121-303 Sustainable Development

Note

All BSc students, except those enrolled in the BA/BSc combined course and the BASc course, can only receive 12.5 points science credit at the 300-level for this subject.

Credit Points

Coordinator

Prerequisites

121-219 Environmental Politics and Management.

Semester

Contact

Subject Description

This subject deals with the complexity and variety of definitions of sustainability and assesses their usefulness in analysing the issues of environmental quality in relation to development. Science-based measures of environmental quality in areas such as agriculture, forestry, fisheries and urban areas will be used to assess changes in relation to development. This "factual" base of environmental quality will be assessed against measures of societal well-being. In this subject the conflicts over the maintenance of environmental quality while development proceeds will be studied using historical and contemporary examples with particular reference to Australia and the South-East Asian Region. In this context, the way in which scientific data is used and manipulated in the social and political processes which drive development will be central to the discussion.

Assessment

Group and individual reports of up to 3000 words; a written examination of up to 2 hours. Weightings of components of assessment will be advised at the commencement of the subject.