PoE Student Experiences: Carter Case

Written by

image
Ever wonder what PoE students are up to? This spring break, PoE senior Carter Case chased the warm weather south for sunny Phoenix, Arizona. But this wasn’t your average vacation. Carter was one of 1000 students from around the world to attend Clinton Global Initiative University 2014, a weekend-long series of talks and networking events that promotes civic action and collaboration between young people to take on the world’s biggest challenges. With fellow UW senior Sarra Tekola, his social venture was to create an organization that would bring climate change education to conservative communities in an attempt to bridge the voting gap on environmental legislation. While at CGIU, Carter heard inspiring messages from Bill and Hilary Clinton, as well as advice from business and non-profit leaders on how to effect change in the environmental field. He also used his PoE education to challenge unfounded claims, and kept a critical yet cautiously optimistic eye on each political figure. This is just one more example of a PoE student applying his/her degree to the world in a meaningful way, and a reminder that with passion and perseverance, change is more than just a dream!

[course]: POL S 401 SPR/14: Environmental Political Theory

Written by

Spring 2014

Pol S 401, Advanced Seminar in Political Theory
 Topic: Environmental Political Theory
 Instructor: Jason Lambacher
 Time: TTh 1230-220pm
 5 Credits, I&S Credit
 SLN: 18408

Description: This course surveys the intersection of environmental ideas and political theory. Political theory is a normative enterprise that evokes reflection on ideas central to political life. Environmental political thought calls for a similar kind of reflection but includes environmental themes in its imagination. This class critically investigate concepts such as nature, individualism, society, justice, consumption, wilderness, bioregionalism, phenomenology, sacrifice, and utopianism from political and environmental points of view. An examination of why different schools of political thought interpret environmental problems from their own unique, often richly historical, perspectives helps to accomplish this task. Further, environmental political theory is not equivalent to environmental politics or environmental policy, though many of the ideas encountered in course texts animate the motivations of activists and politicians and support certain principles of legislation. Environmental political thought is concerned, above all, with meaning and is particularly attuned to perennial controversies about “the good life” and the significance of living in a world that is alive.

Student learning goals: Critical engagement with environmental texts, open discussion, and committed writing.

Method of Instruction: Seminar discussion and short lectures.

Class assignments and grading: Papers and exams

[course]: URBDP 498 A: Environmental Planning (3 credits)

Written by

URBDP 498/598 ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING Spring Quarter 2014
GLD 102 Tue-­‐‑Thu 10:00-­‐‑11:20
Regime Shifts, Resilience, and Transformation in Urban Ecosystems
Marina Alberti
malberti@u.washington.edu
(206) 616-8667

DESCRIPTION
This course focuses on the integration of principles of ecosystem dynamics and resilience into
planning and decision-making. It is structured in 4 modules: 1) theories of environmental
planning, 2) methods of environmental assessment, 3) scenarios and models of coupled humannatural
systems, and 4) collaborative adaptive management and planning. Together these
modules are used to frame and address critical transitions and resilience in urban ecosystems in
the Puget Sound region. The course builds on complex systems theory and its application to
coupled human-ecological systems. Students learn techniques for developing scenarios, building
models, assessing resilience and devising management strategies. The course builds on a broad
range of approaches including strategic environmental assessment, place-based, life cycle, and
risk assessment, and adaptive collaborative planning.

PRACTICUM This year practicum will focus on Regime Shifts, Resilience, and Transformation
in Urban Ecosystems. We will explore regime shifts that are likely to occur in urban ecosystems
and examine the drivers, mechanisms, and functions that regulate system dynamic and their
impact on human and ecological wellbeing. Building on case studies of hydrological and
ecological regime shifts in urbanizing regions, we will develop hypotheses about what system
characteristics and qualities make cities more resilient to change. We will select case examples in
the Puget Sound region and test these hypotheses by exploring system adaptive capacities under
alternative future scenarios. The practicum will reflect upon and develop principles to translate
resilience science into strategies to enhance resilience in urbanizing regions.

PREREQUISITE: Introductory Environmental Systems class

For add codes: contact udp@uw.edu