Unit name | Environmental Policy and Politics |
---|---|
Unit code | GEOGM1409 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | M/7 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
Unit director | Dr. James Palmer |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | School of Geographical Sciences |
Faculty | Faculty of Science |
This unit provides an advanced introduction to the political dimensions of contemporary environmental policy-making and governance practices. The unit will examine the power relationships through which science, states, corporations, and citizens are interlinked in efforts to resolve diverse environmental problems, as they exist at numerous scales from local to global. It will offer a balanced assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of a range of existing environment policy instruments and environmental governance frameworks. It will examine how different kinds of knowledge and evidence - both scientific and non-scientific - shape the ways in which environmental problems are represented, understood, and contested. Finally, it will also explore how the recent diagnosis of the Anthropocene is impacting on efforts to tackle and indeed re-think environmental problems, both at the global level and at smaller scales (e.g. in cities). The unit aims:
On completion of this unit students should be able to:
The unit will be taught through a blended combination of online and, if possible, in-person teaching, including
(1) A 1,000-word Negotiation Position Statement (worth 30%; maximum 1,000 words), completed mid-way through the unit, that sets out and defends the hypothetical negotiating position, and objectives, of a specific stakeholder involved in a current environmental policy debate.
(2) A 3,500-word Academic Essay and Summary for Policymakers (worth 70%), completed at the end of the unit, that sets out a coherent, evidence-based argument about a specific aspect of contemporary environmental policy and politics.
Davoudi, S., Cowell, R., White, I. and Blanco, H. (eds.) 2020. The Routledge Companion to Environmental Planning. Routledge, London.
Eden, S. 2017. Environmental Publics. Routledge, London.
Hulme, M. 2009. Why We Disagree About Climate Change: Understanding Controversy, Inaction and Opportunity. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Kallis, G. 2019. Limits: Why Malthus Was Wrong and Why Environmentalists Should Care. Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA.
Owens, S. 2015. Knowledge, Policy and Expertise: The UK Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, 1970–2011. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Steffen, W. et al. 2015. ‘Planetary boundaries: Guiding human development on a changing planet.’ Science 347(6223): 736.