Module Information
Course Delivery
| Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
|---|---|
| Lecture | 10 x 2 hours |
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | 1 x 2000 word environmental management project report (project report will be prepared as groups; but each student will be responsible for writing a separate chapter). Individual marks for project report will be based 50% on the team report as a whole, and 50% based on the individuals contribution to that report. | 50% |
| Semester Assessment | 1 x project pitch to include the presentation of an A0 poster and a two-minute video presentation at the end of module conference. Weighting for individual components: poster (50%), video presentation (30%), project pitch (20%) | 50% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Resubmission of failed coursework (individual portion of project report - 2000 words) |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
* Describe the issues confronting management of the physical environment
* Discuss the interplay of physical processes and anthropogenic activity
* Appraise the limitations and constraints of environmental management solutions to address environmental problems
* Evaluate the ways in which environmental systems are managed for specific purposes
* Work in a team to present and pitch ideas as a professional project proposal in a formal environment
Brief description
This module introduces the student to the extremely broad topic of environmental management from a variety of perspectives. The lectures will lay the theoretical foundation to help the student recognize the types of environmental issues and the range of management techniques used to address them. The assessment of the course will be based entirely on the student's ability to apply these concepts and principles to two actual environmental management problems. In this capacity, students will get an opportunity to grapple with the details of these problems from a professional perspective and reflect on the transferrable skills they have picked up along the way. Workshop sessions are designed to deal with practical issues that the project teams may be facing. The aim of the course is to demonstrate the challenges and benefits of effectively applying geography and environmental science principles to real environmental problems.
Content
1. Historical attitudes to nature and the environment
2. Dealing with uncertainty in environmental systems
3. Role of policy in shaping environmental management practices
4. Integrated approaches to environmental management
5. Notions of natural and sustainability in environmental management
Module Skills
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Application of Number | Optional (students working in groups proposing detailed economic or environmental analyses may choose to make a stronger case with such maths) |
| Communication | Verbal: Students (working in teams) will have to give a short presentation of a poster in a 'module conference' to persuade their peers of their proposed environmental management project. Students will also have to communicate effectively within their groups for the projects to be successful. Written project reports will convey their findings. |
| Improving own Learning and Performance | Independent reading from reading list. |
| Information Technology | Students will need to be familiar with basic word processing and spreadsheet software (requires access to PC). Members of each team will engage with basic video editing software. Certain teams may optionally choose to use more specialized software packages to address their environmental management problem (detailed guidance will be provided). |
| Personal Development and Career planning | Students will gain an increased confidence in applying geography and environmental science skills and theory to real problems, based on actual places with actual data. Students will get an opportunity to approach the same environmental management problems from a variety of perspectives (e.g. public sector vs. private sector, consultancy vs. regulator). This may help illustrate some of the challenges and short-comings as well as the rewards of each perspective. Students will be forced to work with individuals they may not care for or agree with but be expected to conduct themselves professionally regardless. |
| Problem solving | Students will be given actual 'real-world' environmental management problems and be expected to develop solutions based on the actual constraints and logistics for their respective projects. The team-projects will be role-playing exercises in which professional-level expectations will be placed on the students. However, when mistakes are made the students will have the luxury of learning from those mistakes without major consequences a real situation (e.g. loss of life, loss of job, loss of money, loss of credibility). |
| Research skills | Undertaken during independent reading and research as well as interaction with groups. |
| Subject Specific Skills | Successful students will leave the course with first-hand experience addressing environmental management problems. The same forms, report formats and tools used by agencies, consultancies and researchers will be used by the students. The students will develop a familiarity with the regulatory and project implementation process that can make them highly competitive in today's job market. |
| Team work | Environmental management problems in the real world are too large to be addressed by any single individual. Similarly, in this module students will be required to work as part of teams to come up with solutions to the assigned management problems. Each student will participate in two of these four team types (one for each of the two projects). Individual marks for project reports will be based 50% on the team report as a whole, and 50% based on the individual's contribution to that report. |
Reading List
Essential ReadingMitchell, B. (2002) Resource and Environmental Management Prentice Hall, Essex Primo search
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 5