EDS333 Practice-based Field Course

Credits (ECTS):10

Course responsible:Guri Bang

Campus / Online:Taught campus Ås

Teaching language:Engelsk

Limits of class size:A maximum of 11 NMBU students.

Course frequency:Spring 2025

Nominal workload:

250 hours of formal study hours. Students participate in lectures, seminars, discussions and field visits in addition to self-study.

Teaching and exam period:

June block. The main part of the course is in Washington DC. There will be some (mandatory) preparatory online classes in early June.

About this course

This course is a 10 credit, practice-based field course for NMBU Masters students, organized in collaboration with American University’s School of International Services. Up to 11 students from NMBU and 15 students from AU will participate. The Washington Environmental Governance Workshop exposes participants to a range of environmental policymaking and policy-influencing institutions in Washington DC, including government agencies and NGOs. We meet environmental professionals in their home offices to discuss the missions and strategies of the diverse actors who create, influence, and implement international and domestic US environmental policy and programs.

The course will be supported by a grant from the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills. All students will be provided free accommodation in student housing on the AU campus. In addition, students will receive a stipend of 8000 NOK, which is intended to cover parts of the travel costs and daily costs.

Students must apply for this course with a CV and 1 page motivation letter by January 15, 2025. Admission will be announced on February 1, 2025.

Learning outcome

Building knowledge on what makes each environmental institution that we visit unique: What is its history, underlying philosophy, culture, mission, strategy (“theory of social change”), program scope, financing sources, membership base (if any), evaluation methods (if any)?
Learn to apply theoretical knowledge of environmental governance organizations and strategies for activism to empirical cases.
Develop understanding of what strategies lead to effective activism and/or effective policy making and implementation.
Understand the relationships among environmental institutions and between such institutions and other types of institutions with different mandates.
Oral Presentation: Students are expected to be able to ask well-informed questions and engage in intelligent discussion. Preparation readings and website study is mandatory.
Written Presentation: Preparing written reactions to the visits as well as a final 10-page reflection paper.

Learning activities
The class will meet 3 times digitally during the week of June 2 so that the students from Noragric and the students from American University/SIS can get to know each other, discuss theoretical readings about environmental governance, and establish a basis for a comparative conversation about Norwegian environmental governance as compared with that in the US.
Class times will be 15.30 to 16.30 (Central European Time) for a total of 3 contact hours.
Students book their own travel, ensuring that they are present on the AU campus at 17.00 (US Eastern time) on Sunday, June 8 to get access to dormitory accommodation on campus.
In-person instruction begins Monday June 9 and continues until Friday June 20 for 10 consecutive days (no class on the weekend). NMBU students depart AU campus on Saturday June 21 to travel back to Norway.
In-person course plan:
Day 1: Orientation on campus, course overview/expectations, discussion of site visits (5 hours instruction)
Days 2-5 and Days 8-11: Morning site visits to area environmental institutions such as: Global Environment Facility, World Bank, US Department of State, US-EPA, US Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, World Resources Institute, Center for American Progress, WWF, the Nature Conservancy, Conservation International, Natural Resources Defense Council, American Rivers, District Department of the Environment, Anacostia Watershed Society, Wind Energy Association, Solar Energy Industries Association, Sunrise Movement.
Afternoon sessions in the classroom at the AU campus (total of 4 hours of instruction per day)
Final instruction day (June 20): On campus, wrap up and reflections.
Teaching support
Students will be provided teaching and supervision by teaching staff at NMBU and American University. Instructors: Judith Shapiro (American University/School of International Services (SIS)) and Guri Bang (NMBU/Noragric)
Prerequisites
All Masters-level students at Noragric and SIS with an interest and relevant skills in the field of environmental and social science studies are encouraged to apply to take part in the practicum.
Recommended prerequisites
Students with both theoretical and practical knowledge within the field of environmental and social science studies are welcome to apply to take part in the course.
Assessment method
Students will be required to submit reflection notes after field visits, and a final 10 page reflection paper. This is to be submitted on June 23.

Letter grades
Examiner scheme
Assessment of deliverables will be conducted by the course responsible professors.
Mandatory activity
The course involves both classroom and field research-based learning.
Notes
NOTE: The course will not be run in 2024. Due to agreed cooperation with the American University the course will next be taught in 2025.
Teaching hours
50 hours of classroom teaching.
Preferential right
M-International Environmental Studies, M-Global Development Studies and M-International Relations.
Admission requirements
The course is principally oriented towards social and environmental sciences.