The Center for Public Policy and Administration will be offering a new course during spring semester. Gretchen Gano will be teaching Global Governance and Biodiversity Wednesdays from 9:05AM-11:35 AM. This course will explore the role of citizen deliberation in science and technology policy by analyzing the global governance of biodiversity. It also examines the new tools needed to include and engage citizens as policymaking becomes global in scale. The course is open to both UMass and Five College students (with permission of instructor).
Adopting a studio approach to balance theory with practice, students will plan a Massachusetts site for the international citizen deliberation called World Wide Views on Biodiversity coordinated at global sites by the Danish Board of Technology in which citizens will make recommendations on issues relevant to policy discussions at the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity planned for September 2012. Select students may elect to extend the work of the course and implement project plans as a summer independent study and participate in the global citizen consultation on Sept. 15, 2012 to be hosted at the Museum of Science, Boston.