Jaboury Ghazoul: Catalogue data in Autumn Semester 2022

Name	Prof. Dr. Jaboury Ghazoul
Field	Ecosystem Management
Address	Ökosystemmanagement ETH Zürich, CHN G 74.1 Universitätstrasse 16 8092 Zürich SWITZERLAND
Telephone	+41 44 632 86 27
E-mail	jaboury.ghazoul@env.ethz.ch
Department	Environmental Systems Science
Relationship	Full Professor

Number	Title	ECTS	Hours	Lecturers
701-0019-00L	Readings in Environmental Thinking Number of participants limited to 20. Waiting list will be deleted 30.09.2022.	3 credits	2S	J. Ghazoul
Abstract	This course introduces students to foundational texts that led to the emergence of the environment as a subject of scientific importance, and shaped its relevance to society. Above all, the course seeks to give confidence and raise enthusiasm among students to read more widely around the broad subject of environmental sciences and management both during the course and beyond.
Learning objective	The course will provide students with opportunities to read, discuss, evaluate and interpret key texts that have shaped the environmental movement and, more specifically, the environmental sciences. Students will gain familiarity with the foundational texts, but also understand the historical context within which their academic and future professional work is based. More directly, the course will encourage debate and discussion of each text that is studied, from both the original context as well as the modern context. In so doing students will be forced to consider and justify the current societal relevance of their work.
Content	The course will be run as a ‘book reading club’. The first session will provide a short introduction as to how to explore a particular text (that is not a scientific paper) to identify the key points for discussion. Thereafter, in each week a text (typically a chapter from a book or a paper) considered to be seminal or foundational will be assigned by a course lecturer. The lecturer will introduce the selected text with a brief background of the historical and cultural context in which it was written, with some additional biographical information about the author. He/she will also briefly explain the justification for selecting the particular text. The students will read the text, with two to four students (depending on class size) being assigned to present it at the next session. Presentation of the text requires the students to prepare by, for example: • identifying the key points made within the text • identifying issues of particular personal interest and resonance • considering the impact of the text at the time of publication, and its importance now • evaluating the text from the perspective of our current societal and environmental position Such preparation would be supported by a mid-week ‘tutorial’ discussion (about 1 hour) with the assigning lecturer. These students will then present the text (for about 15 minutes) to the rest of the class during the scheduled class session, with the lecturer facilitating the subsequent class discussion (about 45 minutes). Towards the end of the session the presenting students will summarise the emerging points (5 minutes) and the lecturer will finish with a brief discussion of how valuable and interesting the text was (10 minutes). In the remaining 15 minutes the next text will be presented by the assigning lecturer for the following week.
Literature	The specific texts selected for discussion will vary, but examples include: Leopold (1949) A Sand County Almanach Carson (1962) Silent Spring Egli, E. (1970) Natur in Not. Gefahren der Zivilisationslandschaft Lovelock (1979) Gaia: A new look at life on Earth Naess (1973) The Shallow and the Deep. Roderick F. Nash (1989) The Rights of Nature Jared Diamond (2005) Collapse Robert Macfarlane (2007) The Wild Places Discussions might also encompass films or other forms of media and communication about nature.
701-0371-00L	Ecosystem Conservation and Restoration	3 credits	2G	T. Crowther, J. Ghazoul, D. Maynard
Abstract	Conservation and restoration are interdisciplinary sciences that nonetheless are founded on fundamental ecological concepts. The course will explore theoretical underpinnings of conservation and restoration science that inform planning and implementation, and consequent outcomes. New concepts and emerging technologies will be explored, alongside case studies that inform discussions.
Learning objective	Through the course, students will: ● Understand the theoretical underpinnings of conservation and restoration science. ● Consider alternative conservation concepts and approaches, and the role of science and evidence in implementing these ideas in practice. ● Appraise different conservation strategies, drawing on case studies and examples from around the world. ● Explore new and emerging technologies that can be useful to guide responsible decision making in land management decisions. ● Evaluate the future direction of conservation science, in terms of new concepts (resilience, restoration, rewilding, natural capital, de-extinction) and emerging technologies (remote sensing, AI, genetics). ● Explore conservation and restoration science and practice in the context of current societal pressures, and the prospects for biodiversity conservation in coming decades. ● Understand how responsible restoration and conservation goals should integrate local practices, customs, cultures, and economic requirements. In this course, students will: ● Learn about the historical development of thinking in conservation and restoration ecology ● Learn about the ecological theories underpinning conservation and restoration ecology ● Learn about emerging statistical and analytical tools to guide effectively responsible conservation and restoration initiatives ●Learn about the practical challenges and trade-offs in decision making that ultimately govern the success of conservation and restoration challenges around the world ●Understand, through the exploration of case studies and site visits, differing normative and management perspectives on landscape scale conservation and restoration
Content	2021 marks the start of the UN Decade on ecosystem restoration, a global initiative to conserve and restore nature for the benefit or climate change, biodiversity and human wellbeing. As an emerging workforce enters this exponentially growing field, we hope that they will be armed with the fundamental principles that are necessary to enhance the likelihood of success. Conservation and restoration science is a relatively young discipline, yet it has undergone substantial change in recent decades on account of changing environmental realities, new conceptual framings, and opportunities afforded by emerging technologies. As a rapidly evolving discipline, with considerable relevance and impact to environment, policy, and society, it is essential that environmental science students understand the role of science for conservation practice. This course will explore how science and technology provides the conceptual structure and knowledge base for new approaches to conservation of biodiversity, habitats, and resources. The course will begin by examining the theoretical foundations of conservation science, and how these concepts have developed over the past century. It will examine alternative approaches to conservation ranging from traditional protected area and wildlife management systems, through to more recent concepts and approaches, including ecosystem services, natural capital, restoration, and rewilding. It will emphasize the role of new technological and analytical methods, including Earth observation, monitoring systems, AI, and genetics. Finally, the students will use a horizon scanning approach to determine the future opportunities, priorities, and constraints for conservation science and practice in our rapidly changing world. Students will evaluate several general questions, including: ● What is conservation, and what do we want to conserve? ● What ecological theories frame conservation and restoration practice, and how can science guide conservation decisions? ● What new concepts (ecological, societal, economical) shape conservation and restoration theory and practice, and what conflicts do they engender? ● What prospects does technology offer for future conservation and restoration efforts? Ecosystem Conservation and Restoration will provide an excellent foundation on how theoretical and applied natural and social sciences are, and can be, coupled to emerging technologies and data science to conserve and restore biodiversity and ecological functions in landscapes. For students wishing to acquire a deeper level of understanding of both science and practice in conservation and restoration, this course will serve as the prerequisite for a two-week Masters-level field course (tentatively titled Conservation, Restoration, and Landscape Management) to Scotland, being developed by the Ghazoul and Crowther labs and planned for 2023. The field course will challenge students to apply the conceptual and technical understanding gained from the Ecosystem Conservation and Restoration course, specifically by working with a variety of stakeholders involved in selected forest and landscape restoration processes in Scotland.
Literature	Current literature will be provided in due course
701-1631-00L	Foundations of Ecosystem Management Number of participants is limited to 35. Priority is given to the target groups until 26.09.2022, Target groups MAS ETH in Raumplanung MAS ETH in Sustainable Water Resources Science, Technology and Policy MSc Environmental Sciences MSc Agricultural Sciences MSc Waiting list will be deleted on 30.09.2022	5 credits	3G	J. Ghazoul, A. Giger Dray
Abstract	This course introduces the broad variety of conflicts that arise in projects focusing on sustainable management of natural resources. It explores case studies of ecosystem management approaches and considers their practicability, their achievements and possible barriers to their uptake.
Learning objective	Students should be able to a) propose appropriate and realistic solutions to ecosystem management problems that integrate ecological, economic and social dimensions across relevant temporal and spatial scales. b) identify important stakeholders, their needs and interests, and the main conflicts that exist among them in the context of land and resource management.
Content	Traditional management systems focus on extraction of natural resources, and their manipulation and governance. However, traditional management has frequently resulted in catastrophic failures such as, for example, the collapse of fish stocks and biodiversity loss. These failures have stimulated the development of alternative ‘ecosystem management’ approaches that emphasise the functionality of human-dominated systems. Inherent to such approaches are system-wide perspectives and a focus on ecological processes and services, multiple spatial and temporal scales, as well as the need to incorporate diverse stakeholder interests in decision making. Thus, ecosystem management is the science and practice of managing natural resources, biodiversity and ecological processes, to meet multiple demands of society. It can be local, regional or global in scope, and addresses critical issues in developed and developing countries relating to economic and environmental security and sustainability. This course provides an introduction to ecosystem management, and in particular the importance of integrating ecology into management systems to meet multiple societal demands. The course explores the extent to which human-managed terrestrial systems depend on underlying ecological processes, and the consequences of degradation of these processes for human welfare and environmental well-being. Building upon a theoretical foundation, the course will tackle issues in resource ecology and management, notably forests, agriculture and wild resources within the broader context of sustainability, biodiversity conservation and poverty alleviation or economic development. Case studies from tropical and temperate regions will be used to explore these issues. Dealing with ecological and economic uncertainty, and how this affects decision making, will be discussed. Strategies for conservation and management of terrestrial ecosystems will give consideration to landscape ecology, protected area systems, and community management, paying particular attention to alternative livelihood options and marketing strategies of common pool resources.
Lecture notes	No Script
Literature	Chichilnisky, G. and Heal, G. (1998) Economic returns from the biosphere. Nature, 391: 629-630. Daily, G.C. (1997) Nature’s Services: Societal dependence on natural ecosystems. Island Press. Washington DC. Hindmarch, C. and Pienkowski, M. (2000) Land Management: The Hidden Costs. Blackwell Science. Millenium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Synthesis. Island Press, Washington DC. Milner-Gulland, E.J. and Mace, R. (1998) Conservation of Biological Resources. Blackwell Science. Gunderson, L.H. and Holling, C.S. (2002) Panarchy: understanding transformations in human and natural systems. Island Press.