Parks and People on Islands: Lessons for Sustainability

Using island systems as a microcosm to study and discuss sustainability, the course will motivate students to think deeper about the implications of sustainability in places that are isolated, fragile and vulnerable to all anthropogenic activities. A variety of island contexts will be considered but the class will give special attention to the Galápagos Islands of Ecuador. Students will explore past and present efforts to maintain the natural and cultural resources of the Galápagos Islands in the face of rapid growth in a tourism-based economy and ever-increasing globalization. In individual or small-group course projects, students will search for tangible, realistic solutions to specific Galápagos problems in the effort to achieve balance between nature and a local human population.