Please note: Applications for the 2025 SocSES/Resilience Alliance short course on resilience science and climate change have closed.
The course is designed for graduate students (Master’s and PhD) and postdoctoral researchers. It will be delivered online the week of October 27-31, 2025, by a team of international scholars from the SocSES and Resilience Alliance networks.
Returning to an online format, this week-long course will draw on the expertise of scholars in the SocSES and Resilience Alliance networks to explore key resilience concepts in the context of climate change. The program is designed to facilitate collaboration and learning among a diverse network of students and researchers from around the world. Approximately 25 applicants will be accepted to participate in the course.
Theme
Resilience science and climate change. For this year’s edition, the course aims to apply a resilience lens to climate change. We will focus on foundational resilience concepts and research methods used in studying social-ecological systems with an emphasis on place-based case studies. Topics will draw on the expertise of the lecturers and include: resilience foundations, urban systems and climate justice, the SETS framework (Social Ecological Technological Systems), approaches to transformative change with insights from IPBES, and ecosystem services in production landscapes with climate change conflicts.
Format
The five-day course will be asynchronous with two online sessions daily, that combine lectures, group discussions, applied activities, and offline readings. Participants will meet for two 75-minute sessions each day. Most sessions will be between the hours of 15:00 – 18:00 UTC. Additional sessions held outside of these hours will be offered and recorded to accommodate multiple time zones. A course pack with the full program, readings, and other material will be shared one month in advance. Attendees are expected to participate fully throughout the course.
Lecturers
- Allyson Quinlan – Resilience Alliance, Canada
- Reinette Biggs – Stellenbosch University, South Africa
- Garry Peterson – Stockholm Resilience Center, Sweden
- Steven Lade – Australian National University, Australia
- Marta Berbés-Blázquez – University of Waterloo, Canada
- Michael Schoon – Arizona State University, USA
- Natalia Aristizábal – McGill University, Canada
How to apply
Graduate students (Master’s & PhD) and early-career researchers are invited to apply by completing the online application form. We are seeking to gather a diverse team of participants from across the globe, with diverse disciplinary backgrounds. We want to know your motivations for participating in the course.
Please note: The closing date for applications was 5 September 2025.
Cost
There is no fee to apply. Students accepted for the course will be required to pay a registration fee of $150 USD for SocSES members and $300 USD for non-members. A limited number of grants are available to qualifying students who are unable to fund their attendance.
More information
Applications for this short course have closed. To inquire about future SocSES short courses, contact Allyson Quinlan at aquinlan@resalliance.org.
