Global Changes – Synthetic Outlook and the Concept of Sustainable Development 4030-GCOSD

Part I Global Change - Synthetic Outlook:
1. History of interactions between human and nature: population growth and the increasing pressure, types of direct and indirect pressure, historical examples of overexploitation of environment leading to civilizational collapses, environmental impacts of agrarian and industrial revolutions, fossil fuels exploitation and the breaking point of Anthropocene.
2. Climate change: main causes and consequences, carbon balance and the burning of fossil fuels, current situation and predictions, ecological and socio-economical feedbacks; main mitigation and adaptation strategies.
3. Water depletion: growth of global demand of water; shrinking resources, impact of climate change, hydro-engineering projects, wetland drainage; disturbance of water cycling due to abstraction and land cover change; access to water as a social, legal and political issue.
4. Pollution and disruption of biogeochemical cycles: types of pollutants and their impacts; toxicity, disruption of ecosystem functioning, eutrophication; pollutants and wastes as products of linear technological processes, the challenges for circular economy.
5. Biodiversity crisis: main direct and indirect causes of biodiversity decline, current extinctions in comparison to former natural large extinctions, consequences of biodiversity loss on ecosystem functioning and ecosystem services; strategies to conserve and restore ecosystems.
6. Migration crisis: patterns and drivers of migration, significance of international and internal migration (also forced migration), remittances and development, women and migration, environmental migration, health and migration, current commitments and new approaches to migration management (e.g. mainstreaming migration and development issues into strategic planning, whole of society approach etc.).
7. Time of Cities: urbanisation - main trends and regional differences, inequalities, cities as centers of social and economic progress, but also as areas with concentration of poverty, marginalisation and segregation; cities vulnerability to climate change, development trajectories for growing cities: inclusiveness, sustainability, resilience.
Part II Introduction To The Concept of Sustainable Development:
8. How the idea of sustainability was born; from Hans Carl von Carlowitz and Alexander Humboldt to the Roma Club and Report of UN Secretary General- from local observations and solutions to international diagnosis of global change and its causes. Looking for solutions to harmonize prosperity with ecology: World Commission on Environment and Development (Brundtland Commission) and report Our Common Future.
9. Principles of sustainable development as the revolutionary challenge of 21 st. Century. UN World Summit on Environment and Development(Rio 1992) and its documents based on three pillars: economic growth, environmental protection and social equality: plan of action Agenda 21 and basic global conventions - implementation in local strategies and policies.
10. Convention on Biological Diversity - as case study of functioning and structure of international agreement in practice. Concept of needs, limitations and benefits sharing in global governance of Convention - Conferences of Parties (COP) and national strategies.
11. Philosophy of sustainability and problems of holistic approach. Axiological aspects of sustainable development - Universal values and self-constrain attitudes. Institutional versus individual human being responsibility.
12. From Rio 1992 UN Summit to Rio 2012 UN Summit - Evolution of the Idea of Sustainable Development from main focus on environment to deeper inter-relations between environmental, social, economic, cultural and political aspects – challenges, expectations and illusions.
13. Sustainability as crucial factor in process of building global solidarity, justice and peace and for public health and wellbeing. Sustainable Development Goals, Agenda 2030 as answer to global challenges.
14. Global governance of sustainability. International global and regional institutions, agencies and NGO. Sources of financing. Education, communication and public awareness. Structural, political and mental barriers for implementation of principles of sustainability.
15. CSR as business and institutions of higher education response to the challenges of SDGs. Sustainability science - interdisciplinarity, transdisciplinarity, innovations and values. Respecting principles of sustainability: precaution and uncertainty.