Global change and the Anthropocene [FINT0043]

Learning outcomes

At the end of the EU, students: • Master the notion of the Anthropocene and the "limits of the planet". • Will have acquired a basic knowledge of climate change, the biodiversity crisis, a perspective on these changes in relation to the history of the Earth, the energy and resource issues, including water resources. • Be able to link these issues to demographic and health issues • Be familiar with the concepts of risk, vulnerability and resilience to global change • Will be able to put the dominant model of neoclassical economics into perspective with that advocated by ecological economics • Be able to apply these boundaries to a case study, focusing in particular on the complexity of the phenomena, and the links (interactions, feedbacks) between these boundaries. That is, by adopting a systemic posture.

Objectives

The course aims to raise students' awareness of the notions of the Anthropocene and the limits of the planet. The approach is resolutely interdisciplinary since it includes teachers of geography, geology, climatology and economics.

Content

The EU includes an introductory module that illustrates the 10 major global limits: climate change, biodiversity, nitrogen cycle, energy and resources (including water resources). The following modules explore these different limits and how humans can cope with them (demographics, health, risks, vulnerability and resilience). Finally, the last module proposes another vision of the economy, the ecological economy. The EU takes a systemic approach to show how these different limits are linked.