Undergraduate Course: Natural Resource Management (ECSC09002)
Course Outline
| School | School of Geosciences |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 9 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course is intended for students interested in the policies and management of the natural environment and its resources. The transferable nature of the skills elements involved may make this course attractive to other students wishing to pursue a career in government agencies or consultancy.
The course aims to provide students with a toolkit of quantitative and qualitative techniques used in resource planning and analysis, together with case studies with which to gain experience of their application. |
| Course description |
Not entered
|
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Academic year 2022/23, Available to all students (SV1)
|
Quota: 44 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 33,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 5,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 22,
Fieldwork Hours 3,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Revision Session Hours 3,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
128 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
50 %,
Coursework
50 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Assessment details
Written Exam: 50%, Course Work: 50 %.
The degree examination will be held in May. Students are expected to answer 4 questions from a choice of 6. Intermittent course assessment comprises of 2 pieces of work; an individual self-determined resource management report of no more than 1500 words (30%) and a group case study report (20%).
Assessment deadlines
The case-study visit is scheduled for Thursday week 5, but the exact details will depend on Covid-19 restrictions. A case-study seminar will follow on Thursdsay week 6 at which student groups will present their findings and recommendations, with submission of the final group report by 12 noon on Monday week 8.
Individual resource management report must be submitted via Learn before noon on Thursday week 11. Feedback on outlines of these report will be provided on Tuesday week 9. |
| Feedback |
Feedback will be provided for the self-determined resource management report giving guidance on suitability, direction and scope of the enquiry. The submitted report itself will be commented on and marked electronically.
For the case management report, a seminar will be held with feedback provided on the analysis and interpretation of the management propositions made by the various student groups. Electronic submissions will also attract extensive comments which can be accessed online.
Finally, student exam scripts (duly annotated) will be available for inspection and discussion with the course organiser in an organised feedback session. |
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
|
| Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May) | | 2:00 | |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Appreciate the drivers for the formation of policies relating to natural resource use and issues with their implementation.
- Assess the value of market and non-market costs and benefits of natural resources and appreciate the assumprions made.
- Understand and be able to apply cost benefit analysis in environmental projects.
- Construct and execute optimisation models in resource allocation problems and use multicriteria decision support techniques.
- Appreciate the challenges and potential solutions to current natural resource management problems.
|
Reading List
Edwards-Jones, G., Davies, B. & Hussain, S.S. (2000) Ecological Economics; An introduction Blackwell Science (Chs 9, 10, 12, 14)
Rocha, J. C., et al. (2018). "Cascading regime shifts within and across scales." Science 362(6421): 1379-1383.
Hanley, N. & Spash, C.L. (1993). Cost Benefit Analysis and the Environment, Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.
Panayotou, T. (1998) Instruments of Change; Motivating and Financing Sustainable Development, Earthscan, London, Chs 2, 3, 4 & 7
Liu, L. (2018) A sustainability index with attention to environmental justice for eco-city classification and assessment. Ecological Indicators 85, 904-914
Parnell, D.J. (1997) Introduction to Practical Linear Programming ,Wiley, New York
Boardman, A. Greenberg, D. Vining, A. Weimer, D. (2010) Cost-Benefit Analysis: Concepts and Practice. Pearson.
Bergmann, A. and Hanley N. (2012) The costs and benefits of renewable energy in Scotland. http://www.ems.expertgrupp.se/uploads/documents/7-jan-2013/ems_2012_5.pdf
Harris, J.E. & Roach, B. (2018) Environmental and Natural Resource Economic , Routledge, NY & London, Chs 1, 2
Kula, E. (1992) Economics of natural resources and the environment, Chapman & Hall, London Chs 2, 3, 4
Panayotou, T. (1998) Instruments of Change; Motivating and Financing Sustainable Development, Earthscan, London, Chs 2, 3, 4 & 7 |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
Two 2 hour lecture/practical session per week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. |
| Keywords | ECSC09002 NRM |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Alfy Gathorne-Hardy
Tel: (0131 6)50 5412
Email: |
Course secretary | Mrs Nicola Clark
Tel: (0131 6)50 4842
Email: |
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