Concepts in Sustainable Land Use studies how interactions between human actions and the abiotic environment result in sustainability challenges and can inform solutions to those challenges. The course addresses how human actions influence land systems and how these cascade into impacts on water resources, biodiversity, and climate. The course also goes into solutions to these challenges. Which actions can we take to moderate negative effects of land use? How accepted and effective are such measures? Lectures and tutorials provide a background on drivers, pressures, state changes, impacts and responses to environmental change by taking stock of different disciplines, including economy, ecology, geography, and land science. Students will be introduced in the theoretical foundation behind sustainable land use, will encounter the latest scientific insights in the field and will learn practical analysis skills.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU Amsterdam) awards credits based on the ECTS system. Contact hours listed under a course description may vary due to the combination of lecture-based and independent work required for each course therefore, CEA's recommended credits are based on the ECTS credits assigned by VU Amsterdam. 1 ECTS equals 28 contact hours assigned by VU Amsterdam.