Skills and competences of the human ecologist

A core curriculum for human ecology should address different aspects. The more traditional one is the question "What should a human ecologist know?" Most programmes started with a multidisciplinary approach to the area. Experts that dealt with a particular discipline related subject that is relevant for the human - environment interaction, provided lectures. This initial phase was in most programmes followed by an integration phase, where the focus is more on the glue and the interrelations between the original patchwork components. More recently discussions on knowledge in human ecology mover towards integrated frameworks where environmental complex problems are intertwined with values and action.
This latter phase also coincides with the idea that human ecologists should be trained in a way that allows them to participate in major debates linking environment with ethics, culture, education, health, quality of life, food security, climate change, biodiversity, poverty, to name just a few forefront issues.
A third question however is "What should the human ecologist be able to do?" or "To which (specific) instruments should a human ecologist have access to do the job?" or "Which skills, capacities and competences should a human ecologist have?"
The answer to this latter question has not been often addressed in the literature. Moreover, the skills and competences to deal with complex, interdisciplinary questions are varied. They entail aspects that relate to research, to communication and to management. They are in part generic, in part specific. The discussion aims at identifying these skills, capacities and competences in a core human ecology programme.