Here below you can find all master courses the University Centre offers. All courses are taught in 1-3 week modules running from August through June. See how the courses are organised in the teaching schedule for both programs. Usually 2-3 courses are taught at the same time, but students may only enroll in one course at a time.
The master courses are available to you whether you plan to pursue a degree or just take a course or courses. Please review the options for guest studies to determine how you can apply.
For further information, contact the Administrative Director of Education and Teaching.
The Blue Economy and Coastal Communities (ACA participation)
- Autumn 2023
- Next course: 16. October - 27. October 2023
- CMM/CRD Elective Course | 4 ECTS
- Course:CRD22
- Instructor: Dr. Patrick Heidkamp
About the course
This course aims to introduce students to the burgeoning and often conflicting Blue Economy discourse and challenges students to critically analyze community development efforts that are sold as Blue Economy initiatives. Students will engage with a variety of concepts such as the Geography of Transitions, Just Sustainability Transitions, and Critical Pragmatism in order to help them develop their own framework for critical analysis. The course will culminate with a community based transdisciplinary action research simulation exercise where students will first complete a rapid community needs assessment during a field trip to a community in the Westfjords and then afterwards employ a modified design thinking approach to come up with a solution for community development. The outcomes of the exercise will be reported back to the community for feedback.
As part of the course work, students will attend the Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavík.
Instructor
Patrick is a Professor in the Department of the Environment, Geography and Marine Sciences at SCSU, and also a co-director of the Connecticut State University Center for Environmental Literacy and Sustainability Education. His current research focuses on transdisciplinary engagement with the blue economy and just sustainability transitions in the coastal zone. Patrick has international teaching and/or research experience in Africa, Central America, and Europe and has been organizing and leading a Summer Field Course focused on studying Economy-Environment interactions to Iceland for the last decade.
Learning outcome
On completion of the course, a student:
- understands the interdependency of ocean industries, marine ecosystems, and societies who depend on them
- can identify and interpret challenges that come with the increase in the economic value of the oceans and the increasing threats on the oceans
- can describe alternative economic approaches in addition to traditional economic analysis
- has the understanding of different economic actors and stakeholder groups in ocean-based industries
- can participate in and lead group discussions about sustainable economic development in coastal communities
- can implement an inter-disciplinary analysis of value chains in the ocean related industries