Sunday, November 14, 2010

EESD PROGRAM REVIEW 2010

EESD PROGRAM REVIEW 2010

Amulya R Tuladhar, 30 October, 2010

The EESD Program review is based on my experience in teaching at PGSD and MEESD since their inceptions, on environmental subjects: Environmental Management (3 semesters), Global Climate Change and Sustainable Development as well as Conservation of Protected Areas. I am familiar with both the goals of EESD program of KUSOED and students’ concerns.

OVERARCHING COMMENT:

The program should avoid the detailed expertise expected of natural resource managers and the unusable generality of very introductory courses designed for mass media consumption. The program should aim for specific consumption of formally educated population at high school level or above who may or not opt for environmental education career but intends to be involved and sensitive to environmental and development concerns.

The course design needs sharper focus! General foundational and introductory courses may be consolidated into few courses, fewer credit hour loads without missing any info. This is because of a lot redundancies of units and concepts in different courses; consolidation will reduce work load and sharpen the focus of the remaining courses. My specific suggestions are as follows:

Regarding the following courses:

1. EESD 501 Fundamentals of Ecology, Environment and Sustainable Development

2. EESD 502 Introduction to Global Change

3. EESD 503 Humans and Environment

The above three courses of 9 credit hours can be consolidated to two courses, namely:

1. EESD 501 Fundamentals of Ecology and Environment:

2. EESD 502: Population, Natural Resources and Development

EESD 501 Fundamentals of Ecology and Environment

This course can include all elements of current EESD 501 minus Sustainable Development but all of EESD 502 and EESD 503. As such this will be an introductory course which will bring all students unfamiliar with foundational issues of environment to a common base. As such some of the common introductory portions of EESD 504 Environmental Management and EESD 508 Global Climate Change …, as well as EESD 524 Global Issues on Environment… can be covered in this course.

EESD 502: Population, Natural Resources and Development

The second introductory courses will be an environmental studies dimensions dealing with the social aspects of environment. It may named as follows:

This course will help students to draw connections with the major human categories of environment, namely population, natural resources and development by introducing general theories and general applications. I have submitted a Course Plan for this topic. Such a course will relieve the “Sustainable Development” portion of EESD 501, EESD 508 and EESD 524. With enough introductory theoretical and applications on development theory and sustainable development in this introductory course in the early semesters, students can concentrate on for FOCUSSED theoretical and practical applications of examples of sustainable development in Environmental Management, Conservation, Environmental Economics, Political Ecology, Community Participation etc later in program.

SPECIALIZATION COURSES:

These courses will aim for equipping students’ fine tuned theoretical and practical linkage necessary to understand, solve and develop solutions to current environmental and development issues in developing countries, including Nepal and Bangladesh.

The course titles I propose are the following:

1. EESD 503 Environmental Issues and Management in Developing Countries

2. EESD 504 Mountain Environment and Development

3. EESD 505 Environmental Ethics

4. EESD 506 Environmental Governance Issues (Gender, Social Inclusion, Identity Politics, Decentralization/Federation, Payment for Ecological Services)

5. EESD 507 Seminar in Specific Natural Resources Issues and Solutions (Community Forestry, Water Resources, Urban Environment, Climate Change, Biodiversity, depending on students’ interests)

6. EESD 529 Directed Readings and Independent Studies on any Environment and Development Issue with selected Instructors, Course/Readings and paper designed by Instructor and Students (max 3 per topic) and up to 3 meetings, 1 end presentation and 1 end paper).

The above 6 courses of 3 credits each or a total of 18 credits can offer students increasing rigor building upon foundation courses and offering a chance at intensive understanding and capability to design new solutions that are valuable in Development NGO markets over and beyond the teaching job sector. These 6 courses can substitute for the following:

1. EESD 504 ; 2. EESD 505; 3. EESD 508; 4. EESD 521; 5. EESD 521; 6. EESD 522; 7. EESD 524; 8. EESD 526; 9. EESD 529.

Note the 9 subject credits of 29 credit hour can be consolidated to 18 credit hours, the savings of 11 credits can be transferred to internship and research.

A short note: EESD 401 on Study Skills and Academic Writing should be retitled Presentation, Writing and Report and Internet Search Skills. I find that even at the end of program students do not know basics of presentation like the size of fonts, need to have eye contact instead of reading, numbering slides etc and also basic internet search skills search as advanced search by file types and quotes to limit and narrow search, the ability to study visuals like animations, power points, Google Earth images, Google Maps etc. These are relatively easy skills that will enhance the productivity of students’ research early in the program.

Amulya Tuladhar has submitted Course Plan of some of the new subjects he has proposed to teach with the permission of the KUSOED EESD graduate program as follows:

1. Mountain Environment and Development

2. Environmental Ethics

3. Population, Natural Resources, and Development

4. Natural Resources Policy, Legislation, and Institutions

These lesson plans are appended below:

I would be glad to hear your comments on how I may contribute to the enhancement of EESD program of KUSOED. Thank you.

Amulya Ratna Tuladhar,

Professor of Environmental Sciences

Visiting Faculty of KUSOED

October 30, 2010
Sunday, November 14, 2010

EESD 522: POPULATION, DEVELOPMENT & NATURAL RESOURCE LINKAGES.

Context: Development is the most widely shared goal of all human activity in current world. One of the most immediate payoffs of development in the poorer countries of the world is a boom in population due to increased nutrition, health care, and life expectancies. This can be a great boom in human resources needed for greater and faster development as is happening in India and China. Or it can be a great drag on development by increasing the demand for greater resource allocation to consumption over capital investment as seems to be the case in Nepal. The unprecedented scale of consumption in poor countries is at a primal natural resources based economy with high environmental costs and lower returns on productivity. In short, population growth and development are arguably the most important drivers of natural resources exploitation.

Course Objective: This course will delve into the depths of these linkages by:

1) bringing all students to a common level of understanding of key categories of population and development as key drivers of natural resources exploitation in poor countries like Nepal;

2) studying and analyzing the parameters of success/failures of key natural resources utilization regimes in a range scales of time, space, organization unit, and influence of driving forces; and,

3) teach them to “think outside the box” with critiques of mainstream theory, assumptions and approaches with alternative definitions, assumptions and approaches from postmodern, political ecology, deep ecology, environmental ethics, cultural studies.

In conclusion, at the end of the course, the students will be able to understand and analyze current linkages between population, development and natural resources and be able to suggest new and workable alternative linkages.

UNIT 1: Introduction to Linkages between Population, Development and Natural Resources:

· Definitions of categories

· Concept of IPAT and driving forces

· Current context of “Resources” Theory and Approach

UNIT 2: Natural Resources Exploitation

· Mainstream categories :Theories, approach, and goals

· Critiques:

More Efficient Economics

Environmental Economics

Sustainable Development

Political Ecology, Deep Ecology

Buddhist and Traditional Ecology

UNIT 3: Population as Driving Force

· Population demographics for common understanding

· IPAT and more current development

· Population in Political ecology

· Critique of Neomalthusian problematique of “Population”

(Hide high consumption, power dominations, environmental cost and social costs, alternate problem source, population adaptation and ingenuity)

· Demographic Transition Model: Understanding.

(Implication: will population be no longer a problem in future? Population growth trap.)

UNIT 4: Development

· Introduction of definition and distinction from Economic Growth limitations

· Development Theory and Rostow’s Stages of Development

· Development Trap: Vicious Circle of Poverty

· Underdevelopment as necessary for “Development”

· Uneven Development, Political Economy, Political Ecology

· Development as Westernisation and Modernity

(Post modern and Cultural critiques)

· Development desirable or alternative goals for society from Environmental, social and economic views?

UNIT 5: Case study Analysis Natural Resources-Population-Development

· By countries and income and development levels

· By natural resources sectors

o Forestry

o Agriculture sustainability

o Agriculture biodiversity

o Biodiversity

o Rangelands

o Land degradation and soil fertility

o Water for drinking and irrigation

· By levels of population driving force influence

o Population sizes and influence in “Land Degradation and Society”

· Identifying the parameters and causes of success and failures

· Suggesting mainstream improvements of efficiency

· Suggesting “outside the box” redesign based on alternate values, assumptions, goals, and approaches.

Teaching Techniques:

1. Lectures 40%

2. Individual active learning by papers 30%

3. Team learning in Seminars and Labs 30%

Practicals:

1. Guest Lecture 1

2. Field Visit 1

3. Computer Lab 1


Course Title: Nepal Mountain Environment and Development

Course No: 630

Nature of the Course: Theory Literature Survey

Full Marks: 100

Pass Marks: 40

Year: 2

Course Objective:

  1. To introduce students to the full range of theoretical and practical approaches to Mountain Environment and Development of Nepal.
  2. To enable students to common theoretical approaches behind different local experiences.
  3. To enable students to synthesize physical and human dimensions of mountain environment and come up with new workable solutions.

Unit 1: Introduction (10 hrs)

Physical geography of the Nepal mountains: Geology, Meteorology, Drainage, Vegetation, Biodiversity.

Unit 2: Environmental Status of the Mountains (5 hrs)

The Himalayan Degradation Theory and its Critiques.

Unit 3: Conceptual Approaches (15 hrs)

Accessibility and Altitudinal Zonation, Mountain specificities, Political Economy and Ecology, Uncertainty in Theory and Data, Sustainable Development.

Unit 4: Environmental Management (25 hrs)

Human ecological approaches. Indigenous Knowledge-based Management. Population dynamics. Agricultural strategies. Pastoral strategies. Forestry strategies. Community Forestry. Water resource management. Gender perspectives. Park and Nature Reserves.

Unit 5. Modernization and development (25 hrs)

Hill agriculture and Market economy interaction. Development and underdevelopment theories. Integrated Mountain Development. Macroeconomic policies and critiques.

Unit 6. Political and Structural Change (20 hrs)

Political change from monarchy, democracy to republicanism. Economic history. Maoist conflict and roots in sociocultural structure. Caste, Ethnicity, and Regionalism.

Unit 7: Mountains and Climate Change

Global and Regional Climate Change effects on Mountain Environment, the science and scale effects, uncertainty issues, response options, vulnerability and adaptation capacities.

Unit 8: Mountains and Sustainable Development

Sustainable development theory and practice for mountains, mountains specificities and practices, future options for mountain sustainable development (msd_, indicators of msd, biodiversity and other ecological services and payments,

References:

Gerrard, A. John. 1990. Mountain Environments: An Examination of the Physical Geography of Mountains. Cambridge, MA; MIT Press.

Ives, J and B. Messerli. 1989. The Himalayan Dilemma, Reconciling development and conservation. United Nations University Press. Tokyo.

Metz, John. 1991. A Reassessment of the causes and severity of Nepal's Environmental Crisis. World Development 19(7) 805-820.

Allan, N.J.R. 1986. Accessibility and Altitudinal Zonation Models of Mountains. Mountain Research and Development¸ 6: 185-194.

Blaikie, P and H.C. Brookfield. 1987. Land Degradation and Society. Methuen.

Jodha, N. S. 1990. A Framework for Integrated Mountain Development. MFS Series No. 1, Kathmandu, ICIMOD.

Thompson, M and M. Warburton. 1985. Uncertainty on a Himalayan Scale. Mountain and Development, 5(2): 115-135.

Thompson, M and M. Warburton. 1985. A Conceptual Framework for Sustainable Development of the Himalaya. Mountain and Development, 5(3): 203-220.

Fricke, Thomas. 1989. Human Ecology in the Himalaya. Human Ecology 17(2): 131-145.

Zurick, D.N. 1990. Traditional knowledge and conservation as a basis for development in a West Nepal village. Mountain and Development, 10(1): 23-33.

Hrabovsky J. P. and K. Miyan. 1987. Population Growth and Land Use in Nepal, The Great Turnabout. Mountain and Development, 7(3): 264-270.

Schroeder, R. F. 1985. Himalayan subsistence systems, Indigenous agriculture in Rural Nepal. Mountain and Development, 5(1): 31-44.

Brower, Barbara. 1987. Livestock and Landscape: Sherpa pastoralism in Sagarmatha National Park.

Bajracharya, Deepak. 1983. Deforestation in the Food/Fuel context. Historical and Political Perspectives from Nepal. Mountain and Development, 3(3): 227-240.

Gilmour, D. A. and R. J. Fisher. 1991. Villagers, Forests and Foresters, The Philosophy Process and Practice of community forestry in Nepal. Sahayogi Press.

Baxter, J. C. and W. R. Laitos. 1989. Water control and the maintenance imperative: evidence from Nepal. Agricultural Water Management. 15(2): 115-130.

Bajracharya, D et al. 1990. Women and the Management of Energy, Forests and other Resources, ICIMOD Series No. 3.

Banskota, M. 1989. Hill Agriculture and the Wider Market Economy. ICIMOD Paper No 10.

Blaikie, P and D. Seddon. 1980.Nepal in Crisis. Oxford University Press.

World Bank. 1989. Nepal Policies for Improving Growth and Alleviating Poverty. Washington DC.

Pandey, Devendra. 1971. The state of political economy. In Nepal in Perspective, CNAS.

Regmi, Mahesh. 1978. Thatched Huts and Stucco Palaces, Peasants and landlords in 19th century Nepal. Vikas Publishing.

Bista, Dor Bahadur. 1987. Fatalism and Development.


EESD 521 Natural Resources Policy, Legislation and Institutions

Course Objectives:

The objective of this course is to make the students familiar with the legal regime related Natural Resources Policy and Institutions. The students will learn Nepali legal provisions, their development and current practices and review the international practice on the issues.

Course Content : (6hrs.)

1. Introduction:

a) Concept of policy

b) Concept of law

c) Sources of law

d) Importance of policy and law for conservation of Natural Resources

2. International Perspectives: (6hrs.)

i) Soft laws:

a) Stockholm declaration, 1972

b) Rio declaration, 1992

c) Agenda – 21, 1992

d) Non-legally binding forest principles, 1992

ii) Hard laws: (10hrs.)

a) Convention of Wetlands of international importance, especially as waterfowl habitat, 1971.

b) Convention for the protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage, 1972

c) Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, 1973

d) Convention on Biological Diversity, 1992.

e) Kyoto Protocol

3. National Perspectives for NRM: (8hrs.)

i) Policy Measures:

a) National Conservation Strategy, 1988

b) National Biodiversity Strategy, 2002

c) Forestry Sector Master Plan-1989

d) Nepal Environmental Policy and action Plan, 1993

e) Development of NRM in Five year Interim Plans to 2008-2010

f) NAPA 2009 and REDD Climate Change and Forestry

ii) Legal Measures

a) Constitutional Measures to Interim Constitution of Nepal, 2007

b) Environment Protection Act, 1997 and its Rules

c) Plant Protection Act, 1972

d) National Park and Wildlife Conservation Act, 1973

e) Buffer Zones Act

f) King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation,1982

g) Mines and Mineral Resource Act, 1985.

h) Land Revenue Act, 1972

i) Land Reform Act, 1964

j) Water Resources Act, 1992

k) Forest Act, 1993 development and prospects

l) Local Self Government Act, 1998

iii) Institutions

a) Forest Department

b) National Parks and Wildlife Department

c) Soil Conservation Department

d) Department of Plants

e) Nepal Nature Conservation Trust

f) IUCN, WWF, ICIMOD, UNDP, WB Nepal

g) FECOFUN, Resources Himalaya, Forest Action

h) Department of Environment

i) Planning Commission

j)

ii) Judicial Measures :

(5hrs.)

a) Public Interest litigation and Resource Conservation

4. Case Studies/ Seminars (10hrs.)

References :

1. Sing, Furdip, Environmental Law, Lawman Publication, Delhi (1995),

2. Belbase, Narayan, Implementation of International Environmental Law in Nepal .IUCN-Nepal (1997)

3. Belbase, Narayan, National Implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity, IUCN-Nepal 1998.

4. Brinie, Patricial et. Al, International Law and the Environment. Oxford University press, Oxford (1992).

1. IUCH/UNEP/WWF, World Conservation strategy: Living

Resource Conservation for Sustainable Development, Gland (1980).

2. IUCH/UNEP/WWF, Caring for the Earth: A Strategy for Sustainable Living (1991)

3. Shrestha, Tirtha B. Nepal Country Report on Biological Diversity, IUCN-Nepal (1999).

4. James C. Van Horne, Financial Management and Policy, Prentice Hall of India, New Delhi

5. Related Acts and Policies Published by HMG/N,

6. Related Texts of International Declarations and Conventions.


EESD 520: Environmental Ethics (EE)

Professor: Amulya Ratna Tuladhar

amulya_tuladhar@yahoo.com

Lesson Plan: EESD 520: Environmental Ethics is a higher level course offered to the graduate students of Liberal Arts and Sciences (BLAS) of the requirements of Purbanchal University and the standards of University of Mississippi.

This course is especially useful for those graduate students of who want the widest options for further studies, from Humanities, Commerce, Management to the Sciences. Whatever academic and professional career the student chooses later, this course will help students think critically and deeply into human motivations and values behind the science, commerce, politics or management applications as they relate to human interactions with the environment.

The course includes readings from classic texts in Environmental Ethics and updates from Internet resources in one single volume. Students are required to read ALL of the prescribed readings critically BEFORE classes so that they are ready to discuss them and take full advantage of the professor’s lectures and class notes, where appropriate.


This course has been organized in the following way:

I: Introduction and Overview

II: Theoretical Perspectives

· Philosophical/Moral/Ethical/Aesthetical/ Scientific

III: Applications

· ‘Mainstream’ Perspectives (Environmentalism,

Judea-Christian, Anthropomorphic, and Individualism)

· Environmental Applications (Valuing Nature,

Ecocentrism, Gaia)

· Alternate Perspectives (Deep Ecology, Animal Rights,

Ecofeminism, Animal Rights)

IV: Nepal Application Project (All in Practicals and Term Paper)

· Animal Rights re Mass Religious Sacrifice

· Aesthetics vs. Livelihood re Wildlife tourism conflicts

· Politics vs. Food Security re GM foods and subsidies

Grade Policies: Students will earn their total grade based on their performance on the following:

1. End of Term Project on Nepal, One = 25% 2. Tests, Two, One/month = 20%

3. Topic Papers, Two, One/month = 30%

4. Practical = 25%

1. Attendance = 5%

2. Practical Test = 10%

3. Joint Team Seminar = 10%

TOTAL Student evaluations = 7/student = 100%

Detailed guidelines will be given for each of the aforesaid items. Regarding deadlines, students who miss a deadline are liable to one notch downgrade in grades, e.g. a “A” grade goes down to “A-”. Students are expected to be present in all classes, seminars, exams, projects and turn in all the assignments; those who do all earn the full 10%.

PRACTICALS PROPOSED:

1. Wilderness Experience for Aesthetic and Respect for Nature:

Possibilities: Overnight sunrise at Nagarkot or one day field trip to Shivpuri base or Budhanilkantha Vipasanna site or Phulchoki.

2. Animal Rights and Valuing Non-Human Species:

Dakshinkali religious animal slaughter or Swoyambhu / Pashupati religious forest and "sacred monkeys". Half day.

3. Cultural Perspectives to Nature: Religious Preservation of Sacred Forest Groves: Bajra Barahi or Swoyambhu or Pashupati forest groves. Half day.

4. Ecofeminism in Nepal: Women-only forest user groups in community forestry management. ICIMOD site in Phulchoki? One full day.

5. Tragedy of Commons Example in Community Forests, Public Grounds or River. ICIMOD Community forest?

Tundikhel public park, "Save Bagmati" Excursion? One day.

Note: Practicals will be one-day field excursions planned for Saturday, except for the possible overnight stay at Nagarkot.
LECTURE SCHEDULE TABLE

No.

Title

1.

Environmental Ethics: Introduction

2.

Role of Science

3.

Moral Philosophy: Introduction

4.

Valuing Beyond Humans: Nature

5.

Aesthetic Value of Nature

Test One on Lecture 1 to 5

6.

Historical Context of EE

7.

Tragedy of Commons in EE

8.

Environmental Economics in EE

9.

Ethic for Commerce

10.

Political Ecology in EE

Paper One on Lectures 6 to 10

11.

Anthropocentrism

12.

Anthropocentrism: Modern Critiques

13.

Individualism and Animal Rights

14.

Speciesism and Respect for Nature

15.

Ecocentrism I: Overview

16.

Ecocentrism II: Rolston

17.

Ecocentrism III: Deep Ecology and Gaia

Test Two on Lectures 11 to 17

18.

Ecofeminism

19.

Judaeo-Christian Perspectives in EE

20.

Multicultural Perspectives in EE I

21.

Multicultural Perspectives in EE II

22.

Multicultural Perspectives in EE III

Paper Two on Lectures 18 to 22

Term Paper on EE for Nepal

THE END