Principles of systemic systems analysis and characteristics of self-organization (Systems and symbols; Flows of energy and materials through systems; The food web of an ecosystem, Trophic levels, Hierarchical organization, Fifth law of thermodynamics; Quality of energy, Emergent properties; Maximum empowerment principle).

Natural systems as models for the design of sustainable land use. (Agriculture across environmental gradients; climatic, geological, and biological processes in interaction).

The environmental factors, farming practices and socio-economic conditions that influence the sustainability of agricultural and horticultural production and the livelihood of farmers will be presented (Environmental, technical, social, political, prevailing discourse and cultural paradigms and their role in hunting and gathering economy,
Early agricultural economies, Industrialized agriculture).

The environmental basis for individual and national wealth. (Institutions; Cultures;
Discourse; Power; Money).

Introduction and discussions on evaluation methods used to assess production and performance of agroecosystems. (Economic and biophysical measures and concepts representing partial and non-systemic approaches, contrasted with methods developed in order to deal with self-organizing open systems).

On farm implementation of methods used within Participatory Action Research (PAR) Approaches in agroecology (i.e. semi-structured interviews; transect walks; systems diagramming; group processing and presentations).

The course introduces students to a systemic perspective and theories of production systems using case studies, through which students will be taught how to describe and explain the interactions between farming practices and the social-ecological conditions that influence the sustainability of agricultural production and rural livelihoods.

The interactions between agricultural production components such as crops, animals, soil, technological equipment, and infrastructural settings will be analysed. The interactions within social and economic settings, such as cultural norms and other formal and informal institutions that influence production conditions in different agroecosystems, will also be addressed.

The course will deal with fundamental agronomic production issues, with the focus on small-scale farming systems based on local renewable resources and ecosystem services.
Particular attention will be paid to crop production, soil processes such as soil fertility building, nutrient cycles and flows and sustainable pest management strategies.
Small-scale animal husbandry including animals for multifunctional purposes and livestock diseases, will also be presented.

The course includes lectures, group-work, literature searches, excursions and discussions to analyse different farm practices and its socio-ecological factors affecting the agricultural production systems.

Through carrying out their Master’s project, students will considerably increase their ability to formulate, delineate and investigate a problem using scientific working methods.
The topic must be chosen so that knowledge from previous studies can be applied, broadened and deepened.
Each student chooses his/her own topic for their Master’s project in consultation with their supervisor and/or examiner.

The student then draws up a plan for the Master’s project which functions as a work plan and a timetable for completion of the project, and as an agreement between student and the division/supervisor/examiner.
This plan must be approved by the supervisor and examiner before work begins on the Master’s project.

Each student must work independently with the support of the supervisor. The course also involves reading relevant applied literature relating to the work.

Before the Master’s thesis is submitted, the supervisor must approve the work for examination. This examination involves appraisal of the submitted thesis and of the student’s presentation at the concluding seminar.

Students must report their work in a popular science written thesis, which is marked with respect to the introduction to the issue, problem formulation, method description, data handling, presentation of results, discussion, conclusions, use of the literature, use of language and amount of irrelevant text

Students will be prepared for fieldwork within Agroecology. The course will teach students how to: plan field work, select a methodological approach to a research question, plan the process of retrieving and structuring data, and carry out the subsequent critical analysis of material and ideas.
The course will also prepare students for writing and revising their thesis.

Examples of methods with which students will become acquainted are: semi-structured interviews and manual analysis, as well as computer-aided software for analysing qualitative data, quantitative statistics, general systems’ principles diagramming and emergy synthesis, environmental accounting and biological indicators.

The course will:
- Include practice in designing appropriate research and development processes in accordance with the research topic selected.
- Discuss ethical research issues.
- Provide procedures for data collection and analysis.
- Familiarize students with methods and tools within the field of agro-ecology.
- Provide students, individually or in pairs, with the possibility to try methods and tools in practice.
- Develop skills for thesis writing according to the chosen methodology.

The topic of the Master’s thesis project and the case study will be selected by students in consultation with supervisors and the examiner at SLU.

The course comprises training in collaboration, project management and process facilitation between different stakeholders in dynamic surroundings. The course is divided into two parts:

Part 1 "Systems of knowledge and learning" includes:
- Different approaches to knowledge such as scientific knowledge, rural (popular) knowledge based on experience and cultural knowledge.

- Approaches to share and gain knowledge such as transfer of knowledge, experiential learning/learning in action and introspective and third loop learning.

- Scientific knowledge traditions and rationalities such as social science, natural science, interdisciplinarity, multidisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity.

- Rural peoples’ knowledge and rationalities.

- Methods and tools for learning and knowledge generation such as quantitative science methods, qualitative science methods, PLAR (Participatory Learning and Action Research) methods, experiential learning.

Part 2 "Project Management and Process Facilitation" includes:
- Understanding of basic similarities and differences between a project and a process and of how to carry out management and facilitation.

- Theory on project management and process facilitation, including planning and decision-making, collaboration and group dynamics, conflicts and conflict management, documentation, monitoring, evaluation and reporting.

- Farmers’ perspectives on projects.

- Organisational project and process views, including the roles of a project leader and a facilitator.