Food and bioenergy demands of a growing global population and societies’ changing lifestyles are increasing the pressures on
land and ecosystems. Further pressures arise from the demands on land resources for other ecosystem services, and the variable (often negative) impacts of climate change on plant productivity. These multiple, often seemingly conflicting demands on land and ecosystems are a considerable stumbling-block for achieving sustainability goals.
The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) - Campus Alpin, offers a 7-day international Summer School (3-4 ECTS) on the topic of land use and ecosystem change. Participants will learn about a wide range of issues related to land use change, socio-ecological systems, ecosystem functioning, and modelling techniques. Lectures will cover the following topics:
- Approaches to modelling future land use change
- Land use change processes and drivers across time and space through observational data
- Analysing management techniques, social networks, and historical context
- Modelling ecosystem functioning and environmental change
- The role of tipping points, risk management, and resilience in ecological systems
- Climate and social change effects on biodiversity, habitats, and ecosystem services
- How land use and ecosystem change fit into international assessment processes and policies
