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Regional climate change impact - cumulative effects and mitigation scenarios

Explore and better understand CC cumulative effects which are likely to impact the environmental and societal integrity in the non-distant future

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CIVIS focus area
Climate, environment and energy
Open to
  • Bachelor's
  • Master's
  • Phd
Field of studies
  • Computer Science and IT
  • Engineering & Technology
  • Environment & Agriculture
  • Law
  • Medicine and Health
  • Natural Sciences and Mathematics
  • Social Science and humanities
  • Environmental sciences, Urbanism, Geography
Type
  • Blended Intensive Programmes (BIP)
Course dates
1 February - 30 June 2024

The overall aim of this BIP is to better understand CC cumulative effects from a regional perspective (East Africa and Uganda in particular), by (re-)analysing and integrating the different environmental, socio-political and agro-economic components in a multidisciplinary manner.

The insights shall stimulate stakeholder engagement and policy-oriented solutions. By design, this is a ‘trans-Hub’ BIP. As such it unites aspects from natural science to social science and health-related issues up to international law, integrated by an explicit spatial (i.e., geographical) perspective.

Main topic addressed

  • downscaling existing climate models and IPCC scenarios and modeling the cumulative effects of various contributing factors prevailing in the region
  • building impact scenarios on food security and shifting agricultural practices using advanced (big) data analytics and geospatial data assimilation techniques
  • design mitigation strategies, embedded in a multi-level policy framework, by intersecting the scenarios with socio-economic profiles of urban and peri-urban settings as well as community-level health and exposure data

Learning outcomes 

  • remember key aspects of CC impact with a particular attention on the East Africa region
  • understand cumulative effects with its implication on regionalised, down to local, settings, differentiating between environmental, societal and economic impact
  • apply relevant geospatial techniques and advanced toolsets for data integration and regionalised multi-dimensional analysis
  • compare and evaluate different approaches and strategies for an integrated impact analysis
Dates: 1 February - 30 June 2024 Total workload: 100 hours
Format: Blended ECTS: 4*
Location: Salzburg, Austria Language: English (C1)
Contact: maximilian.grund@plus.ac.at  

*Recognition of ECTS depends on your home university.

Physical mobility

The physical mobilty part of the course will take place between 27-31 May 2024, at Paris Lodron University of Salzburg. The students will be welcomed in our well-equipped technical experience and research lab with all the required infrastructure and geospatial tools.

They will do hands-on exercises and scenario games, using the latest geospatial visualisation and analysis tools and engage in a simulated public discourse creating strong visual narratives (‘story maps’).

The results are presented and interactively discussed with stakeholders from Uganda (NGOs, public authorities etc.), who are invited in a stimulating hybrid setting. This BIP is intentionally conceived as the first issue of a series of BIPs of which one of the future courses shall be physically implemented at Makerere University.

Virtual part

A series of webinars will enlighten students the multidimensional and interdisciplinary character of the overall BIP theme. The following topics are addressed in the webinars trying to decompose the complexity with interventions from different viewpoints:

  • CC regional impact from a bio-/geo-physical point of view: state-of-the-art scenarios according to IPCC and regional models with a specific focus on agricultural practices and food production systems
  • CC regional impact on society (I): insights on implications on economic shifts and conflicts of urbanisation and industrial growth in the light of CC related conventions and treaties, including the issue of climate justice
  • CC regional impact on society (II): effects on public health and well-being, coping mechanisms with food shortages, malnutrition, intoxications and endemics etc.
  • Methodological: geospatial data integration from various sources (Earth observation data, existing global data sets on population, land cover etc.) and multidimensional data modelling

Requirements

This course is open to Bachelor's, Master's and PhD's students at CIVIS member universities with a high interest in Computer science and IT, Engineering and technology, Environment and agriculture, Law, Medicine and health, Natural sciences and mathematics, Social science and humanities, Environmental sciences, urbanism and geography.  

Participants should have a good level of written and spoken English (C1), but also skills in downscaling and modelling, building impact scenarios using advanced (big) data analytics and geospatial data assimilation techniques, designing mitigation strategies working in a multi-level policy framework.

NB: Visiting Students - Erasmus Funding Eligibility

To be eligible for your selected CIVIS programme, you must be a fully enrolled student at your CIVIS home university at the time you will be undertaking the programme. Click here to learn more about the eligibility criteria.

Students from CIVIS’ strategic partner universities in Africa cannot apply for participation in this course.

Application process

Send your application by filling in the online application form by 7 November 2023, including:

  • CV
  • Motivation letter
  • Research projects outlines

Applications will be evaluated based on the motivation and curiosity, relevant expertise and research interest manifested by students. 

Apply now

Assessment

The assessment will be based on the assignments and group work.

Blended Intensive Programme

This CIVIS course is a Blended Intensive Programme (BIP): a new format of Erasmus+ mobility which combines online teaching with a short trip to another campus to learn alongside students and professors across Europe. Click here to learn more about CIVIS BIPs.

GDPR Consent

The CIVIS alliance and its member universities will treat the information you provide with respect. Please refer to our privacy policy for more information on our privacy practices. By applying to this course you agree that we may process your information in accordance with these terms.

Prof. Stefan Lang (Geoinformatics, Remote Sensing), University of Salzburg, Austria

Prof. Gudrun Zagel (International law, legal theory), University of Salzburg, Austria

Prof. Magnus Breitholtz (Environmental Sciences), Stockholm University, Sweden

Prof. Yazidhi Bamutaze (Agriculture, Climate Sciences), Makerere University, Uganda

Prof. Irene Martin (Political Sciences), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain

Prof. Vanessa Jubenot (Geography, Social Sciences), Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium