GEOG 3020 - Governance and Sustainable Development

North Terrace Campus - Semester 1 - 2016

This course explores the crucial link between governance and sustainable development. Sustainable development has emerged as the global norm and dominant approach to reconcile the goals of economic development, environmental quality and social equity. Governance can be understood as the rules, mechanisms, processes and institutions through which important decisions are made and implemented. The course discusses the contested nature of both these concepts, and investigates how both are combined in local, national, regional and international policy-making about environment and development challenges such as poverty, global inequalities, loss of biodiversity, deterioration of global eco-systems, and the threat of climate change to human societies. Contemporary ecological problems and crises are predominantly a result of ineffective governance. Thus the main purpose of the course is to examine the ways in which state, private sector and civil society interact on national and international levels to address environment and development issues through better governance models and frameworks of sustainability. Major issues and concepts covered in the course include: policy making and policy analysis; reflexive governance and learning; gender and governance; governance of ecological conflicts and disasters; e-governance and sustainability; and global ecological governance in particular in regard to climate change. These issues are explored through case studies from Australia and various other regions of the world. The course offers the opportunity for a 10-day field trip to Japan to investigate governance of environment and development issues in that country and to collaborate with Japanese students in this field.

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Course Details

Course Code	GEOG 3020
Course	Governance and Sustainable Development
Coordinating Unit	Geography, Environment and Population
Term	Semester 1
Level	Undergraduate
Location/s	North Terrace Campus
Units	3
Contact	3 hours per week
Available for Study Abroad and Exchange	Y
Prerequisites	At least 6 units of level 2 undergraduate study
Assumed Knowledge	It will be assumed students have proficiency at research, academic and communication skills for Level III; and that they have completed GEOG2141 Environment and Development.
Assessment	Online quizzes 10%, Tutorial Learning Journal 20%, Research Essay/Report or Field trip to Japan 40%, MyUni Portfolio 30%

Course Staff

Course Coordinator: Dr Thomas Wanner

Course Timetable

The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

Course Learning Outcomes

1. Identify the complexity and operations of governance systems and processes on international, national and local levels
2. Explain differences between government and governance, and the various ideas and meanings attached to the goal of sustainable development
3. Critically analyse policy-making and governance processes in regard to sustainability issues
4. Apply high quality written and verbal communication skills
5. Work effectively in a team and in tutorial situations
6. Apply analytical and problem-solving skills to specific governance of sustainable development problems
7. Employ effectively online technologies (including MyUni) for communication and exchange of own ideas and knowledge, and overall student learning
8. Conduct independent research of a governance of sustainable development case study with a high level of originality, quality and creativity
9. Critically reflect on own learning about governance and sustainable development issues

University Graduate Attributes

This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

University Graduate Attribute	Course Learning Outcome(s)
Deep discipline knowledge informed and infused by cutting edge research, scaffolded throughout their program of studies acquired from personal interaction with research active educators, from year 1 accredited or validated against national or international standards (for relevant programs)	1-3
Critical thinking and problem solving steeped in research methods and rigor based on empirical evidence and the scientific approach to knowledge development demonstrated through appropriate and relevant assessment	3,8,9
Teamwork and communication skills developed from, with, and via the SGDE honed through assessment and practice throughout the program of studies encouraged and valued in all aspects of learning	4,5
Career and leadership readiness technology savvy professional and, where relevant, fully accredited forward thinking and well informed tested and validated by work based experiences	3, 4-8
Intercultural and ethical competency adept at operating in other cultures comfortable with different nationalities and social contexts able to determine and contribute to desirable social outcomes demonstrated by study abroad or with an understanding of indigenous knowledges	5
Self-awareness and emotional intelligence a capacity for self-reflection and a willingness to engage in self-appraisal open to objective and constructive feedback from supervisors and peers able to negotiate difficult social situations, defuse conflict and engage positively in purposeful debate	9

Learning Resources

Required Resources

There is no prescribed textbook for this course. Many resources – and all required readings for the tutorials - are available on MyUni.

Recommended Resources

All required content will be on MyUni.

Online Learning

MyUni is used extensively in this course. All course material (eg. lectures, tutorial work sheets, assignment information, external web links, readings) are provided on MyUni. All assignments are to be submitted and returned electronically on MyUni (Turnitin). Tools such as discussion board, reflective quizzes and reflective journals are used for student learning.
Learning & Teaching Activities

Learning & Teaching Modes

The course employs a blended approach to teaching and learning, and is a ‘flipped’ university course. For most parts of the course, the traditional face to face lectures are replaced with short mini-lectures (between 7-10 minutes long) which students watch in their own time online prior to their tutorial. The interactive and collaborative teaching and learning thus takes place inside and outside the classroom and in synchronous and asynchronous ways.
NOTE: the course has two hour tutorials

Workload

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

WORKLOAD TOTAL HOURS
1 x Mini- lectures per week 12 hours per semester
1 x 2 hours tutorial per week 24 hours per semester
2 hours MyUni work 24 hours per semester
2 hours assignment preparation per week 24 hours per semester
6 hours reading and research per week 72 hours per semester
TOTAL = 156 hours per semester

Learning Activities Summary

WEEK LECTURE TOPIC
1 Introduction
Governance and SD: short history of contested concepts
2 Governance: Politics, Power, Policy
Sustainable Development Governance
3 Global/International Environmental Governance
Regional and National Environmental Governance
4 Global Governance: Poverty, Security and Justice
Governing Climate Change
5 Governance and the Global Commons
Governing Forests
6 Governing a Green Economy
Corporate Governance and Sustainability
7 Urban Governance and Sustainability
8 Governing Knowledge and Learning for Sustainability
Governance of Risk & Sustainability Science
9 Governing culture: gender and sustainability
Local governance: community-based sustainable development
10 Reforming Global (Environmental) Governance
Governance, Ethics and Justice
11 E-Governance and Green democracy
Self-Governance and Sustainability: ecological citizenship
12 Governance and SD: shaping new futures?
Course review

Small Group Discovery Experience

SGDE is built into the 2 hour tutorials which have group work in each session.

The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
Assessment must maintain academic standards.

Assessment Summary

There are two Assessment Formats for this course. Students can choose to either do Format 1 or 2.
Students can go to a self-funded field trip to Japan in the mid-term break.

ASSESSMENT FORMAT 1

Assessment Task	Task Type	Due	Weighting	Learning Outcome
Online quizzes	Formative and summative	Throughout semester	10%	9
Tutorial Learning Journal	Summative	End of Semester	20%	4,5,7
Research Essay or Report	Formative and Summative	Mid semester	40%	3,6,8
MyUni Portfolio	Summative	End of Semester		1-3, 7,9

ASSESSMENT FORMAT 2

Assessment Task	Task Type	Due	Weighting	Learning Outcome
Online quizzes	Formative and summative	Throughout semester	10%	9
Tutorial Learning Journal	Summative	End of Semester	20%	4,5,7
Japan Field Trip Report	Summative	Mid Semester	40%	3,6,8
MyUni Portfolio	Summative	End of Semester	30%	1-3, 7,9

Assessment Related Requirements

To be able to pass the course students must complete and submit for assessment all assessment pieces described in this course profile. Tutorials are compulsory and students will not be able to pass this course if they do not attend at least 90% of all tutorials.
The Harvard (author-date) referencing system must be used for the assignments.

Assessment Detail

Students have choices for their assessment format. They can choose either Format 1 or Format 1; and can choose in Format 1 whether they write a research essay or research report. There also a variety of choices for their work in the MyUni Portfolio (eg discussion board postings, analysis of websites, book review). The course offers the great option and opportunity of a 10-day field trip to Japan which will be part of the assessment.

FORMAT 1
Online quizzes: student complete regular quizzes to reflect on their learning (10%)
Tutorial Learning Journal: students write a reflective journal about tutorial learning activities (1,000 words). This includes their preparation, self-assessment of participation and critical reflection of their own tutorial learning. (20%)
Research Essay/Report: students research the governance system and approach to environment and development issues of a country of their choice and write a research essay or report (3,000 words) (40%)
MyUni Portfolio: the MyUni Portfolio is intended to encourage independent and active student research and learning. Students can select the work that they want to prepare and submit in their MyUni Portfolio from a range of choices (eg analysis of videos or websites, discussion board postings, submission to a government) (2,000 words) (30%)

FORMAT 2
Online quizzes: student complete regular quizzes to reflect on their learning (10%)
Tutorial Learning Journal: students write a reflective journal about tutorial learning activities (1,000 words). This includes their preparation, self-assessment of participation and critical reflection of their own tutorial learning. (20%)
Overseas Field Trip: students have the opportunity of an overseas field trip to Japan to research environment and development issues. They need to write a 3,000 words field trip report (40%)
MyUni Portfolio: the MyUni Portfolio is intended to encourage independent and active student research and learning. Students can select the work that they want to prepare and submit in their MyUni Portfolio from a range of choices (eg analysis of videos or websites, discussion board postings, submission to a government) (2,000 words) (30%)

Submission

Submission of assignments is in electronic format (pdf file) on MyUni and through Turnitin.

Course Grading

Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
Grade	Mark	Description
FNS		Fail No Submission
F	1-49	Fail
P	50-64	Pass
C	65-74	Credit
D	75-84	Distinction
HD	85-100	High Distinction
CN		Continuing
NFE		No Formal Examination
RP		Result Pending

Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

Student Feedback

The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.
Student Support
Policies & Guidelines
This section contains links to relevant assessment-related policies and guidelines - all university policies.
Fraud Awareness

Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student’s disciplinary procedures.

The University of Adelaide is committed to regular reviews of the courses and programs it offers to students. The University of Adelaide therefore reserves the right to discontinue or vary programs and courses without notice. Please read the important information contained in the disclaimer.

Authorised by:	Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic)
Maintained by:	Course Outlines Administrator