Landscape Strategies for Global Development

Landscapes are, by definition, integrated wholes. They are coupled human and natural systems. Everyone has a sense of landscape, and in many cases the value of landscape lies in the eye of the beholder. A systematic look at landscapes reveal them to be spatially heterogeneous patterns of ecosystems, including elements of geology, hydrology, atmosphere, and biology. Not only do they provide natural resources, but they are also the source of myriad landscape-ecosystem services. From a management perspective, landscapes are the scale at which people and societies organize their economic and societal activities. This course examines how integrated landscape management facilitates development practice while optimizing sustainable landscapes. The United Nations has promoted landscape partnerships for sustainable development as a means for achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs). We use a case study method to investigate what holistic landscape thinking entails; what landscape ecology tells us about the structure, function, and change of landscapes; and how integrated approaches at the landscape scale achieve equitable socio-economic outcomes and regenerative environments.