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Unit of Study ENV03399 - Environmental Governance (2016)

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Unit Snapshot

  • Enrolment information

    N/A

Unit description

Introduces an understanding of environmental management as a subset of environmental governance by presenting broader issues that can impact the outcomes of various management approaches. Students will become aware of how world views influence legal and institutional structures and processes, for example, operate at different human scales, and how they have direct effects on the level of environmental conservation or degradation with a focus on biodiversity. This unit will provide useful insights into the challenges and limitations of environmental management with a focus on biodiversity in the real world, and how crucial it is that this must be strengthened at all levels.

Unit content

  • Human relationship with the natural world in particular biological resources.
  •  Environmental governance at different scales (local to global) and different forms (top-down centralised to co-governance to decentralised self-governance)
  • Alternative world views on the environment (belief systems, knowledge base, values, ethics), linking knowledge systems (science, Indigenous Knowledge and Local Knowledge) to policy development and implementation
  • Processes (policy, 'rules', compliance, monitoring and evaluation etc) local to national (links to 9), and regional to global.
  • 'Rules' regulating behaviour (introduction to natural resource law, common vs statute)
  • Public consultation and stakeholder engagement, decision-making processes (conflict resolution).
  • Global governance for biodiversity and Australia's commitment to international governance. conventions, declarations
  • Communicating environmental science to the public, awareness raising and education (power of advertising, shifting existing world-views etc.)

Availabilities

Not currently available in 2016

Learning outcomes and graduate attributes

Unit Learning Outcomes express learning achievement in terms of what a student should know, understand and be able to do on completion of a unit. These outcomes are aligned with the graduate attributes. The unit learning outcomes and graduate attributes are also the basis of evaluating prior learning.

On completion of this unit, students should be able to:

GA1: Intellectual rigour, GA2: Creativity, GA3: Ethical practice, GA4: Knowledge of a discipline, GA5: Lifelong learning, GA6: Communication and social skills, GA7: Cultural competence
Learning outcome count Learning outcome description GA1 GA2 GA3 GA4 GA5 GA6 GA7
1 Define and explain the nature and role of environmental governance with particular reference to biodiversity
2 Analyse the relationship between governance and environmental sustainability.
3 Explain and evaluate biodiversity governance at different spatial scales (local, national, regional global)
4 Critically analyse the theoretical and philosophical underpinnings of governance including the role of differing world-views, cultural values and ethical considerations.
5 Explain the implications of poor governance on natural resource management, particularly in relation to biodiversity.
6 Evaluate various biodiversity governance models (top-down, co-governance, self governance)
7 Evaluate environmental governance in Australia

On completion of this unit, students should be able to:

  1. Define and explain the nature and role of environmental governance with particular reference to biodiversity
    • GA3:
    • GA4:
    • GA7:
  2. Analyse the relationship between governance and environmental sustainability.
    • GA4:
    • GA7:
  3. Explain and evaluate biodiversity governance at different spatial scales (local, national, regional global)
    • GA1:
    • GA4:
  4. Critically analyse the theoretical and philosophical underpinnings of governance including the role of differing world-views, cultural values and ethical considerations.
    • GA1:
    • GA7:
  5. Explain the implications of poor governance on natural resource management, particularly in relation to biodiversity.
    • GA1:
    • GA4:
  6. Evaluate various biodiversity governance models (top-down, co-governance, self governance)
    • GA1:
    • GA4:
  7. Evaluate environmental governance in Australia
    • GA1:
    • GA4:
    • GA7: