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Unit Summary
Unit aim
Explores the emergence of holistic, complex, adaptive systems approaches to thinking and knowledge, compared with reductionist science and mechanistic understandings of nature. Examines human ecology, including the role of different belief systems and their impact on ecological perspectives, which in turn influence individual and communal behaviour. Considers the role of ecological literacy in the context of regenerative agriculture. Students explore their connection to the environment, to systems and to holistic thinking through theory and practice.
Unit content
1. Ecological perspectives, human ecology and ecological literacy
2. The influence of human perspectives and the integral role of self-knowledge in farming practice and land management
3. Mechanistic models, complex adaptive phenomena and regenerative agriculture
4. Indigenous understandings of self, nature and change
5. Demonstrating how holism functions in ecosystem management
6. Building reductionism and holism into a framework of understanding
Learning outcomes
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: | |
|---|---|
| 1 | compare mechanistic and complex adaptive systems worldviews and how this influences ecological perspectives |
| 2 | undertake reflective analysis on the relationship between worldview and land management |
| 3 | describe and interpret one’s relationship with the natural world |
| 4 | evaluate the role of both reductionistic and holistic approaches to science and agricultural practice. |
On completion of this unit, students should be able to:
- compare mechanistic and complex adaptive systems worldviews and how this influences ecological perspectives
- undertake reflective analysis on the relationship between worldview and land management
- describe and interpret one’s relationship with the natural world
- evaluate the role of both reductionistic and holistic approaches to science and agricultural practice.
Prescribed texts
- No prescribed texts.