Topic outline

  • Course Outline

    1. Climate Governance and Evidence-based Policy Research (16.3)

    • What is climate governance? Overview of historical and present issues in climate governance.

    • How do we study policy and governance? How can computational social science, data science, or approaches in complex systems help policy research?


    2. Computational Social Science and Climate Policy Research (18.3)

    • Overview of current computational social science studies in climate policy-related research.


    3. Approaches and Considerations in Working on Multidisciplinary Teams (23.3)

    • How to work in multidisciplinary teams? How can domain experts and technical specialists communicate with each other?


    4. Contestations over rules and norms: Domestic institutions and policy actors (25.3)

    • Who works with whom to influence what policies when? With an emphasis on actors who work within formal institutional channels.

    • How does this differ by domestic government institutions?


    5. Contestations over rules and norms: Social movements and climate activism (30.3)

    • How do social movements and climate activists influence climate governance?


    6. Scientific Communication (8.4)

    • How to write a research report? An academic paper? A policy brief?

    • How to present expert and technical information to a lay audience in a policy or research presentation?


    7. International organizations and transnational governance (13.4)

    • What is the interplay between domestic politics and international regimes when it comes to setting climate policies?


    8. Addressing the social consequences of climate change (15.4)

    • How have changes to the environment affected social systems? To what extent are there inequalities associated with climate-induced social issues? What kinds of policies are aimed at addressing these issues and are they effective? 


    9. Presentations (20.-22.4)

    • 15 minute presentations per group, with an additional 5 minute question/feedback period