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Sustainable Development (GEOG30019)
Undergraduate level 3Points: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)
To learn more, visit 2023 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 1
Overview
Availability | Semester 1 |
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Fees | Look up fees |
Everyone knows what ‘Sustainable Development’ is, but if you stop to think, it may become less clear. Sustainable development has become a chameleon, suiting different needs and fulfilling different roles for different people with different interests. In this subject, we will explore this appealing-yet-slippery idea with the aim of deciding whether it is a suitable concept with which to explore the cultural, environmental, and economic challenges facing society. Is sustainable development a useful idea, do we need to move on, or can we take it back?
In addition to the debates over sustainable development, this subject will provide students with the skills needed to examine, analyse, and report on challenges related to their interests. At its heart, the subject explores the primary question of sustainable development, which is whether it can be useful in a world (seemingly) approaching numerous catastrophic tipping points. The climate is changing, the oceans are acidifying, the soils cannot keep producing our food, and wealth is being concentrated amongst a smaller and smaller segment of the world. Is sustainable development helpful in understanding, and ideally changing, these trends?
There are also more practical considerations surrounding the debate over sustainable development. Some people might be interested in having a greater impact on the world through development projects, micro-credit, or volunteering. Is sustainable development helpful? Can the concept help individuals seeking to improve our world (or at least trying)? Does it help ensure that their efforts are beneficial and not perverted by opposing interests and processes?
It is also worth considering whether sustainable development might not be better thought of as an analytical framing: as a way of pulling apart problems or projects in order to better understand or assess their impact on ecological sustainability, development, or economics? Is sustainable development an analytical tool for making sense of ‘wicked’ problems?
In this subject we will review the history of sustainable development, which draws together literature from Geography, Sociology, Engineering, Psychology, Economics, and the Sciences. We will explore critiques of sustainable development, and force ourselves to consider whether it is possible, practical, or even useful in the ‘real world’. We will explore several key challenges, using sustainable development as a lens or framing. And finally and most creatively, we will attempt to reinterpret sustainable development in a world of growing inequality.
For more information see: http://briansresearch.wordpress.com/teaching/sustainable-development/
Intended learning outcomes
On completion of this subject students will:
- understand and be able to compare a range of theories related to sustainable development;
- be able to apply numerous methods designed to critically engage with debates over sustainable development;
- be familiar with different framings of sustainable development;
- be able to synthesise competing interpretations and debates;
- be aware of the complex processes and issues that are incorporated into debates and controversies of sustainable development;
Generic skills
Students who have completed this subject will:
- be capable of thinking critically about issues relating to sustainable development;
- be capable of developing a conceptual framework appropriate to understanding and interpreting problems relating to sustainability;
- be able to learn research skills appropriate to understanding and interpreting issues and problems of sustainable development;
- be able to write coherent and well-researched essays;
- be capable of engaging in effective oral presentations.
Last updated: 27 April 2024
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
Corequisites
Non-allowed subjects
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
Description | Timing | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Quiz: Each week, there will be an 'online quiz' (10 questions) due the evening prior to lecture. This will provide students with the opportunity to show their understanding of the weekly readings. A quiz on citation and referencing will precede submission of the short essay. | During the teaching period | 10% |
Tutorial Question and Answer: students are responsible for attending* and contributing to tutorial discussions. Drawing on the assigned reading for each week, students collaboratively answer a question each week and contribute to tutorial discussions. | During the teaching period | 20% |
Short essay: Around the mid-term break, students will submit a short essay. The topic will be supplied.
| Second half of the teaching period | 30% |
Take home final exam: students will submit their final 'take-home' essay. The topic will be provided on the final day of class.
| During the examination period | 40% |
Additional details
A late penalty of 10%/day will be assessed on all late submissions.
Last updated: 27 April 2024
Dates & times
- Semester 1
Principal coordinator Brian Cook Mode of delivery On Campus (Parkville) Contact hours 36 hour: 24 hours of lectures & 12 hours of tutorials Total time commitment 170 hours Teaching period 27 February 2023 to 28 May 2023 Last self-enrol date 10 March 2023 Census date 31 March 2023 Last date to withdraw without fail 5 May 2023 Assessment period ends 23 June 2023 Semester 1 contact information
Time commitment details
170 hours
What do these dates mean
Visit this webpage to find out about these key dates, including how they impact on:
- Your tuition fees, academic transcript and statements.
- And for Commonwealth Supported students, your:
- Student Learning Entitlement. This applies to all students enrolled in a Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP).
Subjects withdrawn after the census date (including up to the ‘last day to withdraw without fail’) count toward the Student Learning Entitlement.
Last updated: 27 April 2024
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
N/A
- Subject notes
- Please note that this subject is only available to third year students.
- Students enrolled in the BSc (both pre-2008 degree and new degrees), or a combined BSc course (except for the BA/BSc) may receive science credit on the completion of this subject.
- Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
Type Name Course Master of Geography Major Geography Informal specialisation Human Geography Major Geography Informal specialisation Science Discipline subjects - new generation B-SCI Specialisation (formal) Development Studies Major Environmental Geography Informal specialisation Environments Discipline subjects Informal specialisation Integrated Geography Informal specialisation Integrated Geography Major Human Geography Major Integrated Geography Minor Development Studies Minor Environmental Studies Informal specialisation Human Geography Breadth Track People and Environment - Breadth options
This subject is available as breadth in the following courses:
- Bachelor of Commerce
- 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
- 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