Prerequisite:

Finished second Bologna level in the appropriate field or University degree VII.

Content (Syllabus outline):

• biodiversity, evaluation of biodiversity
• reasons for biodiversity loss
• basic methodology of conservation biology / nature conservation
• sources of environmental pollution, their operation and environmental impacts (transport, agriculture, industry and mining, energy, households)
• society’s responses to human impacts on the environment, environmental paradigm for sustainable development
• modern environmental problems in cities and the role of green spaces
• understanding natural disasters as part of the modern landscape, natural disasters as a limiting and stimulating factor for economic development
• modern management of natural disasters
• the link between the biodiversity loss due to environmental pollution and impact of nature on society through natural hazards because of negative human actions

Readings:

• Kryštufek,B.,1999:Osnove varstvene biologije.Tehniška založba Slovenije.Ljubljana.
• Pullin, A.S, 2002: Conservation Biology, Cambridge University Press, Cambrdige.
• Dennis, R. L. H., 2010: A Resource-Based Habitat View for Conservation: Butterflies in the British Landscape, Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford.
• Smrekar, A., Breg Valjavec, M., Polajnar Horvat, K., Tiran, J. 2019: The geography of urban environmental protection in Slovenia: The case of Ljubljana. Geoscapes 1. Ljubljana.
• Nauser, M., Steiner, D. 2016: Human Ecology. London, New York. Routledge.
• Komac, B., Zorn, M. 2007: Pobočni procesi in človek [Slope processes and man]. Geografija Slovenije 15. Založba ZRC, Ljubljana.
• Keller, E. A. DeVecchio, D. E., Blodgett, R. H. 2019: Natural hazards : Earth’s processes as hazards, disasters, and catastrophes. London, New York. Routledge.

Objectives and competences:

• basic knowledge of the nature conservation challenges and their solutions
• basic knowledge of environmental pollution sources and understanding their operation and impacts on the environment
• understanding of the fundamental interdependence between spatial development of society and natural processes in the case of natural hazards
• ability to comprehend the city as an ecosystem and awareness of the importance of green spaces in cities, understanding city as a part of a wider landscape
• understanding the paradigm of sustainable development and its importance for the management of modern cities

Intended learning outcomes:

• understanding the evaluation of biodiversity patterns and the ecosystems functioning
• in-depth understanding of selected modern nature conservation and environmental issues, as reflected in natural disasters, and their management
• the ability to identify sources of environmental pollution and their impacts on landscape
• the ability to identify the long-term interaction between natural and social elements of the landscape in the case of a complex system such as natural disasters
• the ability to comprehensively evaluate the urban environment and green spaces in cities, e.g. in the light of climate change
• ability to understand the complexity of the paradigm of sustainable development and its integration into human activity

Assessment:
Oral exam (80 %), written paper (20 %).