Postgraduate Course: Global Environment Challenges (PGGE11190)

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	The course will provide an introduction to a range of 'global environmental challenges' facing humanity. It will provide the necessary background to understanding the policies, politics, governance and ethics, and decision-making processes that underpin the causes of, and responses to, environmental change. It will include an appreciation of the social construction of the term 'global environmental challenges' and the implications of this. The course objectives are: - To introduce the fundamental concepts of ecosystems and sustainability; - To explore a range of topical environmental change issues with global dimensions; - To appreciate the interrelationships between human activity and environmental change; - To encourage the capacity to critically appraise policy, and other interventions, taking account of issues such as ecological limits, social equity and justice, and processes of social change.
Course description	The target audience are professionals who are working in areas related to sustainability, who are studying part time, and at a distance. The chosen approach aims to maximise the benefits of engaging with working professionals, in particular by relating the course topics to the particular needs and interests of students, and also by supporting students to bring their professional experience and expertise into the course and to share this with their peers. It will adopt a systems approach around key topics to explore: a) how human activity is changing the environment; b) the effects of those changes on humankind; and c) how humans are responding to those effects. It will be organised around a number of key topics, such as climate change, energy, food and water. These will be considered in relation to a number of cross-cutting themes, to explore the relationships between the topic and, e.g. health, development, politics, values, and processes of social change. The course will consider the interrelationships between each of the key topics, and the relationships between impacts and activity as global, regional and local levels. The course is structured as follows: Week 0: Welcome and induction Section 1. Where are we now? Where are we headed? Week 1: Perspectives & Earth Systems Week 2: Ecosystem Services & Social-Ecological Systems Week 3: Substantiality and Sustainable Development Week 4: Global Environmental Challenges Week 5: Review and Assignment 1 Section 2. Exploring key topics Week 6: Production & Consumption of Materials Week 7: Food Week 8: Energy Week 9: Water Section 3. What next? Week 10: System change & policy alternatives Week 11: Innovation & Leadership for Sustainability

Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites		Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations		Other requirements	None

Course Delivery Information

Academic year 2022/23, Not available to visiting students (SS1)		Quota: 40
Course Start	Semester 1
Course Start Date	19/09/2022
Timetable	Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info)	Please contact the School directly for a breakdown of Learning and Teaching Activities
Assessment (Further Info)	Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment)	Each student will explore the course material in relation to a chosen case study location, identifying and commenting on local and national policies, initiatives, relevant data sources etc. They will share this with fellow students through an individual blogs, as well as through group discussion boards and online tutorials. Students will draw on their blog to produce two assessed assignments: 1. A context map identifying, and commenting on, key relationships between ecosystem services, human needs and activities affecting the ecosystem, in their case study area; worth 30%, due in week 7. (Monday 1st November 2021). 2. A critical review of an existing or proposed project in their case study area. Subject to the agreement of the course organizer, this may be fully or partially related to a task in their professional work; worth 70%, due in 2nd week of January (Monday 10th January 2022).
Feedback	Not entered
No Exam Information

Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to: Understand the causes and consequences of a range of environmental challenges facing humanity and the ethical issues relating to them. Critically appraise the arguments surrounding such issues and be able to communicate to others the reasons for and against a particular course of action in response to different environmental problems. Communicate to others the reasons for and against a particular course of action in response to different environmental problems. Use library and other desk-based sources of information in understanding these issues and in supporting their arguments. Maintain a blog and communicate effectively within discussion fora.