Type of Credit: Elective
Credit(s)
Number of Students
The year of 2015 marks the start of a new chapter of sustainable development. There are three United Nations milestone events: Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction in March, Sustainable Development Goals in September and Paris Agreement in December. Up to now, issues of DRR, sustainable development and climate change are now converging.
Along a similar line, global environmental problems such as global warming, ozone depletion, energy transformation to low-carbon society, scarcity of water resources, exporting toxic chemical wastes and loss of biodiversity, cannot be solved through unilateral action and domestic policy alone. This course explores the central issues related to international relations and sustainable development. More specifically, how nations identify these environmental problems, design and negotiate solutions and implement policies to change national behavior. It combines environmental science and political science, with focuses on public policy implications toward a more sustainable future.
能力項目說明
The objectives of this course are the following:
to discuss the causes, impacts and policy responses to global environmental issues; to examine actors, events, and policy development processes in the age of sustainable development, and, in the end, to understand why and how countries collaborate on key issues and why some cases are more successful and some are not.
| 教學週次Course Week | 彈性補充教學週次Flexible Supplemental Instruction Week | 彈性補充教學類別Flexible Supplemental Instruction Type |
|---|---|---|
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Week |
Topic |
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w1
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Course Overview |
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w2
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What is Sustainable Development? A short history of the SDGs (by Paula Caballero) http://deliver2030.org/?p=6874
Sachs, Jeffrey D. "From millennium development goals to sustainable development goals." The Lancet 379.9832 (2012): 2206-2211. |
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w3
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State Actors, Sub-state Actors and Civil Society Actors Actors in the environmental arena, Chapter 2 in Global Environmental Politics (GEP) by Pamela Chasek, David Downie and Janet Brown, 2017. |
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w4
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NGO approach to Influence Policymaking- Boomerang Model Chapter 1- Introduction, 1-38. Chapter 4 - Environmental Advocacy Networks, 121-163. In Margaret Keck and Kathryn Sikkink. 1998. “Activists beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics,” Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. |
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W5
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Negotiating Climate Change SDG 7 and 13 From Bali to Marrakesh: A decade of International Climate Change Negotiations, 2017. https://www.iisd.org/sites/default/files/publications/bali-marrakech-decade-international-climate-negotiations.pdf The Brief History of the US and the UN Climate Change Negotiations
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W6
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The Paris Agreement SDG 2, 3, 4, 7, 11 and 13 The text of the Paris Agreement http://unfccc.int/paris_agreement/items/9485.php All Hands on Deck- the Paris Agreement and Non-State Climate Action by Thomas Hale, GEP 16:3 Aug 2016.
The Paris Agreement on Climate Change- Behind Closed Doors by R Dimitrov, GEP 16:3 Aug 2016.
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W7
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COP28 in Dubai SDG 7, 13, 14, 15, 17 Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENS) https://enb.iisd.org/iisd-cop28
World Resources Institute (WRI) https://www.wri.org/un-climate-change-conference-resource-hub/key-issues-watch-cop28 |
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W8
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Decent Work SDG 4 and 8 Defining the Skills Citizens Will Need in the Future World of Work by McKinsey & Company, 2021. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-and-social-sector/our-insights/defining-the-skills-citizens-will-need-in-the-future-world-of-work
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W9
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Cites as Non-Party Stakeholders SDG 7, 11 and 13 Climate change: implications for cities, an IPCC report. IPCC_AR5_Implications_for_Cities_Briefing_WEB_EN.pdf
Case study on Seattle (US) Freiburg (Germany) or New Taipei City (Taiwan) |
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W10
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Why Cities: The Importance of SDG 11 and 17 Report of the Secretary-General, "Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals", E/2017/66 City Networks: ICLEI and C40
Cities Leading the Way: 7 Climate Action Plans to Deliver on the Paris Agreement by C40. 2021. https://cdn.locomotive.works/sites/5ab410c8a2f42204838f797e/content_entry5ab410fb74c4833febe6c81a /5b97d05514ad66062f99bd66/files/C40_Report_Cities_leading_the_way.pdf?1541690095 |
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w11
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Human Rights Approach – SDG 5 and 10 TED talk by Mary Robinson– Why Climate Change is a human rights issue?
Gender and Climate Change: Thematic Issue Briefs by UNEP |
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w12
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Inequality Around the World – SDG 5 and10 Small Island Nations at the Frontline of Climate Action: Report on Rising Tides and Rising Capacity for SIDS by UNDP
Chapter 9 on the View from the South in The Global Environment 2020. |
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w13
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Sustainable Production and Consumption – SDG 12 The Story of Stuff Projects: bottled water, microbeads, ocean plastics, electronics, cosmetics and many others Chapter 15 on Consumption, Commodity Chains and Global and Local Governments in the Global Environment 2020. All Change: How COVID 19 is Transforming Consumer Behavior by Swiss Re Institute, 2020. https://www.swissre.com/institute/research/topics-and-risk-dialogues/health-and-longevity/covid-19-and-consumer-behaviour.html |
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w14
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Case Study – Race to Zero Race to Zero for Universities and Colleges 2022. https://www.educationracetozero.org/ Class discussion on Nationally Determined Contribution under the context of Paris Agreement (for the nation of your choice) by using Climate Action Tracker.
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w15
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Case Study – From Trump to Biden Chapter 6 on Domestic Sources of U.S. Unilateralism by Elizabeth R. DeSombre in The Global Environment, 2020. 163-190.
A running list of how President Trump is changing environmental policy? https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/how-trump-is-changing-science-environment Biden vs. Trump |
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w16
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Self-Pledge to a Good Life
Final report and presentation (both oral and in writing) |
The assessment of this course is intended to gauge as fairly as possible the extent to which you have mastered the key concepts, content, and skills stressed in the course. The student’s final grade will be based on completion of the following tasks:
• Attendance and Participation (10%)
• Group Report/Presentation (20%)
• Final Report (30%)
• 3-page Short Essay (40%)
※On Final Report -
Science of Well-Being (Yale), Study of Adult Development (Harvard)
A Talk on Happiness by Laurie Santos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7awSPlTM9g
Tips leading to a good life. https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/world-47620929?fbclid=IwAR159sknYC0ltD6PEBffkjXE2wrIpyveDlJn7ORkSGm_7PPep_-XZ4grfzE