Postgraduate Course: Human dimensions of environmental change and sustainability (PGGE11130)
Course Outline
| School | School of Geosciences |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Credits | 20 |
| Home subject area | Postgraduate Courses (School of GeoSciences) |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | The course provides an introduction to a range of important environmental and sustainability topics, with a focus on their human dimensions. Human dimensions encompass the societal, political, policy and ethical aspects of managing and responding to contemporary environmental change and sustainability problems. The course is organised around expert lectures on core topics. The topics covered are deliberately broad, including climate change, ecosystem services, food, energy and water. The topics will provide the context for small group discussions and class debate exploring common features of environmental change and sustainability problems, and assessing their societal origins and implications.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Delivery period: 2013/14 Semester 1, Available to all students (SV1)
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Learn enabled: Yes |
Quota: 60 |
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Web Timetable |
Web Timetable |
| Course Start Date |
16/09/2013 |
| Breakdown of Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 44,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
152 )
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| Additional Notes |
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| Breakdown of Assessment Methods (Further Info) |
Written Exam
60 %,
Coursework
40 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
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| Main Exam Diet S1 (December) | Human dimensions of environmental change and sustainability | 2:00 | |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
1. You will gain insights into a range of contemporary environmental change and sustainability topics;
2. You will learn about the societal, political, policy and ethical aspects of managing and responding to contemporary environmental change and sustainability problems;
3. You will develop a critical understanding of the diverse arguments about sustainability, and ways to theorise them;
4. You will develop skills in group work, poster presentations, and reviewing academic and policy documents to summarise, evaluate and gain a deeper understanding of particular environmental change and sustainability topics and debates. |
Assessment Information
- Posters (Group task) [assessed, 20% of final mark]. Students will work in small groups to prepare a poster presentation. Each group will develop and present a case study on a sustainability topic. Students will be expected to draw on knowledge and insight from: course lectures and discussions; suggested readings; and additional resources they have identified from their own search strategies. Each group will develop their case study throughout the semester, including in class discussions, culminating in poster presentations by the group during Week 10 of the course (20th November 2013). Further instructions will be provided separately.
- Policy Briefs (Individual task) [assessed, 20% of final mark]. Preparation of a short policy brief on a sustainability topic; deadline Monday 4th November 2013. Further instructions will be provided separately.
- Final written examination [60% of final mark]
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Special Arrangements
This course is often over-subscribed. Students for whom it is a core course will have first priority. A waiting list arrangement will be set up for other students with those in the School of GeoSciences and School of Engineering given priority over other students. Please notify the course secretary (natasa.honeybone@ed.ac.uk) during induction week if you wish to take this course.
Students will not be permitted to audit (sit-in) on this course. |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
The course is based on a series of lectures given by experts in each environmental change topic, drawn from across the School of Geosciences and the University of Edinburgh, along with selected external experts. The Course Organiser (Dr Lovell) will introduce each topic and consider its unique features, along with the particular societal, political, policy and ethical challenges it brings. Different ways of conceptualising the human dimensions of environmental change and sustainability will be explored.
Each week the course will introduce and explore a new contemporary topic of environmental change and sustainability. Within each topic the course will cover:
- How human activity is changing the environment;
- The impact of those environmental changes on society;
- Action taken to mitigate environmental change.
Students will gain insights and knowledge from the expert lectures, reviewing literature (academic and policy), working together in small groups, and communicating their findings to others through poster presentations.
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| Syllabus |
W1 18/9 Introduction
W2 25/9 Climate Change 1
W3 2/10 Climate Change 2
W4 9/10 Ecosystem Services
W5 16/10 Food
W6 23/10 Energy
W7 30/10 Water
W8 06/11 The science-policy interface/Poster preparation
W9 13/11 The science-policy interface/Poster preparation
W10 20/11 Poster presentations
W11 27/11 Exam preparation
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| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Dryzek, J. S. & D. Schlosberg. (1998). Debating the Earth: the environmental politics reader. Oxford University Press.
Hajer, M. A. (1995). The politics of environmental discourse: ecological modernisation and the policy process. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Leach, M., J. Rokstrom, P. Raskin, I. C. Scoones, A. C. Stirling, A. Smith, J. Thompson, E. Millstone, A. Ely & E. Arond (2012). Transforming innovation for sustainability. Ecology and Society, 17 (2), 11.
McNeill, J. (2001). Something new under the sun: an environmental history of the world in the 20th century. London: Penguin Books.
Middleton, N. (2003). The Global Casino: An Introduction to Environmental Issues. 3rd Edition, London: Hodder Arnold.
Rockström, J., W. Steffen, K. Noone, Å. Persson, F. S. Chapin, E. F. Lambin, T. M. Lenton, M. Scheffer, C. Folke & H. J. Schellnhuber (2009). A safe operating space for humanity. Nature, 461 (7263), 472-475.
Urry, J. (2011). Climate Change and Society. London: Polity Press.
Verbong, G. & Loorbach, D. (2012). Governing the Energy Transition: Reality, Illusion or Necessity? London: Routledge.
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| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | PGGE11130 Environment, climate change, sustainability, politics, ethics, society |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Heather Lovell
Tel: (0131 6)51 4445
Email: heather.lovell@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Rachel Chisholm
Tel: (0131 6)50 2572
Email: Rachel.Chisholm@ed.ac.uk |
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