Environmental policy and management
Associate Professor David Mercer, Professor Chris Cocklin and Professor Joe Powell
4 points
* 2 hours per week on average (2 lectures and 1 lecture plus a
1-hour tutorial in alternate weeks)
* Second semester
* Clayton
*
Prerequisites: A first-year sequence in geography, or permission of the head of
department
Objectives In order to demonstrate satisfactory completion of this subject, students should have a good general understanding of the social, political and bureaucratic underpinning of environmental policy-making; be alert to the importance of maintaining and extending appropriate interdisciplinary perspectives; be familiar with a selection of substantive case studies which explain the complex nature of the evolution and implementation of environmental policies in specific national settings; and appreciate the limitations, as well as the promises, of the application of science to decision-making in the making and implementation of environmental policy.
Synopsis This subject stems from the premise that environmental policies arise from a rich variety of contexts and cannot be adequately understood by the adoption of narrowing scientific and technological interpretations which disregard these contexts. The basic premise is explained in the introductory section. The first substantive section provides a series of overlapping discussions which explain the foundations of environmental policy. Lectures focus on the importance of the production of data as response and product; the influence of Federal-State structures, key agencies, agreements, and regulatory mechanisms; ethical and equity considerations; the general nature and contributions of environmental law and environmental economics; and case studies of the applications of science in the production of environmental impact statements. The next section consolidates the emphasis on contextualations by outlining significant aspects of the politicisation of environmentalism and the critical involvement of government agencies and their senior personnel.
Assessment Written (1500 words): 45%
* Examination (1.5 hours): 45%
* Tutorial attendance and participation: 10%
Recommended texts
Ackroyd P and others Environmental resources and the market-place Allen and Unwin, 1991
Brookfield H and Byron Y (eds) South-East Asia's environmental future: The search for sustainability United Nations University Press, OUP, 1993
Bührs T and Bartlett R V (eds) Environmental policy in New Zealand: The politics of clean and green? OUP, 1993
Mercer D A Question of balance: Natural resources conflict issues in Australia 2nd edn, Federation Press, 1995
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