Environment, contemporary issues - Sustainability and transition

Environnement, enjeux contemporains

 

This course combines the approaches of physical geography and environmental history in order to provide tools, methods and narratives for situating architectural issues both in the materiality of the environments they imply and in the history of which these issues and environments are the products and driving forces. These approaches make it possible to grasp, over the historical period of their construction, the type of material dependencies that make up our societies and govern architectural practices. They also make it possible to understand the historical forces behind the major environmental crises of our time. The main aim of this course is to provide the elements for a geographical, historical and critical understanding of territories and their production, as well as ways of living, so as to enable the emergence and consolidation of architectural, landscape and urban planning practices that are mindful of their consequences.

The combination of geographical and socio-historical approaches to territories enables students to learn methods and languages specific to the natural, physical and human sciences, all of which are essential for a detailed and critical understanding of contemporary environmental issues.

The "geography" section covers the following points:

• Elements of geology: geological cycles, the different types of natural rock present in the region and used in construction.
• The main themes of the course are: glaciations, overburden deposits, eluvium, colluvium, alluvium and mass transport agents (scree, creep, landslides, floods, etc.).
• Surface terrain analysis.
• From natural regions to polarized regions; elements of rural geography, urban geography and regional geography, elements of demography.

• Introduction. From progress to devastation: environmental history and historical narratives
• Land appropriation and resource production
• The visual representation of territories: perspectives, maps and landscapes
• The ecologies of capitalism: plantations, (unequal) colonial trade and globalization
• Industrializing territories and governing pollution
• Energy symbiosis: the intertwined powers of industrial societies
• Agricultural modernization: the reciprocal construction of urban and rural territories
• Urban ecologies: epidemics, pests and domesticity

Durabilité et transition

This part of this course aims to provide students with a scientific knowledge base from a full range of disciplines pertaining to the environmental and social issues of sustainability and transition.

Environnement, enjeux contemporains

At the end of this course, students will be able to ::

- Understand the fundamental methods and knowledge of geography and environmental history and their relevance to the fields of architecture.

More specifically for the "geography" section :

- involve the environment in the project, by understanding natural constraints and the reciprocal relationships between the natural environment, the built environment and mankind.
- grasp the elements and their characteristics that make up and shape the different terrestrial environments, their balance and their evolution, whether natural and/or man-made
- assess the suitability of their project for the environments of the natural regions studied, by acquiring the theoretical bases for understanding the site on which they are working
- understand urban space, by understanding the importance of the various flows induced by urban functions, which build and structure cities and space and drain polarised regions.

More specifically for the 'environmental history' section:

- situate the emergence of contemporary socio-environmental issues in history.
- account for the deeply intertwined and inseparable relationships between human and non-human histories
and non-human histories (through the analysis of specific territories and materials).
- develop the ability to describe and critically analyse the production of territories i.e.
in what they imply and generate in terms of socio-environmental relations and transformations.

All of the learning in the teaching unit enables the student to develop the competences in the Faculty's reference framework and, more specifically, the competence(s):

- Enter into exploratory, sensitive, critical reading,...

- Study the various components of the theme and context (historical, landscape, built, environmental, cultural, social, economic, legal, technological,...) ?Include environmental, landscape, cultural, socio-political values
- Take into account the site's climatic and geographical factors

 

Durabilité et transition

At the end of the part of this course, and on the basis of the scientific content presented, students will be able to:

• Describe, differentiate and question the dynamics and interactions of the different spheres of the Earth system;
• Describe and analyse the interactions between the human and the Earth systems;
• Demonstrate the importance of considering the issues of sustainability and transition from a systemic point of view;
• Develop a critical and reflective mindset that enables them to analyse current issues;
• Use the scientific knowledge base to combat feelings of eco-anxiety

Durabilité et transition

None 

Environnement, enjeux contemporains

Lecture

Durabilité et transition

Contents learned autonomously include:

• Videos.
• Video transcripts.
• Additional resources (optional)

Environnement, enjeux contemporains

Face-to-face course


Additional information:

In face-to-face mode, in an auditorium

Durabilité et transition

Remote course


Further information:

The teaching method is distance learning. This part of the course is made up of several videos and recommends optional reading material.

Environnement, enjeux contemporains

Platform(s) used for course materials:
- eCampus


Further information:

Projected media available on eCampus

Recommended reading for environmental history :

J-B. Fressoz, & al., Introduction à l'histoire environnementale, Paris, La Découverte, 2014.C. Bonneuil, J-B. Fressoz, J-R. Viallet, Nous avons mangé la Terre : l'évènement anthropocène, Paris, Le Seuil, 2022 A. Zimmer, Brouillards toxiques. Vallée de la Meuse, 1930, contre-enquête, Bruxelles, ZS, 2016.

Each session will be accompanied by textual or audiovisual references to consult (podcasts, videos, documentaries), in connection with the topic covered.

Durabilité et transition

Platform(s) used for course materials:
- eCampus


Further information:

Videos, optional reading material and guidelines will be provided via the eCampus platform.

3 optional evenings will be dedicated to this SPOC (meetings with certain speakers and discussions around the themes of this part of the course). The dates are 20/11, 28/11 and 9/12.

Environnement, enjeux contemporains

Exam(s) in session

Any session

- In-person

written exam ( multiple-choice questionnaire )


Further information:

Exam(s) in session

Any session

- In-person

written exam ( multiple-choice questionnaire )


Additional information:

Weighting: 80% for the ' environment, contemporary issues' part and 20% for the 'Sustainability and transition' part.

Durabilité et transition

Exam(s) in session

Any session

- Remote

written exam ( multiple-choice questionnaire )

Continuous assessment


Further information:

Online testing must be completed by 12 May 2025 12h00  and second session by 2 September 2025 12h00.

Weighting: 80% for the 'environment and contemporary issues' part and 20% for the 'sustainability and transition' part.

Durabilité et transition

None 

Durabilité et transition

None 

Environnement, enjeux contemporains

Georges Mabille, gmabille@uliege.be

Alexis Zimmer, azimmer@uliege.

Durabilité et transition

Prof. Sybille Mertens and Floriane Fassotte/Elise Pirenne (durabilite.transition@uliege.be)

Durabilité et transition

There is no MOOC associated with this course.