NIFK18003U Thematic Course: Interdisciplinary Land Use and Natural Resource Management

The course contents are:

- Familiarising with theoretical and methodological approaches to interdisciplinary studies of natural resource management and rural livelihoods in developing countries
- Enabling students to apply their own disciplinary skills in interdisciplinary problem-based group work
- Training in field based investigation of concrete topics/problems
- Ensuring exposure to methods from both natural and social science
- Providing students the experience of working with developing country counterparts
- Stimulate reflection on all the above

The course is jointly organised by Faculty of Science and Faculty of Social Sciences at University of Copenhagen and Roskilde University, and attracts students from a wide range of study programmes.

Most land use and natural resource management issues in developing countries are best approached interdisciplinary. Hence, the central theme of the course is learning and applying methods and theoretical approaches rooted in both national and social science traditions in problem-oriented field work in a developing country in collaboration with local counterparts. In working with students from other disciplines, students should apply their own disciplinary skills in order to address the identified topics/questions within land use, rural development and natural resource management. Close co-operation with local students will ensure exposure to working in an inter-cultural environment.

The course includes training in analysing problems and developing a research/project synopsis; planning and conducting field work; selection and application of data collection methods (e.g. questionnaire design, interview techniques, bio-physical sampling methods, PRA techniques); data recording and processing; and writing reports. This will allow students to participate effectively in interdisciplinary assignments in developing countries, and serve as a basis for understanding strengths and weaknesses of each student’s own discipline, including comparative advantages of academic disciplines relevant to rural livelihoods and natural resource management in developing countries.

The course is a collaboration between Departement of Food and Resource Economics at UCPH, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences at UCPH, Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management at UCPH, Department of Anthropology at UCPH and Department of People and Technology at RUC. The consortium has carried out interdisciplinary field courses in collaboration with university counterparts in Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Kenya, South Africa, Swazialnd and Botswana since 1998.

For logistical and planning purposes, students must enroll by end of October. Check the specific date of enrollment at the course homepage: www.sluse.dk where you can also find the form for enrollment. In addition to this enrollment, students must also register the course as normally done.