Given the current speed of habitat and species loss caused by human development, the restoration of degraded ecosystems is one of the greatest challenges humankind is facing. For this reason, the United Nations declared the current decade (2021-2030) as the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. This global effort will require experts on ecosystem science, management and design. This holistic approach will allow for a deeper understanding of how ecosystems recover from human disturbance and how we can use this knowledge to increase the currently limited performance of restoration practice. This course is particularly suited for students with interests in nature conservation, the natural component of landscape architecture, or ecosystem management in a broad sense. This course will allow students to exchange their knowledge in a multidirectional learning environment where we all will address real world restoration cases. Through research, we will learn how forests and other ecosystems have changed during this time to apply that knowledge to a real restoration project that students will develop. We will increase our understanding of what nature is for humans and the Earth system, we will increase study our connection to it. This course will arm you with one of the most important tools to work with and for nature in the coming decades.

Students are encouraged to play a leading role in this course. After an introduction of relevant theories and case studies on ecological restoration and sustainable development, students would be required to form different groups and choose a topic or a specific case study area, each group design a sustainable development approach for the selected area. Students will required to present their cases to the whole group, the teachers are also happy to push the work forward and develop that into reports, books or research papers. The aim of this work could contribute to the UN decades on ecological restoration, and other international bodies such as UNCCD and others. 

Relevant SDGs: SDG 6, SDG 7, SDG 11, SDG 12, SDG 13, SDG 14, SDG 15

PI:

• Ruishan Chen, professor, School of Design, rschen@sjtu.edu.cn

Collaborators:

• Chuan Liao, Associate Professor, Cornell University, cl824@cornell.edu 
• Eugene Chigbu, Professor, Namibia University of Science and Technology, echigbu@nust.na 
• Annah Zhu, Associate Professor, wageningen university, annah.zhu@wur.nl

1. Intercultural communication competence enhancement;
2. Basic knowledge of environment and development and how ecosystem restoration can contribute to SDGs;
3. To do assessment on ecosystem degradation/restoration and change of ecosystem services;
4. To do assessment on changing of sustainable development goals;
5. To design ecological restoration scenarios and sustainable development pathways. 

Lecture, tutorial, and seminar

1. Attendance & in-class discussion: 30%
2. Group presentation: 60%
3. Final program summary: 10%

None.

Dr. Ruishan Chen: rschen@sjtu.edu.cn