POL 3420 Costa Rica's Environmental Policy: A History of Policy, Politics and Action.

This course will explore the dynamics of environmental management, environmental histories, policy, politics and ACTION in the case study of Costa Rica and beyond. It will study environmental history and policy at a regional and national level; it will explore the emergence of Costa Rica's cutting edge environmental politics and governmental commitments (the greening of the public sector and carbon neutrality and others); it will look back at Costa Rica's conservation history and critically review its conservation and sustainable development model; it will present an understanding of the 'state of the nation and region' in regard to environmental indicators (land use methods and statistics, deforestation and reforestation data, contamination and waste indicators); it will identify the individuals and organizations working on taking authentic action in environmental protection; it will take a close look at how government policy translates into practice by reviewing cases studies of community and grassroots action in forestry, organic farming, recycling, cooperatives, and women's environmental groups; and lastly, it will address some of central issues and challenges facing these activities and the resultant environmental conflicts.