Postgraduate Course: Case Studies in Sustainable Development (PGGE11192)
Course Outline
| School | School of Geosciences |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course introduces the diverse range of approaches being used to achieve sustainable development. The approaches considered are likely to include international governance, national institutions, economic instruments, environmental regulation, technological innovation, new policy initiatives and grassroots participation.
The course considers various different scales for thinking about sustainable development, from global agreements to households and individuals. Some of the key themes that run through the course are the inter-relation and balance between economic and environmental decision-making; the consequences of upstream and downstream interventions; the imposition or adoption of regulations and incentives for environmental change; power and control over decision-making; and the role of experts and trust in information.
The use of these approaches at different levels of governance in a range of key sectors is considered, mainly on a case study basis. The course encourages a strongly interdisciplinary approach to the understanding of sustainable development and seeks to foster critical thinking and debate. |
| Course description |
Topics covered in this course:
1. Changing individual behaviour to reduce carbon emissions
2. Education for sustainability
3. Sustainable urban energy systems: a case study of district heating
4. The benefits and risks of genetic modification of crops
5. Can ecotourism provide sustainable livelihoods and protect biodiversity?
6. Offsetting impacts on biodiversity : achieving no net loss or creating paper
offsets?
7. Wind energy ¿ towards landscape sustainability?
8. Group Personal Tutor meeting for all MSc Environmental Sustainability
students, focusing on your dissertation projects
9. Living landscapes: communities and nature working together
10. Delivering a low carbon future: from international policy to local practice
11. Common Cause: The Case for Working with Values and Frames
12. Sustainability in the University of Edinburgh
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2015/16, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 40 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 40,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
156 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Assessed only by coursework (there is no examination):
1. One 2,500-word essay, chosen from a range of titles related to the topics covered in the first 5 weeks of the course (50% of course mark).
2. Group project work on self-selected topics, students working in groups of four. Assessed by 30-minute group presentation to class (25% of course mark) and 1,500-word individual critical assessment of the topic researched by the group (25% of course mark). |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- have a good understanding of sustainability initiatives in a range a different topical policy areas.
- have knowledge of a range of relevant case studies
- apply appreciation of the diversity of changes, in terms of sectors and scales of governance, necessary to achieve sustainable development.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Special Arrangements |
Anyone wishing to enrol students from outside the School of GeoSciences should make a specific arrangement with the Course Organiser. |
| Keywords | case studies, sustainable development, sustainability, society, environment, transition |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Marc Metzger
Tel:
Email: |
Course secretary | Mrs Karolina Galera
Tel: (0131 6)50 2572
Email: |
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