GEOL0035 Sustainable Management of the Environment

This module will introduce students to the way earth science and evidence can be used to develop more sustainable ways of managing natural capital and selected environmental risks.

Coordinator: Dr Peter Irvine

Module details

Title	Sustainable Management of the Environment
UG Code	GEOL0035
Coordinator	Dr Peter Irvine
Other Contributors
Term	1
Credit	15
Written Exam
Coursework	Concise definition and expression of issues for the policy briefing and topic for poster (200 words) 5% Policy briefing note (approx. 2500 words)    60% PowerPoint Presentation    35%
Pre-Requisites
Maths & Stats Content and Requirement
Total Number of Hours of Student Work	188 hours
Hours of Lectures/Seminars	10 hours
Hours of Practicals/Problem Classes	10 hours
Hours of Tutorials	10 hours
Days of Fieldwork	0
Other	None

Content

Policy and operational decisions in public and private sectors are informed by evidence. This course will set out some environmental drivers of policy decisions e.g. adapting to climate change; natural capital issues; flooding, that depend on earth sciences data and knowledge and will expose students to examples of how this evidence can be communicated and used in decision-making. 

The course will allow students to learn how sustainability and risk issues are being accounted for in policy and operational work. The students will choose from a set of problems and undertake an independent project to explore issues raised in lectures and tutorial sessions at greater depth. 

Students will be encouraged to find out how data and knowledge are used and to examine how leading edge knowledge affects the data and evidence pathway relevant to policy and operational decisions. This will involve use of web sources and technologies appropriate to the individual student's skills in these areas.  

AIMS

• To expose students to the way earth science and evidence can be used to develop more sustainable ways of managing natural capital and selected environmental risks.
• To develop the student's ability to assess evidence critically and see its relevance to policy and operations.
• To develop thr student's ability to make a case for a policy or operational change.

OUTCOMES:

Students will gain detailed knowledge of evidence-policy cycles and understand how earth science knowledge can influence policy and operational decisions affecting environmental risks and natural capital. Such knowledge and understanding will increase their employability.