Module Identifier IPM6930  
Module Title DIRTY MAN NO LONGER? THE CHANGING FACE OF BRITISH ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY  
Academic Year 2003/2004  
Co-ordinator Dr Charlotte J Burns  
Semester Semester 2  
Course delivery Seminars / Tutorials   20 Hours 1 x 2 hour seminar per week  
Assessment
Assessment TypeAssessment Length/DetailsProportion
Semester Exam3 Hours exam  50%
Semester Assessment essay 3,000 words  50%

Learning outcomes

On completion of this module students should be able to:
1. Identify the principal causes of the environmental crisis.
2. Distinguish between the traditional, sustainable development and ecological modernisation policy paradigms.
3. Describe and evaluate the traditional approach to environmental policy-making in Great Britain.
4. Identify the obstacles to achieving sustainable development and ecological modernisation in Britain.
5. Explain the processes of the politicisation of the environment in Britain.
6. Demonstrate ability to evaluate critically arguments concerning the greening of political parties in Britain.
7. Evaluate the utility of the concept of europeanisation as a conceptual tool for analysing the relationship between Britain and the EU in the field of environment policy.   
8. Demonstrate through written work and in seminars an awareness and understanding of core theoretical concepts and exhibit the ability to apply those concepts to policy-making dilemmas.
9. Demonstrate through written work and in seminars knowledge of problems faced by policy-makers in key policy sectors such as energy, transport and GM foods.
10. Demonstrate through written work and in seminars knowledge of the relationship between different layers of government in the field of environment policy.
11. Evaluate the impact of europeanisation and devolution upon British environmental policy.

Brief description

The module will aim to provide students with an understanding of the policy challenges posed by environmental pollution and the ways in which British policy-makers have responded to those challenges.

Aims

This module adds to the Departmental provision in the area of British politics and policy-making. It complements existing provision in this area and allows interested students to gain specialist knowledge about the field of environmental policy-making in Britain, taking into account the impact of both EU membership and devolution upon environmental policy-making.

Content

Seminar topics will include the following:

Transferable skills

Students have the opportunity to develop, practice and test a wide range of transferable skills that help them to understand, conceptualise and evaluate examples and ideas. Throughout the module, students should practice and develop their reading, comprehension and thinking skills, as well as self-management. In seminars students enhance and develop their analytical skills and practice listening, explaining and debating skills. Oral and written skills will be developed through seminar presentations, discussions and written assignments. Essay writing encourages students to practice independent research, writing and IT skills and the examination will test these skills under time constraint conditions. Personal initiative will be encouraged through the involvement of students in the selection of case studies for seminar discussion. Students will also be expected to work in groups, both in terms of seminar preparation and in seminar discussions. Transferable skills will be developed through the use of information technology, the use of various research resources and techniques, as well as the requirement to present work in a consistent and scholarly manner. Computer literacy will be facilitated by the extensive use of websites related to the topics covered in this module.

Reading Lists

Books
** Recommended Text
Connolly, J & Smith, G (2003) Politics and the Environment - From Theory to Practice London, Routledge
Gray, T (1995) UK Environmental Policy in the 1990's Basingstoke, Macmillan
Garner, R (2000) Environmental Politics Basingstoke, Macmillan
Lowe, P & Ward, S (1998) British Environmental Policy and Europe London, Routledge

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 7