Landscape Governance and Policy (ENST90046)

We live in a world of limited natural resources and decision making about the allocation of land and resources is no longer just the realm of nation-states and governments. Landscape governance involves governments, civil society groups and private sector actors. This subject provides students with an understanding of the policies, tools, organizations, institutions and actors involved in the governance of landscapes and natural resources and exposes students to a range of resource management regimes and modes of production and conservation, including partnership models, common property regimes, market and non-market arrangements for resource management, smallholder-based systems and decentralization. This subject provides a capstone experience based on exercises and case studies of landscapes such as the Murray Darling Basin in Australia and the Mekong River catchment in SE Asia and rural industries such as forestry, agriculture and tourism. These are used to explore the challenges of governance and decision making with multiple land tenures and stakeholders and governance of cross-cutting issues such as climate adaptation, fire, flood and biosecurity. The business of landscape management is explored through analysis of corporate decision-making principles and practices and prioritisation and resource allocation in government and non-government organisations. The subject adopts an active, interdisciplinary and participatory approach to learning including lectures, industry and government presentations, class debates and role plays and a major group project. A 3-day field trip to north-eastern Victoria will reinforce learnings through field exercises and discussions with land management agencies, industry, NGOs and stakeholders.