IGESSIGESS (Institute for Global Economics and Social Sciences)

This course focuses on subsistence resource use as a main parameter of sustainable societies, human wellbeing, and conservation.
The main objectives are:
•Develop an understanding of sustainability issues and the role of subsistence resource use in environmental, economic and societal sustainability.
•Understand multiple and diverse values of subsistence practices across regions from selected case studies.

At the end of the course, students will develop a good understanding of the main arguments related to subsistence resource use and sustainability with particular case studies. Students will become aware of various related issues. They will also have useful knowledge for further studies/research on sustainability issues.

英語 / English

Feedback on assignments submitted by students will be provided in class or through the Learning Management System. Lectures will be carried out in each class, and there will be one session for student presentations. There will be opportunities for reflection and discussion on the lectures/readings in each class.
Please note that the teaching approach may vary according to which threat level we are at. The details will be announced through the Learning Management System.

あり / Yes

なし / No

※各回の授業形態は予定です。教員の指示に従ってください。

Week 1：Nature and scope of the course

Introduction: What is a resource? What is sustainability? What is resource sustainability and why we should study it?
Difference of market based resource use and subsistence resource use.

Week 2：Globalization and subsistence

A short history of subsistence resource use concept.
Economic globalization and subsistence.

Week 3：Subsistence as a culture

Social-ecological systems and subsistence resource use.
The meaning of subsistence as a means to provide nutrition.
The meaning of subsistence as a culture.

Week 4：Subsistence resource use and traditional knowledge

Subsistence resource use and traditional knowledge.
Subsistence resource use and ecosystem connectivity.

Week 5：Subsistence resource use in rural and urban environments

Subsistence resource use in space and time.
Subsistence in rural and urban settings.
Premodern and contemporary subsistence.

Week 6：Subsistence resource use and biodiversity

Subsistence resource use and biodiversity. Links to biodiversity and ecosystem services through subsistence.

Week 7：Subsistence resource use in inland areas

Subsistence resource use in the mountainous inland areas: case studies from different parts of the world.
Examples: Himalayan region, Shirakami sanchi.

Week 8：Subsistence resource use and ecosystem connectivity

Subsistence resource use in watershed context: river-forest-coast connectivity and resource cycle.
Example: Sunderbans mangrove forests.

Week 9：Subsistence in coastal areas

Subsistence resource use in the coastal areas (traditional coastal farming and fishing), examples through case studies.
Example: Farming and fishing systems in coastal areas of Seto Inland Sea.

Week 10：Presentations

Student presentations (individual or group presentations depending on student number).

Week 11：Threats to subsistence resource use

Globalized and localized threats to subsistence resource use, lessons from case studies in Japan and other Asian countries.

Week 12：Subsistence resource use and ecosystem services

Subsistence resource use relationship with ecosystem goods and services with examples.

Week 13：Subsistence resource use and environmental policies

Subsistence resource use and UN’s Sustainable Development Goals: connectivity between landscape, people and policies.

Week 14：Course summary

Summary and course wrap up.

Preparatory study and review time for this class are 2 hours each.
Students need to prepare for and review each session by using textbooks, references, and distributed materials.
Students are required to actively participate in class discussions based on the readings and the lectures. They are encouraged to raise issues or offer critical viewpoints on the readings. Students are also required to take mid-term presentations and submit a final report.

There are no specific textbooks for the course. Handouts will be distributed in the class (or uploaded in the Hoppii system) from the book mentioned below, as well as from selected journal articles and other books.
•The Subsistence Perspective: Beyond the Globalised Economy. Maria Mies & Veronika Bennhold-Thomsen. Zed Books, 2000.

None

Class participation: 20%
Student presentations: 30%
Final paper: 50%

No significant changes were required based on students' comments.

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