General provisions

The course targets students with the background in biology, agricultural science, environmental science, public/global health or social science. It could be valuable also for professionals in urban greenery management and for those who want to acquire additional knowledge for professional orientation towards course topics.

Entry requirements

120 credits with at least 30 credits in any of the following fields of study: medical science (including public and global health), biology, agricultural science, environmental science, or social science. Proficiency in English equivalent to the Swedish upper secondary course English 6.

Learning outcomes

This interdisciplinary course aims to explore a wide spectrum of ecosystem services provided by urban green areas in relation to the well-being of local inhabitants under climate change threats. It integrates theoretical and practical perspectives of the ecology of urban greenery, studies of recognized cases of urban trees mapping/ inventory, community engagement in urban forestry management, and its linkage with urban sustainability and global health.

Knowledge and understanding

On completing the course, the student shall demonstrate the ability to:

• Describe the concept and related classifications of ecosystem services provided by urban green zones;
• Explain the relation of ecosystem services of urban green zones to sustainable development of cities;
• Outline basic principles of planning and management of urban green spaces;
• Outline basic legislation and policies in Sweden and EU on urban greenery as well as recount for impact of urban green zones on global health.

Competence and skills

On completing the course, the student shall demonstrate the ability to:

• Compare different tree inventory systems, mapping techniques, and quantification of urban green spaces, as well as practically use some of them;
• Integrate interdisciplinary scientific knowledge from ecology, global health, social studies for comparing the planning and management of green spaces in provided cases from cities (regional as well as international examples);
• Perform field inventory of trees using i-Tree Eco toolkit, generate and present the report on i-Tree Eco modelling.

Judgement and approach

On completing the course, the student shall demonstrate the ability to:

• Critically evaluate and analyze future challenges for the development of urban green areas and well-being of local inhabitants;
• Communicate scientific results and their implications for sustainable development and management of green areas for different target audiences.

Content

This interdisciplinary course aims to explore the complexity of ecosystem services provided by urban green areas in relation to the well-being of citizens under climate change threats.

During the course, a wide range of ecosystem services that urban green zones provide will be explored, and possibilities to manage urban greenery in order to maximize provided services for the benefit of citizens will be studied. The course investigates climate change impact on cities (such as heat waves and heat islands) and the mitigating role of urban green areas in relation to that, with a specific focus on health security and safe microclimate formation for local inhabitants.

Topics covered in the course include ecology and biodiversity of urban green areas, municipal inventory systems for urban vegetation, planning and management of urban greenery, as well as related legislation and policies in Sweden and the EU. Furthermore, the course will cover related global health aspects, social inequality, cultural aspects, microclimate formation, air and water quality impact, climate change mitigation in relation to urban green areas.

Students will study the best worldwide recognized cases of urban tree mapping (such as New York City Street Tree Map), ecosystem trees' inventory and community engagement including regional (EU), and local Swedish cases. In a practical part of the course, students will participate in an outdoor tree inventory near the university campus using i-Tree (USA) modelling tools as a combination of theory and practice.

Instruction

The course is given at Uppsala University, with one week onsite in Uppsala and two weeks of preparatory studies on distance before the scheduled onsite teaching. Teaching is highly student centered with a focus on seminars, team-work, and individual studies. Instructors will include academic teachers and invited speakers, as well as representatives from different stakeholders (i.e. representatives of Uppsala municipality, i-Tree tool developers, and tree mapping practitioners).

Assessment

To pass, an active participation, as defined in the assessment criteria, on seminars and group exercises is mandatory (4hp). In addition, students need to gain a pass grade in the fieldwork (urban trees inventory in Uppsala) and presenting the generated iTree Eco inventory report in subgroups (1hp).

For special reasons, the examiner may exempt from the indicated examination method and allow an alternative examination form. A special reason may for instance be a decision by the University's disability coordinator that special pedagogical support should be provided.