This module covers selected Topics of the development of the coastal area and coastal zone management near Oldenburg (for example the East Frisian Islands, Bremerhaven).

The students will carry out a case study independently, dealing with scientific questions regarding Coastal Zone Management.

The students gain a differentiated understanding of the challenges of Coastal Zone Management in a national and European context; the questions implied therein, the stakeholders and substantial political and legal implications. At the same time, they will get a first insight of selected national and international project examples while getting to know a part of their possible future field of action.

Includes two seminars:

• Marine Spatial Planning (3CP): Basic demands and questions of Coastal Zone Management in a spatial planning perspective.
• Integrated Coastal Zone Management (3CP): Field trip to a selected (inter)national place at the coast (Germany, The Netherlands) to show selected problem fields of Coastal Zone Management.

This module includes a visit of sites representative for good practice in River and Water Management and interactions and discussions with local researchers and practitioners. The participants shall gain a differentiated understanding of the planning challenges of Water and River Management using selected national and international examples. While so, they will be granted insight to actual planning tasks and the implemented conflicts and get into contact with concerned stakeholders.

This module is a field trip.

For example:

• Stockholm
• Copenhagen
• Greater London and the River Thames: Selected questions of Water and River Management on the example of the River Thames in the Greater London Area, for example drinking water production, flood protection, nature conservation, water-oriented leisure activities and the revitalisation of the (former) ports of London.
• Bremen and the River Weser: Selected questions of Water and River Management on the example of the River Weser in the Bremen area, for example flood protection, nature conservation, water-oriented leisure activities and the revitalization of the former ports of Bremen.

Students acquire knowledge of maritime (civil) and maritime (public) maritime law and their intertwining at the legal levels and with continental water law. They will be able to analyse maritime law issues and work on them in a solution-oriented manner. Furthermore, the participants will develop and work on research questions in an interdisciplinary way.

The module "Marine & Maritime law" is structured in two seminars with 28 SWS (semester hour [per week]) each.

• "Marine Law" deals with public maritime law, which regulates the allocation and use of marine resources (fish, sea lanes, energy [wind, oil, gas], discharge, protected areas, deep sea mining and bioprospecting, coastal protection).
• "Maritime Law" deals with international maritime transport. Topics include the carriage of goods by sea (including the Hague-Visby Rules), liability for loss of goods, accidents, collisions, salvage and remediation, as well as port law and shipbuilding.

The introduction to processes and systems of the dynamic Earth constituting the foundation for sustainable management is given to students to provide them with knowledge about processes and systems relevant for sustainable management. They will use knowledge and methodologies from all science disciplines in an integrated way. The students will also be given skills in elaborating on complex tasks of environmental management using an interdisciplinary science-based approach and to present related findings to non-expert audiences.

The module is structured in one seminar and one lecture.

• Lecture: Understanding the Bioplanet Earth: Introduction to key processes and to systems dynamics of the Earth representing a planet being alive driven by external and internal forces interacting with biological activities. Topics comprise introductions to the evolution of the universe and solar systems, the differentiation and sub-systems of the Earth's interior, minerals and rock cycle, soils, ocean and climate, evolution and biodiversity, organisms and physiology, water and element cycling plus insights into ecosystems under different climate conditions.
• Seminar: Cases in Understanding the Bioplanet Earth: The cases are selected in order to (i) highlight certain principles and theories in geo- and biosciences and (ii) exemplify critical objects and phenomena in modern practice of resource and environmental management.

This module consists of one lecture and one seminar (2 weekly contact hours per lecture/seminar) dealing with basic concepts and strategies of sustainability management within corporations. Both, lecture and seminar give an overview of current sustainability strategies for companies and present a variety of instruments to integrate and initiate sustainable development within corporations. While the lecture focuses more on theoretical approaches and introduces basic concepts of corporate sustainability management, the seminar provides a variety of case studies and business cases to demonstrate different concepts and instruments of sustainability management. The seminar provides the possibilities for inter- and transdisciplinary exchange and discussions.

Skills to be acquired in this module:

• Knowledge on the basic concepts and strategies of sustainability management related to corporate practice:
  • Sustainability: Basic concepts, strategies,
  • Domestic and international challenges for business,
  • Business case for sustainable development,
  • Integrative concepts of sustainable corporations,
  • Sustainable strategies,
  • Management instruments
• Discussing topics of international sustainability management with students from different scientific disciplines
• Ability to present and evaluate different concepts and instruments of international sustainability management

This module consists of two seminars dealing with selected topics from the broad field of sustainability, economics and management. Out of a variety of several seminars the student can choose two most suitable seminars depending on individual choices. The seminars and the seminar contents vary each semester to provide topics relevant for current discussions within the broad field of sustainability, economics and management. Intentionally seminars from several research fields and faculties are offered to also combine different point of views and to bring students from different scientific backgrounds together. The seminars provide the possibilities for inter- and transdisciplinary exchange and discussions.

Possibility to choose between different seminars, for example:

• Diving Deep - Conceptual and Empirical perspectives on Social-ecological Transformations (3CP)
• Ecological Economics (3CP)
• Qualitative Methods in Sustainability (3CP)
• Prosperity without Economic Growth? (3CP)
• International Environmental Governance (3CP)
• Sustainability of Renewable Energy (3CP)

The seminars can change according to what is offered in the respective semester.

This module consists of two seminars dealing with selected topics from the broad field of sustainability, economics and management. Out of a variety of several seminars the student can choose two most suitable seminars depending on individual choices. The seminars and the seminar contents vary each semester to provide topics relevant for current discussions within the broad field of sustainability, economics and management. Intentionally seminars from several research fields and faculties are offered to also combine different point of views and to bring students from different scientific backgrounds together. The seminars provide the possibilities for inter- and transdisciplinary exchange and discussions.

Possibility to choose between different seminars, for example:

• Corporate Carbon Performance Trajectories (3CP)
• Environmental Impact Assessment Using Life Cycle Analysis (3CP)
• Startup Consulting (6CP)
• The promise of (New) Commons concepts, discussions and examples of a living property utopia headache (6CP)

The seminars can change according to what is offered in the respective semester.

Students have the opportunity to take an economics module of their choice (worth 6 CP) at the master's level. This can also take place at another university or during studies abroad.

Students are required to:

• independently engage with a topic using scientific methods,
• indepedently research and make use of current academic literature,
• integrate their topic into an academic discussion.

Possibility to choose between different seminars, for example:

• Inequality and Environmental Policy (6CP)
• Spatial Econometrics (6CP)
• Empirical Methods (6CP)
• Computational Economics (6CP)
• Topics in Economic Research: Growth and Distribution (6CP)
• Applied Econometrics Using GIS Techniques (6CP)

The seminars can change according to what is offered in the respective semester.

The course covers key concepts of public economics, which studies how government taxing and
spending activities affect the economy - economic efficiency and the distribution of income and wealth.

• Lecture: After introducing the theory and methodology of public economics, we discuss a historical and theoretical overview of the public sector. We then focus on departures from efficiency (especially asymmetric information), taxation issues (including tax evasion, fiscal federalism and tax competition among independent jurisdictions), and the intertemporal issue of social security (especially pension system).
• Seminar: covers current issues in public economics, e.g. reform of health care or pension system.

The students will be able to:

• understand sources of market failures and government failures
• understand taxing and spending activities of governments,
• understand the distinction between normative and positive perspectives in the evaluation of government policy,
• apply economic methods to current issues in public economics,
• present their research result in the form of written papers and oral presentations.