Module Information
Course Delivery
| Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
|---|---|
| Lecture | 11 x 2 Hour Lectures |
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | 2,000 word written essay (on sustainability) | 50% |
| Semester Assessment | 2,000 word written essay (on resilience) | 50% |
| Semester Assessment | Resubmission of failed assessments. |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
Describe and evaluate the principles of sustainability and resilience (Lecturers 1, 6 and 7).
Specify clearly the kinds of national and international factors which have given rise to the emergence of sustainability and resilience as a political objectives (Lectures 1, 6, 7, 10)
Exemplify the different ways in which policies for sustainability and resilience are being developed in different parts of the world (Lectures 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10 )
Discuss and evaluate, using specific examples, the limitations of sustainability and resilience as both international policy discourses and sets of social and economic practices (Lectures 1-10).
Show in their written essays evidence of the development of transferable skills through the depth of their reading and use of other sources, their interpretation, evaluation and critical synthesis of a range of material and the marshalling of an argument in written form (Lectures 1-10).
Brief description
Sustainability and resilience are now two of the most prominent concepts and policy goals associated with social, economic and environmental policy making in the world today. This module provides students with a critical background to the scientific and philosophical origins of these two concepts. The module also explores how these ideas are being implemented in different parts of the world. Ultimately, this module illustrates that although the notions of sustainability and resilience have much in common, they may actually be preparing society for very different types of future.
Content
1. The origins of sustainable development
2. Sustainability in Western World
3. Sustainability and the Post-Socialist World
4. Urbanization and Sustainability Society
5. Sustainable Citizenship and Changing Environmental Behaviours
Unit 2. Risk, Resilience and Adaptation (Kevin Grove)
6. Knowledge and power in vulnerability studies
7. Challenging knowledge and power in vulnerability studies
8. 'The West's' artificial environments
9. Resilient politics: managing adaptive capacity
10. Governing climate change
Module Skills
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Application of Number | As part of this module students will be expect to engage with and analyse a range of different social and environmental statistics. |
| Communication | The module will develop the students' skills of written communication in writing their assessed essays. Students will also be expected to contribute to group discussions in the lectures (although this will not be assessed). |
| Improving own Learning and Performance | Student attendance and participation in the lectures, and their undertaking of an assessed essay, will help them to enhance a range of learning skills. The module requires students to undertake 80 hours of self-directed study. |
| Information Technology | The assessed essays require students to undertake independent research using bibliographic search-engines and library catalogues. The module will enable students to enhance their research skills and practise their IT skills when writing the essay. |
| Personal Development and Career planning | The module will help students to develop a range of transferable skills. The course discusses themes which will be invaluable for students wishing to undertake postgraduate study in geography. The policy analysis sections of the module will also support students hoping to follow a career in environmental policy making. |
| Problem solving | The module will develop students' problem-solving skills in a number of ways. Students will be required to analyse a range of sources and texts, and they may be required to complete small problem-solving exercises during the lectures. Students will also have to address problems associated with research design when undertaking their assessed essays. |
| Research skills | Students are expected to research and synthesize a range of academic source material in completing their written assignments. |
| Subject Specific Skills | The module will enable students to develop and practice subject-specific skills which they have developed in year one and in concurrent year two modules such as 'Research skills in human geography'. Students will develop their analytical skills through their assessed essays. |
| Team work | The lectures may include class-based problem-solving exercises and discussions which will provide opportunities for students to develop team-working skills and discuss their thoughts with the class. |
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 5