During the summer semester 2012, the Research Group Ecosystem Services organises a course on "Ecosystem Services and Land Use" at the Humboldt Universität zu Berlin (HU Berlin). The course is geared toward Bachelor's students in agriculture and horticulture. In this context, Holger Gerdes, Fellow at Ecologic Institute, teaches a class on the economic valuation of biodiversity and ecosystem services.

In total, 14 seminars in the form of lectures, discussions and presentations have been organised. The course also includes a five-day excursion to the biosphere reserve Upper Lusatia in Saxony and independent project works by the students.

The course aims at achieving the following learning goals:

• To provide participants with a comprehensive understanding of the ecosystem services concept and its ecological, economic and social dimensions;
• To make students gain knowledge about the mapping, valuation and marketing of ecosystem services in cultural landscapes shaped by agricultural and silvicultural uses;

Furthermore, students shall learn about the following methodological skills:

• Systematic study of scientific literature, synthesis and processing of information by means of individual presentations;
• Application of work methods from social-ecological research in the context of empirical project work in the Upper Lusatia biosphere reserve.

In the context of this course, Holger Gerdes, Fellow at Ecologic Institute and member of the Research Group Ecosystem Services, teaches a class on approaches and methods for the economic valuation of biodiversity and ecosystem services.