Welcome to apply to the PhD course in Community Adaptation to Climate Change in the North! (3,5/5/7,5 ECTS) 2013
This residential PhD course will be held just outside of Umeå, Sweden from Monday, 10 June to Friday, 14 June, 2013.
The residential stay will supplemented by preparatory coursework, and the submission of a final essay to is required after the course. For students who are accepted, costs including lodging and board will be covered (students need to cover their own travel). No additional costs are required for students from outside Sweden.
The course focuses on the social science aspects of adaptation to climate change, based in a community context. The course discusses and problematizes the role of social vulnerability and specifically community adaptation literature, theoretical relevance and usability of an adaptation perspective, and relevant methodologies for community adaptation research. At the end of the course, students should be able to discuss whether and how adaptation theories add to an understanding of their own cases: are they specific enough, what areas do they cover that other theories do not, and what is the rationale for working with adaptation theory in their case? Students should also be able to discuss how levels or scale issues in relation to adaptation should be treated, how their case can be compared with other cases, and what methodologies could be relevant to reach an understanding of adaptation in specific cases.
During the course, a specific focus will be placed on cases from the circumpolar north for reference, but students from all regions are invited to apply.
Application deadline: 1 March 2013 (click here for application form)
Acceptance will be announced after 15 March 2013
Course location
The course will be held at Hotel Forsen in Vindeln, a scenic location in a village just outside Umeå. Umeå, situated in northern Sweden, is a lively large university town with a population of about 115,000 – of which some 37,000 are registered students. The course is hosted by the Department of Geography and Economic History, a department of about 70 persons with a heavy focus on environmental and resource issues.
Course requirements
To apply for the course, you need to be a registered PhD student. The course is suitable for a variety of mainly social sciences, but also interdisciplinary natural science, students whose studies include use of adaptation theories, in particular on the local level. If number of applications exceeds the number of places on the course, preference will be given to students whose research orientation is especially relevant to the course (as presented in the student’s application for the course).
Course tasks
The number of ECTS credits awarded can be selected based on student preferences (relation to overall coursework during PhD studies in different countries):
- Preparatory summary (1.5 ECTS): Before the course students submit a short (approx. 5 p) summary of their PhD work with a focus on case studies and existing application of any adaptation theory, to be presented and discussed at the course.
- Course participation constitutes the mandatory part of course credits, and awards 3.5 ECTS. It includes active participation, review of course literature and oral presentation of existing Ph D work; the latter may be based on the submission of a preparatory summary (see above).
- Examination paper (2.5 ECTS): After the course, a final 10-15 p. paper is required on how the course literature on adaptation can be applied to the case the student is, or plans to be, working on.
Provisional schedule (click here for provisional schedule)
Provisional reading list (click here for provisional reading list)
The course is held in cooperation with the Nordic Network for Climate Change, Adaptation, and Multilevel Governance (NORCAM), a Nordic Council/Nordforsk-funded network including Center for International Climate and Environmental Research, Oslo, Norway; Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden; University of Lapland, Finland; and Stefansson Arctic Institute, Akureyri, Iceland. The group also has members and affiliations at the University of Colorado at Boulder, US; University of Akureyri, Iceland; and University of Waterloo, Canada. The course is also held in cooperation with the NORD-STAR and TUNDRA programmes.
