War’s Silent Legacy: Managing the Explosive Remnants of War

This course provides you with an understanding of the enduring legacies of war through the study of landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW).

It examines how these weapons continue to shape societies long after conflict ends, linking mine action to broader debates in security, peacebuilding, development, and environmental sustainability.

What does the course lead to?

During this course, you will learn to analyse the causes, consequences, and management of landmines and ERW. You will gain comprehensive knowledge of the five pillars of mine action, i.e. victim assistance, risk education, humanitarian demining, stockpile destruction, and advocacy, and their significance for peace, security, and development. The course equips you to critically assess the ethical, strategic, and socio-economic implications of explosive ordnance contamination, and to evaluate mine action’s contributions to sustainable peace and human security.

After the course, you will be able to apply these insights not only to mine action but also to analogous post-war challenges such as collective trauma, displacement, and infrastructure damage.

Structure of the course

The course is organized into four modules: (1) the use and impact of explosive weapons; (2) the fundamentals of mine action; (3) the nexus between mine action and peace and security processes; and (4) cross-cutting issues such as gender, development, and the environment.

Teaching consists of lectures, seminars, and group work, with the seminars requiring active participation. The main examination is an individual written essay, allowing you to deepen your engagement with one of the course’s core themes and apply theoretical perspectives to empirical cases.