GEOGRAPHY AND ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS

The course aims at offering a reference frame on some approaches, concepts and topics of environmental geography. Main goal of the course is to provide some tools to know and interpret the territorial dynamics and anthropogenic transformation of the nature, as well as the related environmental problems, with a special focus on environmental disputes.

1. Knowledge and understanding:
1.1. Acquiring the basic concepts of environmental geography.
1.2. Understanding the importance of the evolutive relation between nature and human societies.
1.3. Understanding environmental disputes dynamics.

2. Applying knowledge and analyzing:
2.1 Being able to use the environmental geography concepts to interpret today’s world.
2.1. Recognizing environmental and landscape risk and/or degradation.
2.3. Analyzing environmental dispute’s actors, rationalities and issues.


3. Ability to judge:
3.1 Evaluating environmental impacts in the light of sustainability.
3.2. Judging the various aspects of environmental disputes: cost-effectiveness and actors’ discourses.

4. Communication skills:
4.1 Writing in a logic, coherent and synthetic style, in order to expose the knowledge gained
4.2 Use of an appropriate semantic and linguistic register

General knowledge of the main contemporary environmental problems and of the principal environmental disputes in Italy.

The course will provide some elements useful to narrow approaches, key concepts and objects of environmental geography. The focus is especially brought on the topic of environmental disputes at various scales: what are they, the definition problems and the so-called Nimby syndrome, the consensual location and the alternative dispute resolution. Some case studies will be considered.

Please note that the course includes a difference between students attending or not attending the lessons.
For those attending lessons
1) Lesson’s notes.
2) Pellizzoni L. (a cura di), Conflitti ambientali. Esperti, politica, istituzioni nelle controversie ecologiche, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2011.
3) Further reading (available on Moodle).

For those not attending lessons:
1) Correggia M., De Marzo G., Conflitti ambientali: biodiversità e democrazia della Terra, Milano, CDCA, 2011.
2) Pellizzoni L. (a cura di), Conflitti ambientali. Esperti, politica, istituzioni nelle controversie ecologiche, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2011.
3) Bompan E., Iannelli M., Water Grabbing. Le guerre nascoste per l'acqua nel XXI secolo, Emi, Verona, 2018.

Written exam with open questions targeted at the measurement of knowledge, the ability to apply knowledge and understanding and the ability to judge. For students attending classes, the exam questions will be on lesson’s notes and on the 2 specified textbooks. For not attending students, questions will be on the 3 specified textbooks. The exams lasts 90 minutes (2 academic hours).

Lectures with discussion and seminars. For those attending lessons: reductio and discussion of group works.

Italian

Attending lessons is highly recommended.
Accessibility, Disability and Inclusion - Accommodation and support services for students with disabilities and students with specific learning impairments: Ca’ Foscari abides by Italian Law (Law 17/1999; Law 170/2010) regarding support services and accommodation available to students with disabilities. This includes students with mobility, visual, hearing and other disabilities (Law 17/1999), and specific learning impairments (Law 170/2010). If you have a disability or impairment that requires accommodations (i.e., alternate testing, readers, note takers or interpreters) please contact the Disability and Accessibility Offices in Student Services: disabilita@unive.it.

written

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Natural capital and environmental quality" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development