NTRES 1201

Global Water Sustainability

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2019-2020.

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. Web-based 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 uncertainties in water security. Reflective writing assignments will encourage students to assess their own role in achieving water sustainability.

When Offered Spring.

Course Attribute (CU-SBY)

• Identify and weigh sources of information about water resources, and use them to evaluate competing claims about management needs.
• Explain how water resources support both nature and humanity.
• Evaluate how cultural context and spatial scale influence water resource management options.
• Compare policies and societal norms that influence personal and collective resource use.
• Individually and in collaboration with classmates, devise and assess strategies to enhance water resource sustainability.

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