NTRES 1201 - Global Water Sustainability

(crosslisted) ENVS 1201
(CU-SBY)

Spring. 3 credits. Letter grades only.

P. McIntyre, X. Shinbrot.

This course will cultivate an interdisciplinary, solution-oriented perspective on water resource challenges from local to global scales. Water is central to all of life, yet its management represents a “wicked challenge” in sustainability science because tradeoffs and feedbacks among multiple objectives are commonplace. Readings and parallel mini-lectures from natural and social science instructors will embrace the diversity of perspectives involved in managing water resources, and students will engage in collaborative problem-solving during class to deepen their understanding of each weekly theme. Meetings with case study experts from around the world will ground this dialog in reality, and all students will participate in debate-style examination of major controversies in water sustainability. Reflective writing assignments will encourage students to assess their own role in achieving water sustainability.

Outcome 1: Identify and weigh sources of information about water resources, and use them to evaluate competing claims about management needs.

Outcome 2: Explain how water resources support both nature and humanity.

Outcome 3: Evaluate how cultural context and spatial scale influence water resource management options.

Outcome 4: Compare policies and societal norms that influence personal and collective resource use.

Outcome 5: Individually and in collaboration with classmates, devise and assess strategies to enhance water resource sustainability.