Handbook home
Sustainability: hope for the Earth? (UNIB10024)
Undergraduate level 1Points: 12.5Dual-Delivery (Parkville)
From 2023 most subjects will be taught on campus only with flexible options limited to a select number of postgraduate programs and individual subjects.
To learn more, visit COVID-19 course and subject delivery.
About this subject
- Overview
- Eligibility and requirements
- Assessment
- Dates and times
- Further information
- Timetable(opens in new window)
Contact information
Semester 2
Dr Helena Bender
Overview
Availability | Semester 2 - Dual-Delivery |
---|---|
Fees | Look up fees |
‘The Earth is a finite environment, with its physical systems tightly interconnected with all life on the planet’. Humanity, as part of the Earth, is now in the historic position of changing the global balance of both the physical and biological environments, with unintended consequences. Achieving sustainability on Earth requires global values and actions that are ecologically sound, socially just and economically viable.
In its Sustainability Charter, the University of Melbourne recognizes its responsibility to help shape sustainability on Earth through ‘knowledge, imagination and action’. This subject is an academic and practical opportunity for students to enter into that endeavor.
In this subject we utilise sustainability to explore, understand and analyse human-environment relationships. Topics include: needs and inter-dependencies of all beings; the diverse ways humans meet their needs through material and non-material means and the ecological and social consequences of this for humans and other beings; the economic, social and political norms that shape the ways we meet our needs; the ethical and disciplinary frameworks through which the sustainability of human-environmental relationships can be assessed. We will consider sustainability of systems at multiple scales and through diverse ways of knowing including scientific, historical and Indigenous perspectives. Through this subject, students will develop foundational knowledge, skills and values to facilitate a sustainable future.
This subject is relevant to students in all degrees who are interested in issues related to society and the environment such as climate change, land management, extractive industries and more. It will appeal to students that are seeking ways to support change in their lives and careers.
Learning will be grounded in analysis of sustainability, with class room activities and assessment tasks designed so that students can directly and critically contribute to the University’s aspiration to be an international exemplar of an ecologically sustainable community; as well as to think critically about the function of their future discipline, and their own practices in facilitating sustainability. There may be some optional volunteering opportunities in sustainability.
- This subject is relevant to students in all degrees who are interested in issues related to society and the environment such as climate change, land management, extractive industries and more. In particular, it offers:
- Arts and Music students the opportunity to explore the intersection between power, hope and the arts to influence societies ideas about our relationship with the environment and sustainability;
- Biomedicine students conceptual tools like systems thinking and needs analysis to see how contextual drivers shape health outcomes for humans and the environment and the interdependencies between them, that can then influence sustainability;
- Commerce students an insight into the history of capitalism and how it shapes our relationships with the environment and our ability to facilitate sustainability;
- Design students a range of tools including multi-scale analysis and the integration of different discipline perspectives to generate new insights for sustainability; and
- Science students the opportunity to build their critical assessment of the reasons and strategies for shaping sustainability including the retention of ecosystem services, as well as ethical decision frameworks.
- There is no exam in this subject, however, students are expected to make academic arguments, and work in teams.
Intended learning outcomes
Students should be able to:
- Identify relationships between all beings and their physical environments using systems thinking approaches;
- Analyse sustainability in the context of a real-life sustainability challenge;
- Integrate data (literature, qualitative and quantitative) that pertains to the assessment of sustainability, and represents multiple viewpoints;
- Apply conceptual tools for analysing sustainability including human-nature relationships, political and ethical, needs and norms, temporal and spatial scales, as well as inter-disciplinary perspectives;
- Evaluate their role in sustainability as individuals, as future practitioners in a discipline, and as members of the university; and
- Evaluate their own learning, values, beliefs and assumptions, as well as how these have changed (if at all) throughout the subject.
Generic skills
In addition to learning specific skills that will assist students in their future careers in science, they will have the opportunity to develop generic skills that will assist them in any future career path. These include:
- problem-solving skills: the ability to engage with unfamiliar problems and identify relevant solution strategies;
- analytical skills: the ability to construct and express logical arguments and to work in abstract or general terms to increase the clarity and efficiency of analysis;
- collaborative skills: the ability to work in a team;
- time-management skills: the ability to meet regular deadlines while balancing competing commitments
- Analytical skills including analysing task requirements and assessing the work of others.
- Research skills including finding and evaluating data and literature from a range of academic disciplines.
- Confident written communication including application of theory to practice, developing a logical argument to support a particular position, and effective integration of data, literature and other information as evidence.
- Skills in critical reflection including self-awareness and self-assessment.
- Participate effectively as a team member in an interdisciplinary project with a shared focus.
Last updated: 27 April 2024
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
None
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
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: 27 April 2024
Assessment
Semester 1
Description | Timing | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Individual Essay or Report - 2000 word; First day of the second week of the semester exam period | During the examination period | 40% |
Group Presentation - 500 words equivalent/ team member | Week 10 | 25% |
Reflective Journal - Approx. 1500 words | Once per week. Due within 72 hours after the end of your scheduled tutorial. Feedback will be provided on entries made between weeks 1-4. | 35% |
Tutorial Attendance and Assessment Hurdle Hurdle requirement: Tutorial Attendance and Assessment Hurdle - Students must attend at least 10 out of the 12 scheduled tutorials in order to pass this subject. | Throughout the semester | N/A |
Last updated: 27 April 2024
Dates & times
- Semester 2
Coordinator Helena Bender Mode of delivery Dual-Delivery (Parkville) Contact hours 2-hour seminar and 2-hour tutorial each week Total time commitment 170 hours Teaching period 25 July 2022 to 23 October 2022 Last self-enrol date 5 August 2022 Census date 31 August 2022 Last date to withdraw without fail 23 September 2022 Assessment period ends 18 November 2022 Semester 2 contact information
Dr Helena Bender
Last updated: 27 April 2024
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
There are no specifically prescribed or recommended texts for this subject.
- Breadth options
This subject is available as breadth in the following courses:
- Bachelor of Arts
- Bachelor of Biomedicine
- Bachelor of Commerce
- Bachelor of Design
- Bachelor of Environments
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Animation)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Dance)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Film and Television)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Music Theatre)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Production)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Screenwriting)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Theatre)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Visual Art)
- Bachelor of Music
- Bachelor of Science
- 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: 27 April 2024