Contents:
In this course, we discuss environmental impacts of agricultural production and energy production and present various (chains of) models to assess the impacts of policy scenarios and management options on air, soil and water quality. An important aim of the modelling tools and resulting analyses is to support managers (e.g. farmers or foresters) or policy/decision-makers in taking appropriate management or policy measures. With respect to agricultural production, we focus on the management of large-scale (diffuse) inputs of carbon, nutrients and metals, specifically by fertilizer, manure and human waste. Considering both agricultural production and energy production, we also pay attention to (trans-boundary) pollution problems, including emissions of greenhouse gases, causing climate change, and of sulfur and nitrogen compounds, causing air pollution. During the group work students will work in small groups (4-5 students) in which they will write a research proposal on the design of an environmental model system. To follow the course, students do not need to have experience in programming or computer modelling.
Learning outcomes:
After successful completion of this course students are expected to be able to:
- recall and explain main interacting environmental impacts of food & energy production on soil, water and air quality and the potential of management options to reduce those impacts;
- explain the choice and impacts of different model approaches in view of differences in pollutant behaviour and model aim;
- understand the principles of agent based models and the related environmental impacts in coupled social-environmental systems;
- evaluate the usefulness of environmental models in integrated environmental assessments;
- assess the relevance of different management options to reconcile nutrient use in food production with protection of soil, water and air quality;
- design an integrated environmental assessment model in terms of model specifications (model inputs, outputs, system boundaries etc.) and model linkages;
More details on the second and fourth learning outcome are present in the course guide.
