START/IIASA Advanced Institute on
Vulnerability to Global Environmental Change
Seminar Curriculum and Objectives
Analysis of vulnerability to global environmental change is a growing,
multidisciplinary area of research that explores questions about who and what
are vulnerable to environmental change, how vulnerable are they, what are the
causes of their vulnerability, and what responses can lessen their vulnerability.
These and related questions will be the focus of a 3-week seminar to be held 3-21
May 2004 at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in
Laxenburg, Austria. Institute Fellows will examine the theoretical foundations
and methods of vulnerability analysis, evaluate and derive lessons from case
studies, and learn selected analytic tools with the objective of building a base of
knowledge and skills from which to conduct research on vulnerability. During
the seminar, Fellows will also further develop and refine their proposals for
research projects on vulnerability with guidance from the seminar faculty and
external mentors.
The overall objectives of the seminar are to:
 Provide a solid foundation of knowledge about the subject area
 Motivate Fellows to engage in research in the subject area
 Prepare Fellows to conduct research in the subject area
 Establish relationships among Fellows, Faculty and Mentors that will
promote future collaborations that support research and education in the
subject area
The seminar curriculum has five main components:
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Conceptual Frameworks and Core Analytical Issues
From Research to Action: Doing Research that Gets Used
Methods of Vulnerability Assessment
Bringing it Together: Integrative Case Studies
Tutorial and Research Proposal Development
Conceptual Frameworks and Core Analytical Issues
Objectives of the unit: to provide participants with an overview and
understanding of (i) global change issues and drivers, (ii) the motivations and
importance of vulnerability research, (iii) core concepts, and (iv) competing
frameworks for vulnerability assessment.
The broad issues of global change and vulnerability will be introduced in three
“framing lectures” on socioeconomic processes, vulnerability of agriculture, and
global scale changes in environment and human systems. The motivating
questions of vulnerability research will be probed in detail by the institute
Fellows through small group discussions. Conceptual frameworks and core
analytic issues for vulnerability assessment will be examined in a series of five
lectures on the coupled human-environment systems framework, vulnerability
to extreme events, social vulnerability, resilience, and links between
environmental change on the Millennium Development Goals. The unit will be
covered during the first week of the seminar.
From Research to Action: Doing Research that Gets Used
Objectives of the unit: to get participants to think systematically about who
might benefit from their research and explore research design and participatory
research methods that can facilitate use of research in decision making.
Examples of citizen-science projects that address information needs for decision
making and stakeholders will be presented and discussed. Participatory methods
that engage stakeholders in the selection of research objectives, research design,
identification and integration of different sources of knowledge, evaluation of
response options, and communication of knowledge will be emphasized. This
unit will be the focus of the first day of week 2 of the seminar, but the issues will
also be woven into and returned to in subsequent units of the seminar.
Methods of Vulnerability Assessment
Objectives of the unit: to provide participants understanding of the purposes and
limitations of selected methods used in vulnerability assessments, develop
familiarity with the methods through hands-on exercises, and build a knowledge
base that will help participants to further explore and apply the methods in their
research.
The methods selected include scenario building, measures of vulnerability,
spatial analysis of vulnerability and poverty, vulnerability profiles, risk analysis,
and decision support system modeling. The material will be covered through a
combination of lectures, hands-on exercises, and discussions during the second
week of the seminar.
Bringing it Together: Integrative Case Studies
Objectives of the unit: to illustrate and critically examine vulnerability concepts
and assessment approaches in the context of selected case studies.
Case studies of vulnerability to environmental changes in Mexico, China and
Africa will be explored and discussed in the third week of the seminar. The
Mexican case study focuses on the Yaqui Valley of Sonora, Mexico, which
includes a large irrigation district, a surrounding desert and coastal lands. The
Yaqui River empties into the estuaries of the Gulf of California transferring
effluents from agricultural run-off, urban centers, and pg farms. Valley
stakeholder are concerned about sustaining yields in the face of globalized
markets, reduced subsidies and price supports, drought, reductions in water
quality and quantity, salinization. Vulnerability to these hazards appears to vary
across stakeholders. The China case study is largely based on work carried out at
IIASA, and looks in particular at food security, vulnerability to climate change,
health and water. The African Case Study looks at the cross-scale institutional
constraints that make it difficult to deal with vulnerability in Africa, as well as
the need to integrate local knowledge into assessments. The case study focuses
on the health sector and the impacts of climate change.
Tutorial and Research Proposal Development
Objectives of the unit: to achieve deeper understanding of the seminar material,
improve Fellows’ research proposals, and encourage incorporation of lessons
from the seminar into the research proposals.
Each Fellow has been assigned a supervisor who will meet periodically
throughout the seminar with the Fellow, both individually and in small groups.
The supervisors will discuss material covered in the seminar with the Fellows
and advise each Fellow on revising his/her research proposal. Each Fellow also
has two mentors, one from his/her home institution and one assigned by the
Advanced Institute on Vulnerability. Arrangements have been made for mentors
to provide guidance before or during the seminar for improvement of research
proposals. The mentors will also provide ongoing guidance during
implementation of the research if the research is funded. Most of the assigned
mentors will give lectures and participate in the seminar for one or two days
each, providing an opportunity for Fellows and mentors to meet. Fellows will
revise and give presentations of their proposals during the seminar. The
supervisors will jointly review all proposals and make recommendations for
approval of proposals shortly after the seminar.