TA Opportunity for UBC Course: ASIC 220
ASIC 220 – 001: Introduction to Sustainability (3 credits)
TA position: 192 hrs
Course Description & Learning Objectives
This is an introductory course to provide a comprehensive introduction to sustainability from a science, economics, and societal perspective. The coverage of topics will be broad and encompass a number of disciplines including environmental science, economics, policy and behavioural sciences. Students are not expected to have a background in any of these disciplines.
The course will explore questions related to the sustainability for which people may have strong opinions. These include:
- How and why do humans misuse and abuse the environment?
- What has a greater impact on the planet’s health: population or consumption?
- Are economic development and environmental protection incompatible?
- Can technological fixes solve environmental problems?
- How do you know if a product or action is ‘green’?
- Is economics the key? Can ‘getting the price’ solve environmental problems?
- Are there limits to growth? Can we leave the world better off for future generations?
- How might we live sustainably and equitably on the planet?
The goal of this course is not to provide students with definitive answers to these questions. This course is designed to help students learn concepts, tools, methodologies, and strategies so that they can make positive and meaningful contributions to solutions to problems related to sustainability.
Please attach a current CV and return your application and attachments to: kelsey.robertson@ubc.ca
Application deadline: 9:00 am on Thursday, December 12, 2024
Click here for Application Word Document
UBC hires on the basis of merit and is committed to employment equity. We encourage all qualified applicants to apply.
November 28 2024: IRES Faculty Seminar with Dr. Terry Sunderland
The right to food? Conservation, access, and food security
Location: Henry Angus Room 347 (2053 Main Mall)
No food or drinks allowed in our seminar.
Time: 12:30pm to 1:20pm
View Recording.
Talk summary:
The current paradigm of biodiversity conservation, as exemplified by the recent 30 x 30 commitments, has resulted in the separation of humans and nature at the expense of both biological and cultural–linguistic diversity. The continued annexation of land for the cause of conservation has resulted in the curtailment of both rights and access to wild and diverse food sources for many rural communities. Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLC’s) are fundamental to conserving biodiversity through sustainable use of nature despite repeated attempts to dispossess them from their lands, cultures and knowledge. It has been this traditional and land-based knowledge that has contributed to the conservation of biodiversity whilst also supporting healthy, diverse and nutritious diets. If we are to achieve a more just and sustainable future, we need to continue to center conservation initiatives around rights, access and equity whilst respecting a plurality of perspectives, worldviews and knowledge systems. Here, alternative approaches are presented that help reconcile the right to food with biodiversity conservation, such as biocultural rights, rights-based approaches and integrated land management schemes, with the aim of identifying optimal ways forward for conservation that break away from the dichotomous view that pits people against nature and instead embrace the importance of this symbiotic relationship.
Bio:
Terry Sunderland is Professor of Tropical Forestry at the Faculty of Forestry at the University of British Columbia. He has spent many years working in the tropics, primarily West/Central Africa and SE Asia with the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). His work focuses on sustainable landscape management, livelihoods and food security. He holds a Master’s degree in forestry from the University of Oxford and a PhD from University College, London.