Handbook home
Adapting to Climate Change (ENST90034)
Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)
For information about the University’s phased return to campus and in-person activity in Winter and Semester 2, please refer to the on-campus subjects page.
About this subject
- Overview
- Eligibility and requirements
- Assessment
- Dates and times
- Further information
- Timetable(opens in new window)
Contact information
Please refer to the LMS for up-to-date subject information, including assessment and participation requirements, for subjects being offered in 2020.
Overview
Availability | April |
---|---|
Fees | Look up fees |
This subject focuses on climate change adaptation, and in particular its environmental, political, social and policy dimensions. It explores the ways which climate change poses risks to human wellbeing, and the ways these risks can be managed. It draws on examples from Australia and the Asia-Pacific region, and in particular from the teaching staff’s concurrent research on climate change adaptation in small islands. The explains that adaptation and its success can be thought of and approached in multiple ways, shaped in part by existing interests and the varied and dynamic places in which adaptation is being consciously or unconsciously implemented. The subject also highlights that adaptation poses as well as addresses risks, and that decisions about adaptation need to be considered critically and iteratively. The subject is taught in an intensive mode. Topics include:
- Issues of complexity, uncertainty, knowledge, power, and practice in researching and implementing climate change
- The relationship between adaptation and other processes of change, including development
- Strategies for change at global, regional, local and individual scales, their inter-relations and how they may be facilitated.
Intended learning outcomes
On completion of this subjects students will be able to:
- demonstrate familiarity with climate change adaptation theories and practices
- identify strategies to facilitate adaptation in a range of settings; and
- begin to evaluate the possible strengths and weaknesses of different adaptation strategies in various situations.
Generic skills
On completion of this subject students will have:
- specialist knowledge in the fields of climate change adaptation and policy
- an ability to apply social-science theories to explain climate change challenges
- an ability to critically evaluate strategies for facilitating climate change adaptation in a range of contexts
- a detailed understanding of climate change risks and responses in at least one practical setting
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
None
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Recommended background knowledge
Students are expected to have a general understanding of the nature of anthropogenic climate change, and its likely range of impacts on human conditions.
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Assessment
Due to the impact of COVID-19, assessment may differ from that published in the Handbook. Students are reminded to check the subject assessment requirements published in the subject outline on the LMS
Description | Timing | Percentage |
---|---|---|
An annotated bibliography
| Week 9 | 30% |
A presentation on an adaptation case study
| 10% | |
An essay due three weeks after the last day of the teaching intensive
| 3 Weeks after the end of teaching | 60% |
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Dates & times
- April
Principal coordinator Elissa Waters Mode of delivery On Campus (Parkville) Contact hours 2 x 1-hour lectures and 2 x 1.5-hour tutorials each week. Total time commitment 170 hours Teaching period 20 April 2020 to 29 May 2020 Last self-enrol date 28 April 2020 Census date 29 May 2020 Last date to withdraw without fail 5 June 2020 Assessment period ends 26 June 2020
Time commitment details
Students should expect to commit a total of 170 hours to this subject over the teaching period including study time and examinations.
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
Recommended texts and other resources
There will be a subject reader for this subject.
- Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
Type Name Course Master of Environmental Science Course Master of Energy Systems Major Climate Change Major Tailored Specialisation Major Climate Change Major Development Major Tailored Specialisation Major Tailored Specialisation - Available through the Community Access Program
About the Community Access Program (CAP)
This subject is available through the Community Access Program (also called Single Subject Studies) which allows you to enrol in single subjects offered by the University of Melbourne, without the commitment required to complete a whole degree.
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
- Available to Study Abroad and/or Study Exchange Students
This subject is available to students studying at the University from eligible overseas institutions on exchange and study abroad. Students are required to satisfy any listed requirements, such as pre- and co-requisites, for enrolment in the subject.
Last updated: 3 November 2022