Rights and Values in Ecosystem Services
Learn how we can learn to manage our natural resources with integrity and stop differences in values creating conflict in this University of Leeds’s online course.
Who is the course for?
The course is suitable for anyone with a general interest in values and environmental decision-making
no previous knowledge or experience is required.
If you are working in environmental management, or wish to learn more about it, this course is designed to support you as a professional. By completing all aspects of the course you will have achieved 14 hours of CPD time.
What topics will you cover?
Types of category errors that are frequently made in assignment of values.
The different types of values.
The conflicts that often arise from a collision of values.
The cost of exercising a right.
Examples of Coasian Bargaining, identifying the limitations of more complex cases.
The application of Ron Coase’s suggestions of market-based solutions to problems of social cost.
The limits to the scientific knowledge that can be used to underpin decisions.
The use of precaution when making decisions where there is a lack of scientific knowledge.
Defining how the application of precaution may prevent significant innovations from being made.
The reasons why the precautionary principle is not applied with consistency when making decisions.
The role of power and hegemony as an important factor when the precautionary principle is applied in decision making.
The importance of making precautionary decisions that have economic costs.
The application of the principles to environmental case studies: the impact of Chernobyl, genetically modified organisms, asbestos, and ecosystem services.
The power of a well-written news report to change people’s opinions and values: writing a press release.
What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to…
Identify the three main types of values and demonstrate how they might be applied to decision-making about natural resources.
Explain the concept of Coasian bargaining and describe a narrative that demonstrates the impact on environmental equality.
Demonstrate why the precautionary principle is one of the fundamental principles used for decision-making about the environment.
Explore how a well-written news report can change people’s opinions and values.
