Postgraduate - UnitAPG5428 - Environmental governance and citizenship

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2015 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

print version

6 points, SCA Band 2, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Level	Postgraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Arts
Organisational Unit	Sustainability Environment and Society
Offered	Clayton Second semester 2015 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Dr Ruth Lane

Synopsis

This unit explores social and institutional frameworks for environmental governance. It considers the role, structure and processes of government, market and civil society in relation to the environment and sustainability agenda. The emphasis is on exploring the nature of contemporary environmental governance, evaluating the assumptions on which it is based, and taking a critically informed view of its strengths and limitations. We will feature case studies e.g. waste management, climate change, water management, where multiple agencies and organisations work within a complex environmental system to implement a range of interesting and innovative approaches to environmental governance.

Outcomes

Students successfully completing this unit will be expected to demonstrate:

An appreciation of the theoretical understandings of the shift from government to governance in respect of the environment and sustainability.
An understanding of the role of government, markets and civil society in relation to the environment and sustainability.
Familiarity with the mechanisms of command-and-control regulation, the use of market mechanisms, citizen empowerment and community participation.
A critical awareness of the issues surrounding contemporary forms and styles of environmental governance.
Familiarity with the principles and practice of citizen advocacy.

Assessment

Within semester assessment: 100%

Workload requirements

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

Chief examiner(s)

Dr Ruth Lane

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

Environmental management and sustainability