Course objectives: This course provides basic knowledge for the understanding of international environmental policies with a focus on : (1) international political engagements with regard to conservation and local management of resources, (2) the main theories and paradigms underpinning them, (3) the various actors on the international scene and the strategies of main environmental NGOs international organizations involved management and conservation of natural resources (World Bank, UN and other international organizations), NGOs, nations and their centralised or decentralised administrations, and local individuals. How do they evolve? How are they evaluated? How do they manifest themselves at a local level? How are they instrumented? How do institutions innovate? How are problems in local practises taken into account? This course attempts to address these questions with analyses and case studies so as to redefine the role of agricultural engineers within the global debate on ideas which motivate communities affected by problems of management and conservation of natural resources.

Course contents: (1) ) Presentation of the main theories and paradigms underpinning environmental policies and international tools; (2) Actors on the international scene: development aid agencies and logics of funding institutions, international environmental governmental and non-governmental organizations,  development NGOs; (3) Models of behaviour of international actors on environmental issues proposed by political sciences and sociology, and international ecopolicies: regimes and consensus, State behaviours and planification, globalization and strategies of organizations, neo-institutional approaches, local and community approaches; (4) case studies of different strategies of intervention implemented by environmental NGOs (CI, UICN, WWF).

Teaching and learning methods: The teaching is based on lectures (theoretical and contextual specific lectures), and Conferences. Exercises relate to theory and case studies and supervised group work (total: 24 hours).

Examination: individual written evaluation from a review of scientific literature.

Competences acquired: (1) Knowledge of current developments concerning international environmental politics, (2) Knowledge of international environmental engagements, and (3) Ability to evaluate their effects on national politics, and on local and regional management structures.

Course homepage: http://www.agroparistech.fr/en/Training/Emetf/Emetf.htm