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Course: From Kyoto to Copenhagen, Negotiating the Future of the Planet

Republished From: Cooling the Curriculum; Author: Neil Leary
Initial Publication Date: April 29, 2016

Summary

In this interdisciplinary course students studied climate science and policy and applied their knowledge conducting field research interviewing delegates to the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP 15) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Copenhagen. The course spanned fall and spring semesters of 2009/2010. During fall semester, students prepared for their field research with a general overview of climate change science, impacts and adaptation, building expert knowledge about the international climate negotiations, developing a research plan, and practicing interview and video skills. The class attended COP 15 in Copenhagen where students met with and interviewed conference delegates representing national governments and scientific, environmental, civil society and business organizations. During the spring semester, the research team reflected on their observations of the conference, wrote research papers based on their interviews, and presented their work in a variety of venues, including a professional academic conference at Penn State University.


Learning Goals

The goals for the research team members are to:

  1. Attain general literacy about the science of human caused climate change, the potential consequences of climate change, and solutions;
  2. Gain deep knowledge about the international climate negotiations, including the process, institutions, critical issues, and objectives and motivations of key players;
  3. Develop the ability to analyze the positions of parties to the negotiations on key issues and the social, cultural, ethical, political, economic, environmental, and technological factors that shape the positions that parties take;
  4. Build skills for collaborative research and public communication that uses qualitative research methods, interviews, video and audio equipment, and analysis and interpretation of interview data;
  5. Understand the purpose, limitations, and benefits of digital/online media and the applicability and influence of press, social networking, blogging, viral, and other emergent tools for various communication needs.

Context for Use

See Teaching Notes.

Description and Teaching Materials

See course syllabus, which includes details of readings and assignments.

Course syllabus

k2c-syllabus-fall-spring.docx

Teaching Notes and Tips

The course was very challenging and required significantly more time commitment than typical courses. Students had to apply to be accepted into the program and were selected based on clearly articulated purpose for participating, academic performance, and skills and knowledge that would contribute to the collaborative research project. Fifteen students were accepted and participated, representing nine different majors that spanned the sciences, social sciences and humanities. The diverse mix of disciplinary background of the students contributed positively to learning and group dynamics.

Assessment

Student performance was assessed based on participation, blogging assignments, a country profile paper, a research paper, and public presentation of their work. The research papers were written in teams.

References and Resources

Videos of interviews with COP 15 delegates can be viewed online: http://blogs.dickinson.edu/cop15/.

Citation

Leary, N. (2014). Course: From Kyoto to Copenhagen, Negotiating the Future of the Planet. Retrieved from http://www.camelclimatechange.org/view/teachingunit/51cbfb967896bb431f6bfd62