MAVIT4700 Food, Health and Sustainability Course description

Language of instruction: English (Norwegian if no English-speaking students have registered for the course)

Food and health are central to the sustainability challenges the world faces. Food production contributes to global environmental and climate changes and to the uneven use of resources threatening food security and health in different countries. The United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a joint action to eradicate poverty, fight inequality and stop climate change by 2030. Achieving the SDGs requires professionals who have knowledge of both the challenges and possible solutions locally and globally.    In this course, students will gain insight into the SDGs, and the UN system as a leading actor in achieving the SDGs. Students will learn how different food systems and different forms of production affect the environment, food security and health. Students will further learn about how a human rights-based approach can be used to achieve the sustainability goals and how the rights to food and to health can be promoted as part of international human rights and which obligations states have.

The student must have been admitted to the Master’s Programme in Health Sciences.

After completing the course, the student should have the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge

The student

• can discuss the relevance of food and health in the Sustainable Development Goals
• can describe factors that can contribute to sustainable diets and discuss sustainable diets up to aspects related to nutrition and food security
• can describe the international human rights system as part of the UN system, including the most important frameworks, with emphasis on rights to food, nutrition and health

Skills  

The student 

• can discuss the methods used to analyse sustainability dimensions of diets and food production
• can use relevant frameworks to evaluate the achievement of the UN SDGs and assess the implementation of the human rights to adequate food and health

General competence

The student

• can communicate why and how to use a human rights-based approach can be applied when working to achieve food and health-related sustainability goals 

The course will use different student-active work methods. The course uses a blended learning approach that combines digital learning resources (e.g. videos, lectures and knowledge tests) and sessions on campus. There are three two-day teaching sessions on campus. 

The students will choose the topic of their project assignment from a selection of topics at the first session, and work on it independently or in groups until the last session.  

The following work must have been approved for a student to be permitted to take the examination: 

• a presentation of the project assignment to the class (individually or in groups of up to three students)
• a peer assessment (individually or in groups of up to three students) subject to given criteria

A project examination (individually or in groups of up to three students) in the form of a report (up to 2,000 words) or a film or blog post or through other media. One overall grade is awarded each group after the examination. 

The course is taught in English. Students may also choose to write/conduct the examination in a Scandinavian language (Norwegian, Swedish or Danish).

All aids are permitted, as long as the rules for source referencing are complied with.  

Grade scale A-F.

All examinations are assessed by an internal and an external examiner.