Introduction to Sustainability

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• Critically evaluate the concepts of justice, ethics and wellbeing, conservation, resilience, and economic growth and development
• Produce academic and commercially relevant information on sustainability for scientific as well as non-scientific audiences
• Describe multiple examples of the interconnectedness of justice, ethics and wellbeing, conservation, complex systems’ resilience, and economic growth and development
• Carefully articulate the multiple interpretations of sustainability and the worldviews that underpin these perspectives
• Clear understand of the key components of sustainability and its application through the development of indicators and application of adaptive management
• Capacity to think in a systems based conceptual way to support the development of sustainability based strategies
• Critique the popular and academic literature on sustainable development and socio-ecological resilience revealing an understanding of the multiple perspectives, while also being able to identify robust concerns or options
• Describe to a lay person the successes and failures of past attempts at sustainability, the reasons for these, and the future direction of sustainability

Key Thematic Outline

Section1 Wk 1-4

Introduction to Sustainability and an exploration of the key components of sustainability in the form of Environment, economy and social context

Section 2 Wk 5-9

Exploration of the application of sustainability through the development of an understanding of Indicators, adaptive management and practical worked examples of the application of sustainability relevant frameworks

Section 3 Wk 10-11

Sustainability practitioners conducting case studies in there specialist fields. Practical examples of real world applications of sustainability and insight ingot the day to day working world of an environmental sustainability professional

Teaching and learning methods

• 11 weeks x 2 hours Seminar
• 11 weeks x 1 hour Lecture
• 2 x 1 hour help session as required
• Total hours = 43

Daily responses to BB forum queries from a module convener. Participatory learning approaches, peer-learning and collaboration - within and beyond the classroom lie at the heart of this module, thereby allowing students to be exposed to multiple perspectives encouraging students creatively to the wide ranging challenge of sustainability. This will be achieved through weekly lectures and seminars and assignments that require deep thinking about the linkages between key thematic areas of sustainability

Resources & Reading list

Textbooks

Blewitt, John (2015). Understanding Sustainable Development. Earthscan from Routledge..

Margaret Robertson (2021). Sustainability Principles and Practice Paperback.

Robert Brinkmann (2021). Introduction to Sustainability.

Assessment strategy

• Repeat failed assignment ( 2 assignments 50%/50%).
• Student needs to gain an average pass mark of 50% to successfully complete this module

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External