The information below is subject to change as the course is still being developed. The information will be made definite in June 2026.
As you have learned throughout the programme, a sustainable use of our natural resources is essential for human existence and well-being. One key aspect is biological diversity, which underpins nature’s capacity to provide irreplaceable goods and services, ranging from fresh water and clean air to climate regulation, happiness and cultural identities. Unfortunately, we are facing losses of biological diversity that are unprecedented in the history of our species due to anthropogenic impacts, including climate change, pollution, and, habitat destruction.
To sustain human well-being, we need to improve our capacity to effectively manage and protect biological diversity. To achieve this effectively, we not only need a sound understanding of underlying biological processes by studying the natural world around us. We also need to understand how society interacts with nature, how we value it and what the obstacles and enabling conditions for a more sustainable society-nature relations could be. This, in turn requires the collection, analysis, interpretation and communication of different types of field data.
In this course, students will apply and combine methodological approaches and specific field-based research methods and techniques from anthropology, and environmental science on two hands-on case studies. The first case study will focus on Urban Biodiversity in one of the busiest areas on the globe: the Randstad. The second will focus on a rural community on either the island of Schiermonnikoog or a farming community in the Algarve (Portugal), where different stakeholders are trying to make sustainable livelihoods.
Both case-studies are centered around hands-on projects, in which we investigate the complexity by combing different research approaches under shared interdisciplinary methodological frameworks (for example Scoones Framework on Sustainable Livelihoods or Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth). Students will be trained in a range of different methods and techniques, including transect walks, biodiversity counts, survey design, interviewing techniques and (participant) observation. They will analyse the data they collect, and integrate it into a report and presentation. This way, the course will highlight the value of interdisciplinary research and will prepare students for working on interdisciplinary challenges.
This course builds on several of the programme’s courses, for example Applied Ecology, Social Science Methods, and Introduction to Statistics (year 1), the four integrated 10 ECTS courses (year 2), Responsible Research and Innovation (year 2) and importantly Research Design and Practice (directly preceding this course in Year 2). The course further prepares students for the following courses:
Sustainable Societies Project (year 3)
Thesis Research Project (year 3)