Admission requirements
This course is obligatory for students of the MSc Governance of Sustainability.
Description
Climate change is both a natural process and a societal challenge. In this course, students learn to address the current climate crisis at the intersection of both perspectives: What is climate change, how does it work and what are accelerators? What are the socio-political stakes, what are future pathways and how can anthropogenic climate change be governed adequately? This course zooms in on the economics and politics of climate change. Since anthropogenic climate change is deeply entangled with major Greenhouse Gasses (GHG) and how energy is produced, consumed and governed, the course pays special attention to the energy transition by working on the analysis of the involved actors and the interrelations among them mediated by power dynamics and underpinning sociotechnical patterns.
Course objectives
After this course, students are able to:
Compare different democratic models in relation to climate change and the energy transition;
Explain the historical root causes and main challenges related to global climate governance;
Explain the different mechanisms and actors of cooperation for climate and energy policies at the different scales of governance;
Analyse underpinning trade-offs, uneven gains and normative aspects in the governance of climate change and energy transitions;
Elaborate a critical view on the possible solutions for climate mitigation/adaptation (i.e., generating relevant questions);
Explain the principal natural mechanisms that lead to climate change i.e. causes and effects);
Elaborate on different energy technologies, associated challenges and interpret their consequences;
Assess the underlying economics related to climate change, climate change mitigation and energy supply;
Discuss how economic incentives create ‘lock-in’ situation or cause uprising;
Create and discuss basic dynamic models in Python;
Integrate governance and natural science insights and apply to practical case study.
Timetable
In MyTimetable, you can find all course and programme schedules, allowing you to create your personal timetable. Activities for which you have enrolled via MyStudyMap will automatically appear in your timetable.
Additionally, you can easily link MyTimetable to a calendar app on your phone, and schedule changes will be automatically updated in your calendar. You can also choose to receive email notifications about schedule changes. You can enable notifications in Settings after logging in.
Questions? Watch the video, read the instructions, or contact the ISSC helpdesk.
Note: Joint Degree students from Leiden/Delft need to combine information from both the Leiden and Delft MyTimetables to see a complete schedule. This video explains how to do it.
Mode of instruction
In this course we offer a mix of instruction methods, including digital lectures and working groups.
Assessment method
There will be a mix of assessments that ensures the acquisition of skills from multiple sides. This includes an individual exam (40% of the final grade), a case-study-based project on an assigned climate and energy-related theme (35%), a small programming exercise (20%) and participation (5%). Participation is rated through quality class attendance (both lectures and tutorials), the submission of weekly assignments and in-class quizzes. The project is primarily a group project.
We intend to give members of groups the same grade. However, we ask the group to fill in a weekly logbook with individual contributions to the project and in case of significant contribution imbalances, the teachers can adjust the grades on an individual basis.
Attendance is mandatory for both lectures and tutorials. In case of extenuating circumstances (e.g., sickness), the absence should be communicated via email to the teachers.
Regulations for passing the course:
To pass the course, participants need to achieve an average grade of 5.5. In addition, the grade of each individual item needs to be at least 5.5.
A resit is possible only for the exam and the individual Python assessment. In case of a grade lower than 5.5 for the other items students can redo only the corresponding part of the course.
All the items need to be submitted within the defined deadlines. Items submitted later will not be considered.
Reading list
Literature for this course will primarily exist of scientific peer-reviewed papers from
mono-disciplinary and transdisciplinary scientific journals, supplemented with
book chapters, occasional policy document, video and podcasts.
All required readings and lectures must be studied for the written exam.
Registration
As a student, you are responsible for enrolling on time through MyStudyMap.
In this short video, you can see step-by-step how to enrol for courses in MyStudyMap.
Extensive information about the operation of MyStudyMap can be found here.
There are two enrolment periods per year:
Enrolment for the fall opens in July
Enrolment for the spring opens in December
See this page for more information about deadlines and enrolling for courses and exams.
Note:
It is mandatory to enrol for all activities of a course that you are going to follow.
Your enrolment is only complete when you submit your course planning in the ‘Ready for enrolment’ tab by clicking ‘Send’.
Not being enrolled for an exam/resit means that you are not allowed to participate in the exam/resit.
Contact
Dr. Antonella Maiello and Dr. Hauke Ward
Remarks
Other students than MSc Governance of Sustainability that are interested in following this course need to contact the study advisors of the programme via studyadvisor-gofs@cml.leidenuniv.nl
Software
Starting from the 2024/2025 academic year, the Faculty of Science will use the software distribution platform Academic Software. Through this platform, you can access the software needed for specific courses in your studies. For some software, your laptop must meet certain system requirements, which will be specified with the software. It is important to install the software before the start of the course. More information about the laptop requirements can be found on the student website.