A summer school series – the Thor Heyerdahl Summer School in Environmental Governance – is established at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. The series of three courses aims at giving PhDs and young researchers the opportunity to develop high level skills in analyzing environmental governance issues. It offers the opportunity to critically reflect on the present status of both theory and practice in the field, and to discuss alternatives to present developments and solutions.
2011: Environmental governance: Institutions for sustainable development
The aim of this course is to expand participants’ insights into the theory and practice of environmental governance. The main focus will be on the institutional foundation of environmental governance and how issues at global, national and local scales are linked. We will moreover emphasise specific challenges related to creating sustainable development
2012: International environmental governance
In this course the focus is on the process of creating international environmental regimes, their interplay and the relationships with other international agreements – especially trade. Analysing national follow ups both in South and North will also be a core issue
2013: Alternative institutions for the management of local natural resources
This course will mainly focus on the national and local level – specifically how inter-national and national policies interact with local institutions and practices.
The Summer School Series is open to PhD students and young researchers who have completed their PhD degree within the last 4 years of the application deadline. Priority will be given to applicants from social science oriented programs or interdisciplinary (combined social and natural science) programs. Priority will moreover be given to PhDs, but we wish to include a few young researchers as well.
The summer school series is organized by the Department of International Environment and Development Studies (Noragric) at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (UMB). Professor Arild Vatn is responsible for convening the series. The Thor Heyerdahl Institute is actively engaged in developing the project and its financial basis. Other partners involved are Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), Fridtjof Nansen Institute (FNI) and Center for International Climate and Environmental Research (CICERO).
The summer school is endorsed by the Earth System Governance Project together with the International Society of Ecological Economics and the European Society of Ecological Economics.
