Entry requirements

Fulfilment of the requirements for a Bachelor´s degree, from an internationally recognised university. Proficiency in English equivalent to the Swedish upper secondary course English 6.

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of the course, the student should be able to:

• explain and compare key theoretical approaches to environmental governance, including political ecology, environmental justice, feminist geography, and decolonial perspectives;
• demonstrate an in-depth understanding of how multiple dimensions of power shape the spatial politics of environmental risks, resource allocation, and governance, and how these processes are resisted, negotiated, and transformed;
• apply theoretical frameworks from political ecology, environmental justice, feminist, and decolonial scholarship to the analysis of environmental challenges;
• analyse the strengths and limitations of governance strategies addressing environmental challenges in diverse socio-political contexts and evaluate their transformative potential;
• translate theoretically grounded geographical analysis into clear and accessible public-facing communication formats;
• collaborate responsibly in groups and provide constructive, evidence-based feedback to peers;
• evaluate the justice implications of environmental governance processes for different social groups;
• critically examine the politics of knowledge production in environmental debates and governance processes;
• formulate and defend theoretically informed arguments concerning pathways toward more environmentally just and sustainable futures.

Content

Human geography provides analytical tools to understand how resources, environmental risks, and vulnerabilities are unevenly distributed across places, scales, and communities, and how these distributions are shaped by power and contested through social and environmental struggles. In this course, you will critically examine past, present and future environmental challenges and governance responses, with particular attention to power, history, inequality, and socio-political difference. The course explores the root causes of environmental crises while tracing connections across diverse sites, scales, and ways of knowing. It also examines how environmental governance is resisted, negotiated, and transformed through collective action, institutional change, and struggles for environmental justice. Drawing on scholarship from political ecology, environmental justice, feminist geography, and decolonial perspectives, the course provides a strong foundation for analysing the theoretical, material, and spatial dimensions of environmental governance and climate politics.

Instruction

The course is primarily organised around lectures and seminar-based teaching. Lectures introduce key conceptual debates and theoretical frameworks, while seminars provide opportunities for critical discussion, collaborative analysis, and application of concepts to empirical cases. Active participation in seminars is mandatory.

Assessment

The course is examined through written and oral assignments. Detailed information on the marking criteria and the assessments is provided during the course introduction.

Students who have been granted pedagogical support through the university’s disability coordinator may, where appropriate, be offered alternative forms of examination. Decisions regarding alternative forms of examination are made by the examiner with consideration of the student’s individual needs and in accordance with university regulations.

Uppsala University upholds principles of academic integrity. All students are expected to complete their work independently and to acknowledge sources appropriately. Suspected cases of cheating or plagiarism are handled in accordance with the university’s established procedures and may be referred to the Vice-Chancellor for review.