Landscape Governance - in an era of Nature-based Solutions

Last changed: 03 February 2025
Two persons walking in a forest

Join us for collaborative learning and critical discussions on landscape governance research and nature-based solutions (NbS). Use this course to gain further insights into your own project and build upon your own research networks. Welcome to the “Landscape Governance – in an era of Nature-based Solutions” course.

Landscape Governance and Nature-based Solutions

Landscape Governance encompasses diverse perspectives, addressing both organizational structure and development, as well as strategies for engaging and involving external stakeholders in addressing complex public issues.

NbS is a relatively new term, extensively referring to the importance of understanding and integrating the local context—including local stakeholders—thus NbS is closely related to landscape governance. NbS is increasingly being used in practice and intensively addressed and promoted by funding agencies.

But what does the term ‘nature’ in NbS mean in theory and practice? What does it mean to be ‘nature-based’, and what are the pitfalls in applying – or being inspired – by nature as a solution when it comes to stakeholder engagement and transformative change?

In this course we will critically discuss Landscape Governance approaches and their relation to NbS from conceptual, organizational and participatory perspectives. These discussions are designed to help students explore how these themes relate to their own research.

This is the third course in the Landscape Governance PhD series, with previous courses held in 2021 and 2023. This course is the product of a close collaborative effort between Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) and University of Copenhagen (UC), as a part of the NOVA University Network.

Townhouses in Västra hamnen, Malmö

May 2025

Dates

Flipped classroom: May 5th – 11th, 2025
On-line. May 12th, 2025
On-site: May 20th – 23rd, 2025

Entry requirements

Applicants must be admitted as PhD-students in a relevant subject.
To apply, each student needs to submit the following:

  • The candidate’s name and contact information.
  • PhD start date, title of the research project, name of supervisor(s), and home institution.
  • A statement of interest with motivation for participating in this course.
  • A one page description of their PhD project, emphasizing the relation to landscape governance & nature-based solutions.

Deadline for applying is 1 March 2025.

Learning outcomes

After the course students will be able to:

  • Identify and apply key theories
    Describe and apply relevant landscape governance theories within organizational and academic contexts, and in relation to the emerging field of nature-based solutions

    • Critically evaluate and justify research methods
    Reflectively chose, describe and argue for research methods for the study of landscape governance and nature-based solutions

    • Contextualise and analyse their own research
    Discuss their own research projects in relation to the landscape governance scientific knowledge field, theoretically and methodologically.

Networking activities for students

Students will be able to meet and network via the scheduled 5-day program. Via the course settings, we will enable PhD students to form a network related to the topics of landscape governance, and with special emphasis on studying different methodological approaches.

Objectives and content

The course provides an in-depth exploration of landscape governance, with a focus on the emerging role of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) in transformative change within the context of climate change, biodiversity loss and sustainable development.

The course is designed for PhD students from diverse disciplines and offers hands-on experiences, critical insights, and valuable opportunities to contribute to the discourse of landscape governance through theoretical and methodological research, with the intention of reducing the gap between theory and practice.

Pass grade requirements

After the  course, students will develop and hand in an essay in which the presented theories and methodologies will be discussed in relation to their own PhD projects, and thus contributing to the students’ theoretical and methodological choices and reflections.

The essay will be assessed as pass or not passed, based on the students’ ability to incorporate relevant governance theories as well as to explain a qualified choice of methodology. Special emphasis will be put on students’ ability to critically reflect and show deeper insights on the different governance prospects and challenges.

Pedagogical form

The learning objectives will be achieved through a flipped classroom approach, fostering online discussions centered on the research of students and their motivations for participating in the course. These will be followed by an intensive four-day, on-site experience featuring a mix of introductory lectures, in-depth discussions, and field excursions in Sweden and Denmark.

The course will integrate independent reading of relevant literature, lectures from leading academics, and collaborative discussions. Additionally, students will prepare reflective essays connecting their research with course literature, lectures, and discussions.

The four on-site days will take place in both the Swedish Agriculture University site in Campus Alnarp and the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.

Contact for application and further information

Professor Thomas B. Randrup

The course fee is 2000 SEK, which does not cover travel expenses nor accommodation.

SLU with Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, Univeristy of Copenhagen

Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management_KU.png

Facts:

Dates

Flipped classroom: May 5th – 11th, 2025
On-line. May 12th, 2025
On-site: May 20th – 23rd, 2025

Credits

5 hp (ECTS)

Language of education

English

Time plan (preliminary)

Flipped Classroom (week of May 5-9, 2025)

The course begins with two pre-recorded lectures available for self-study, focusing on Landscape Governance and Nature-based Solutions. These lectures introduce foundational concepts for students to reflect upon and relate to their own research projects, setting the stage for deeper engagement throughout the course.

Lecture 1:
Landscape and Governance; definitions, organizational structures, and stakeholder engagement strategies

Lecture 2:
Nature-based Solutions; definitions, landscape considerations, and governance and management perspectives

May 12: On-line

The session will begin with a welcome and introduction, followed by a brief summary of the flipped classroom lectures. Students will then present their research, share their motivations for attending, and discuss how their projects relate to the pre-lecture themes.

May 20th – 23rd, 2025: On-site Preliminary program

 

Morning

Afternoon

May 20

Theme 1:: Theoretical foundations in landscape governance

·  Landscape and NbS governance

·  Organizational theory (capacity)

·  Public governance paradigms

 

 

Field trip – case in Malmö/Copenhagen

May 21st

Theme 2: Stakeholder engagement and collaboration

·  The nature – landscape perspective

·  Place attachment

·  Processes >< solutions

Presentation of on-going landscape governance – NBS research projects
Examples of theoretical and practice-based approaches

May 22nd

Theme 3: Global, Spatial and Experiential dimensions

·  Stakeholders and co-governance (trust, collaboration)

·  Care of NBS and transformative change

·  Global North – Global South perspectives

 

 

Field trip – case in Malmö/Copenhagen

May 23rd

Theme 4: Synthesis and Critical Reflection

·  Critical, systemic approaches to NbS implementation

·  Course evaluation

Critical discussion of students own work