Science and Expertise in Environmental Conflicts

The fields of forestry, nature conservation, and natural resource management heavily rely on scientific knowledge and expertise. However, these domains also exhibit competing values, perspectives, interests, and claims, which can give rise to controversies or even conflicts. Furthermore, the contested nature of facts makes it challenging to maintain a clear separation between science and politics, especially in a rapidly changing society with various modes of communication and information exchange. What should be our perspective on science and the claims of experts in this scenario? What role do non-researchers' knowledge and experiences play in environmental conflicts and their perception of nature, environment, and natural resource use? Future practitioners must possess the ability to cooperate with a wide range of stakeholders, including experts and professionals from diverse disciplinary backgrounds, knowledge and expertise, values, interests, and perspectives, in order to grasp the reasons behind conflicts between the actors involved. They also need to understand the relationship between scientific knowledge and decision-making, as well as reflect on the different roles that various groups, including experts and researchers can play in policies and management of nature and natural resources, including the environmental conflicts and controversies.
This course will:
• Discuss the question of ‘what is science’ by introducing basic notions in philosophy and sociology of science;

• Introduce state-of-the-art theories and concepts that deal with the role of knowledge and science in policy, society, including the cases of environmental conflicts (i.e. the use of knowledge and uncertainties in controversies, risk perception, the relation between science and lay knowledge, the role of experts and transdisciplinarity);
• Stimulate critical reflection on how to organise the relation between science, society and policy in nature and environmental management; what options exist in different conflict situations and what the main challenges and opportunities are;
• Enable students to link theories and concepts to empirical cases in essays and case reports.

Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI): The use of generative artificial intelligence to create ready-made content in assignments is considered fraud, so it is not allowed to copy-and-paste the output of AI to the Assignments of this course (Group Report and Individual Essay). However, students are allowed to use AI as a "sparring partner", and as a feedback tool for the quality of the Assignments text (e.g. as a spell checker or grammar checker).

After successful completion of this course students are expected to be able to:

• Explain the essential characteristics of the relation between science, policy and society, based on the theories and concepts discussed in the course
• Apply the course concepts in an analysis of an empirical case of environmental conflict or controversy
• Develop a clear argument in an academic essay in which the course concepts are critically explained and applied

Assumed Knowledge:
Introductory courses on the social and policy aspects of environmental governance, forest and nature conservation and natural resource management.