ENRG 344 - Community Solutions to Climate Change

In the 1980s and 1990s, there was great optimism about using international law and treaty regimes to solve collective-action problems. And climate change is a planetary-level, collective-action problem if ever there was one; thus, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Kyoto Protocol were ratified in the early 1990s to address climate change through top-down governance. However, since the late 2000s, it has become clear that this top-down approach is not working and we increasingly see climate change addressed through bottom-up and pluralistic approaches, often at the community level. In this course, we begin from the basis that we cannot solve problems if we fundamentally misunderstand or misdiagnose them. Thus, we will spend some time critically reflecting and challenging assumptions on the climate problem, how it’s communicated, and how it may be solved. We also take a broad understanding of what constitutes ‘community’ and survey the ways in which different communities offer solutions and antidotes to climate change. Also offered as ENVS 344.

Prerequisites & Notes: One course from: ENVS 204, MGMT 271, PLSC 250, or UEPP 261; or instructor permission.
Credits: 4
Grade Mode: Letter