2006:55 R

Evaluation of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in human ecology at the universities of Göteborg and Lund

The opinion of the panel of assessors is that this subject area is one of great relevance. Human ecology seeks solutions to problems that will lead to greater sustainability and equality in the global community. The panel also gained a generally positive impression of the structure and organisation of the undergraduate programmes at both universities. The number of PhD´s awarded is sound. However, some critical opinions are expressed and improvements proposed.

The panel of assessors considers it unarguable that cooperation should be developed between the human ecology programmes at Göteborg University and Lund University, particularly at postgraduate level, as well as with programmes at other higher education institutions where the subject is taught. The disadvantages that result from the small scale of these programmes should be dealt with creatively and positively, both at each higher education institution and also through national cooperation.

Where the programme at Göteborg University is concerned, the panel of assessors considers that cooperation within the School of Global Studies and its incorporation into the environmental studies programmes in the social sciences faculty is positive and promising. Here positive synergy effects can be attained in both undergraduate and postgraduate teaching. One permanent professorship and an additional professorship in the section should enhance stability and positive development. The subject will remain a small one but will gain in strength through inclusion in a broader context.

The students that the panel met at Lund were on the whole very committed and enthusiastic. There is a powerful urge in the section to create an identity of its own. But in the worst of cases this could, with its normative features, counteract professional and effective organisation. One weakness is that the subject is represented by only one professor who, at least from an official point of view, has indeterminate administrative responsibilities in the section and department and is moreover absent relatively often. Nevertheless the subject still has great relevance. It is important for those administering the section and the department to strive to increase cooperation in both postgraduate and undergraduate teaching with other units and programmes in the environmental sphere as well as with the immediately surrounding community.

Here, as in many other evaluations, the National Agency for Higher Education is able to determine that small populations create problems for the programmes. Faltering recruitment at undergraduate level further accentuates the need to cooperate.