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Handbook 1997 : Faculty of Arts : Geography

121-364 Field Class in Environmental Studies and Sustainable Development

Note:

This is a quota subject. No more than 40 students may enrol in this subject in any one year. Students will be selected, if demand exceeds capacity, by 'first come, first served'.

Availability:

To be offered each year, subject to a minimum enrolment of 20 students.

Credit Points:

16.7 3rd year

Coordinator:

Professor Michael Webber and staff

Prerequisite/s:

33 points of Geography or Environmental Studies. Normally students must have enrolled in sufficient subjects (previously or concurrently) to be able to complete a major in Geography or in Environmental Studies during the year in which this subject is taken.

Timetable:

Semester 1

Contact:

One hour per week lecture or seminar; a nine-day field trip, held in the mid-semester break (at Easter)

Objectives:

Students who complete this subject should:

  • understand the extent, nature and signs of land degradation in pastoral and irrigation lands in semi-arid Australia;

  • know and be able to identify the need for appropriate techniques of environmental rehabilitation;

  • understand the need for and be able to plan programs of environmental monitoring;

  • understand, measure and analyses the extent, nature and signs of land degradation.

  • be able to prepare environmental assessment reports suitable for submission to regulatory authorities.

  • recognise how theories of sustainability come to be translated into practical exercises on the ground;

  • identify the role played by local communities in planning for sustainable development, in rehabilitation and in environmental monitoring;

  • understand the relations between environmental sustainability and social sustainability.

Content:

This subject is organised around a field trip to a UN Biosphere Reserve near Renmark in South Australia. Environmental degradation in semi-arid Australia. Techniques of environmental rehabilitation; monitoring environmental quality. Sustainable land use: sustainable communities. Community participation in planning, rehabilitation and monitoring. As well as learning, students are expected to participate in the work of rehabilitation and monitoring.

Assessment:

5000 word report.

Prescribed Texts:

Students will be provided with a range of local materials about land care, rehabilitation and planning for the region. These materials will include maps, air photos and reports. A manual about field methods will also be prepared by the department.

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Handbook 1997 : Faculty of Arts : Geography 
Status:                   OFFICIAL 1997
Last Modified:            Wednesday March 12 3:36 pm
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Email Enquiries:          Course_Information@registrar.unimelb.edu.au
Copyright © University of Melbourne 1997.