Urban Ecology for the Development of Sustainable Living

Do you want to contribute to the development of a sustainable future? Are you interested in how you can design a living space that is for both humans and other organisms? Are you wondering about how plants and animals can cope in an urban environment? This cross-disciplinary, distance learning course may be for you. Over the last decades, one of the most prominent change on earth is the conversion of land from wild to managed areas. The rapid growth of urban areas has an extremely large effect on both humans and other living organisms. Urban areas fragment the landscape but can also provide living space for a variety of organisms that could adapt to the urban environment. In the UN developmental goal 11 - Sustainable cities and communities - it is stated that sustainable development cannot be achieved without transforming the way we design and manage our urban spaces. In this process, we need to consider the ecology of both beneficial organisms, such as pollinators, that could be a resource for food production, and pests that need to be managed. In this course we will take a cross-disciplinary approach to prepare you to contribute to the development of sustainable future living, independent of your previous background in either natural or social science. Central to the course are the concepts of urban ecology and sustainable pest management, and how to design and maintain different types of green areas that are practical and adoptable for human activities