Course Objectives:
This course will study the intersection between gender, socio-economic discrimination and the shift toward sustainable development. The following themes are among many that will be addressed throughout the course: Women and natural resources use, women and the forests, women?s role in conservation, women and land use and agriculture, rural women, women and the built environment, women and environmental policy, women in relation to poverty, risk, mitigation, adaption for climate change, female civil society and political actors pushing for change, women the environment and sustainable innovations. The aforementioned issues will be explored in the context of the Latin America and Caribbean case study with special emphasis on the Costa Rican context where possible. Students will be encouraged to compare the region with their home land experiences and situation and be strongly encouraged to critically assess the advances, challenges, and propose solutions. The issue of gender will be thoroughly introduced, gender dynamics profiled, and gender policy contemplated. There will be a special emphasis on the situation of Latin American and Caribbean women, the environment and sustainable development, however this course aims to be inclusive, and recognises that there are many gender identities and that gender issues touch everybody?s lives. Students are welcome to participate and study the environment and sustainable development throughout the course according to any or all gender identities and therefore be active participants in the unravelling and improvement of sustainable development itself. We will work with local women in the community and gain hand-ons practical experience during farm and forest project work. Student?s will carry out surveys, develop in research projects and participate in two field trips to help them to understand the dynamics and complexities of gender and sustainable development.

Themes to be explored and critically addressed:
- Defining gender in the Latin American and Caribbean context.
- An introduction to the central concepts of sustainable development and gender.
- The impacts of machismo, power relations, land access and environmental issues.
- Women?s historical position in relation to natural resource use.
- Gender and access to water, land, energy, environmental education and technology.
- Women?s position in relation to economic development.
- Gender, sustainability and the State.
- Gender, sustainability and the public and private spheres.
- Gender and the greening of industry.
- Gender and the Green Party political participation.
- Women and the forests, women?s role in conservation.
- Latin American Indigenous women, sustainable land use and resource extraction.
- Grassroots environmental movements and the case of Costa Rican women. Specific projects. Advances and limitations.
- The present profile of Latin American and Caribbean Women in relation to the environment ? an overview.
- Rural women, land use and agriculture.
- Urban women and the built environment.
- Women and environmental policy. Policy for whom?
- Ideologies and sustainable development: Eco-feminism, ecological democracy, feminist Marxism, deep ecologists and key female contributors.
- Women and health issues ? a degraded environment, diet,
- Women in relation to poverty, risk, mitigation, and adaption for climate change.
- Challenges for sustainable development in Latin America and the Caribbean.
- Female civil society and political actors pushing for change.
- Women the environment and sustainable innovations.

*Course content subject to change