[MUSIC]

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