Undergraduate - Area of Study Sustainability, environment and society

Students who commenced study in 2012 should refer to this area of study entry for direction on the requirments; to check which units are currently available for enrolment, refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your area of study.

print version

All areas of study information should be read in conjunction with the relevant course entry in the Handbook. The units listed for this area of study relate only to the 'Requirements' outlined in the Faculty of Arts component of any bachelors double degrees.

Managing faculty	Faculty of Arts
Offered by	School of Geography and Environmental Science
Campus(es)	Clayton, South Africa

Notes

Unit codes that are not linked to their entry in the handbook are not available for study in the current year.
Only selected units are available at South Africa so those students cannot fulfil the requirements of a major in this area of study.

Description

Debates about sustainability are becoming central to the world's future. In this area of study students explore issues which surround achieving the integrity of natural systems while providing satisfying and productive lives for members of society. Students begin by studying the challenges posed by the natural world and by its use by humans. Further interdisciplinary studies investigate the ethical, political, social and cultural dimensions of production, consumption and natural resource management. They also provide opportunities to reflect on whether our current ways of thinking and living are sustainable, to consider what changes are appropriate and how they might be achieved.

Units

First-year level

Students studying a sequence in sustainability, environment and society must complete the following two units (12 points):

ATS1309 The global challenge
ATS1310 Natural hazards and human vulnerability

Second/Third-year level

Students studying a minor or major in sustainability, environment and society must have completed the first-year sequence. In addition:

a minor requires completion of a further two units (12 points) from the units listed below, including all compulsory units
a major requires completion of a further six units (36 points) from the units listed below, including all compulsory units. A minimum of three units must be taken at third year level.

A maximum of two 'additional elective' units (12 points) can be taken.

Compulsory units

ATS2547 Cities and sustainability

Elective units

ATS2622 Production, consumerism and the environment in the contemporary world
ATS2639/ATS3639 Poverty, ecology and international justice
ATS2709/ATS3709 Politics of environmentalism
ATS2871/ATS3871 Environmental ethics
ATS3554 Resource evaluation and management (to be taken in the last year of the sequence)

Additional elective units

Students can also include a maximum of 12 points towards their major from the following units:

ATS2399 The self and others: Identity and the experience of difference in the 21st Century
ATS2411/ATS3411 Weird weather: Literature, culture and climate
ATS2427/ATS3427 Earthworks: Literature and environment
ATS2548 Environmental policy and management
ATS2549/ATS3549 Power and poverty: Geographies of uneven global development
ATS2259/ATS3259 Geographical information systems (GIS) for environmental management
ATS2626 Global disasters: Impact, inquiry and change
ATS2628 Power and poverty: International development in a globalised world
ATS2731/3731 Globalisation and change in regional Australia
ATS2736 Environmental sociology
ATS2774 Understanding Australian landscapes: Soil-vegetation dynamics
ATS2778 People and places: Social geographies of exclusion
ATS2779 Climate change and variability
ATS2780 Geographical analysis
ATS2886/ATS3886 Tourism and the environment
ATS2889/ATS3889 Indigenous knowledge in cross-cultural praxis: Aboriginal community field unit
ATS3281 Cultural landscape, environment and sustainability in Italy
ATS3283 Sharing prosperity: Geographies of work, regional development and economy
ATS3546 Environmental assessment and decision making
ATS3552 Remote sensing of the environment
ATS3553 Field studies in regional sustainability
ATS3555 Researching human environments
ATS3556 Urbanisation and regional development in the Indo-Pacific rims
ATS3558 Global change and the earth system
ATS3788 Soils, landscape and their management
ATS3787 Research methods in geography environment and sustainability
ATS3790 Landscape processes
ATS3791 Environmental change: Past to future
ATS3898 Special topics in sustainability
ATS3902 Geopolitics of climate change
MGC2950 Systems thinking for sustainability: A policy perspective

* Note: some of these electives may require permission from schools as students may not have completed first-year sequences in the appropriate discipline.

Relevant courses

Diplomas

2327 Diploma in Liberal Arts
2552 Diploma of Tertiary Studies

Bachelors

Single degrees

0002 Bachelor of Arts
3920 Bachelor of Arts - at Sunway
4073 Bachelor of Arts and Social Sciences
1638 Bachelor of Arts as a Participant in the Dean's Scholars Program
3914 Bachelor of Arts (Criminal Justice)
3907 Bachelor of Arts (English Language)
3910 Bachelor of Arts (Global)
4077 Bachelor of Arts (International)
2396 Bachelor of Arts (Journalism)
1366 Bachelor of Arts (Languages)
1708 Bachelor of Arts (Professional Communication)
1712 Bachelor of Arts (Psychology)
1719 Bachelor of Behavioural Science
2476 Bachelor of Communication - at Sunway
1731 Bachelor of Community Welfare and Counselling
4042 Bachelor of Journalism
0202 Bachelor of Letters
1144 Bachelor of Performing Arts
1275 Bachelor of Professional Communication
4086 Bachelor of Social Science

Double degrees

3277 Bachelor of Aerospace Engineering and Bachelor of Arts
0550 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Business (Accounting)
0553 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Business (Banking and Finance)
0555 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Business (Management)
0556 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Business (Marketing)
0542 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Commerce
0170 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Economics
1541 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education-primary
1641 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education-secondary
0080 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws
3054 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Music
0530 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science
3426 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Social Work
0002 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Theology
3779 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Visual Arts
1807 Bachelor of Arts and Social Sciences and Bachelor of Business and Commerce
1806 Bachelor of Arts and Social Sciences and Bachelor of Community Welfare and Counselling
4208 Bachelor of Arts and Social Sciences and Bachelor of Education
4089 Bachelor of Arts and Social Sciences and Bachelor of Visual and Media Arts
4403 Bachelor of Arts (Global) and Bachelor of Commerce
3537 Bachelor of Arts (Global) and Bachelor of Science
2131 Bachelor of Arts (Journalism) and Bachelor of Science
1798 Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) and Bachelor of Community Welfare and Counselling
1941 Bachelor of Business and Commerce and Bachelor of Communication
4423 Bachelor of Business and Commerce and Bachelor of Professional Communication
4075 Bachelor of Community Welfare and Counselling and Diploma of Community Services (Alcohol, Other Drugs and Mental Health)
4076 Bachelor of Community Welfare and Counselling and Diploma of Disability
0116 Bachelor of Engineering and Bachelor of Arts
3281 Bachelor of Mechatronics Engineering and Bachelor of Arts
1945 Bachelor of Professional Communication and Diploma of Professional Writing