The module aims at providing soft skills for students of Restoration Ecology and gives an advanced account of scientific work with special emphasis on writing scientific papers.

Part 1: Concepts of restoration ecology

Objectives are to give an overview of ecological concepts useful for restoration practice. Students will be able to

• understand the concept of restoration ecology as practised in research and education at BTU Cottbus
• understand the guiding principles of restoration ecology
• integrate ecological theory into restoration ecology, apply ecological concepts such as disturbance, succession, fragmentation, heterogeneity, ecosystem functioning to practical restoration questions
• identify degradation effects on ecosystems by analysing the ecosystem functioning
• distinguish between restoration approaches appropriate for natural and human-influenced ecosystems, such as forests, mesic and arid grassland, lakes, rivers, wetlands including groundwater

Part 2: Scientific writing

Objectives are to practice advanced scientific writing based on selected data relevant to ecological restoration. Students will be able to

• analyze and review scientific papers in restoration ecology with respect to contents and form
• write a structured scientific paper on an restoration ecological topic in an accepted standard
• develop an advanced proficiency of English to improve their writing skills

Part 3: Biodiversity ethics

Objectives are to give an overview of general ethical approaches, to apply ethical theories to relevant fields of environmental ethics, and to analyze case studies of restoration ethics. Students will be able to

• advance relevant arguments consisting of general premises, specific premises and conclusions, and recognize valid and sound statements 
• distinguish between factual and normative statements, and avoid the naturalistic and is-ought fallacy in environmental reasoning
• apply different moral philosophical theories and ethical approaches to selected case studies referring to topical restoration examples
• analyze a benchmark paper in restoration ethics from the viewpoint of modern bioethics