At present, there is a consensus that just having a comprehensive understanding of the planet’s natural system does not suffice. It is necessary to understand the complex interactions between the socio-economic system and the vital planetary systems which provide society with the ecosystem and natural services. The Social Ecology doctoral program contributes to the development of the environmental approaches characteristic in their interdisciplinary nature. The goal of the program is the advancement of knowledge, which should contribute to the creation of a theoretical base from within the strategy of making economic, social, and cultural development sustainable, especially from an environmental perspective.
The following scientific directions have been defined for the program:
Socio-economic metabolism
Natural services
Relationships between health and environment
Application of sociological and economic approaches aimed at addressing environmental issues and sustainable development
Research topics applying environmental economics
Socially urgent issues of public policy of sustainable development
Legal aspects of relationships towards the environment
Environmentally inspired topics from the perspective of philosophy, anthropology, and history
Indicators of the relationship between the environment and human activities
Education for sustainable development
Students can come up with their own ideas for topics for their Ph.D. thesis or may use topics provided by supervisors. The objective of the Ph.D. Social Ecology is to provide, as in the above-mentioned domains, the concept of sustainable development with the support of scientifically conducted research. An important aspect of the program is the interdisciplinary character of the stated research domains and the synergies among them. Although it is not the main goal of the course, we hope that the research outputs be an important source of scientifically valid information for objective, relevant and qualified decision-making on environmental aspects, of the economic and social development of the Czech Republic.