Unit name | Environmental Risks, Management and Policy |
---|---|
Unit code | GEOG30015 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | H/6 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
Unit director | Dr. Jo House |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None. This course is suitable to both physical and human geographers. |
Co-requisites |
None. |
School/department | School of Geographical Sciences |
Faculty | Faculty of Science |
This is an interdisciplinary unit, aiming to equip students to combine evidence from both physical and social sciences to assess and apply them to responding to real world problems of the risks of environmental change. This will include detection of environmental risks and attribution to different drivers; management of risk through adaptation and mitigation including disaster risk management; and application of environmental policy from national through to international scales. Many of these issues represent a complex mix between natural science and the social sciences, requiring the combination of evidence of the physical causes and consequences or change, the effects of socio-economic status and condition on vulnerability to change, as well as the legal, economic political and institutional responses.
The course is a mixture of practical skills (such as assessing risk under deep uncertainty and writing a policy briefing) and taught material. It includes guest lectures from practitioners in government and other agencies (e.g. UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), UK Environment Agency).
The aims and learning outcomes will be demonstrated and achieved through exploring different environmental change topics such as climate change, air/water quality and flood disaster risk management.
The following transferable skills are developed in this Unit:
On completion of this Unit students should be able to:
Lectures & practical sessions
Final Exam (50%) [ILOs 1-6]
Policy Briefing Report, 4 pages (30%) [ILOs 3-7]
Practical Report on risk assessment, 2 pages (20%) [ILOs 1-2]
Recommended Reading
Plus other references as provided by course tutors.