Students successfully completing the course should be able to:


1.     Comprehend the complexity and various forms and dimensions of development and environment issues

2.     Distinguish the multiple dimensions of sustainability and the linkages between them, and how these dimensions
        inform policy processes and outcomes

3.     Discuss the history, usefulness and effectiveness of the concept of sustainable development

4.     Understand how global capitalism and economic processes shape environmental change and policies

5.     Critically assess the politics of sustainability and the various theoretical perspectives of development and environment

6.     Communicate effectively about ideas and issues of development and environment in a variety of multimedia settings and
        through a   variety of multimedia technologies

7.     Apply research, analytical and critical thinking skills to specific sustainable development problems

8.     Apply multimedia technologies for the research, presentation and analysis of sustainability issues

9.     Critically reflect on own learning about environment and development issues

There is no prescribed textbook for this course. All required readings and other
learning and teaching activities and resources are available on MyUni.

Introductory Readings

Elliott, J.A. (2009).‘Sustainable Development.’ In Kitchin, R. and Thrift, N.
(eds.). International Encyclopedia of Human Geography, pp. 117-131.

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) (2003). ‘Integrating Environment
and Development, 1972-2002.’ Chapter 1, Global Environmental Outlook (GEO) 3. Available at http://web.unep.org/geo/assessments/global-assessments/global-environment-outlook-3

Perreault, T. (2009). ‘Environment and Development’. In Castree, N. et al.
(eds.). A Companion to Environmental Geography. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.

Highly recommended:

Redclift, M. and Springett, D. (eds.) (2015). Routledge International Handbook of Sustainable Development. Hoboken : Taylor and Francis. Online book in library.


United Nations and SD

SD Knowledge Platform: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org
 [highly recommended]

Agenda 21: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/Agenda21.pdf

Major Agreements and Conventions https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/index.php?menu=122



Recent Global Reports on Sustainable Development
   
UN (2015). Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development.  https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/post2015/transformingourworld


UN, Sustainable Development Solutions Network (2014). An Action Agenda for Sustainable Development.
http://unsdsn.org/resources/publications/an-action-agenda-for-sustainable-development/

     
United Nations Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on Global Sustainability
(2012). Resilient People, Resilient Planet: A future worth choosing. New York:
United Nations.  http://www.un.org/gsp/report


United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (2011). Human
Development Report 2011:Sustainability and Equity: A Better Future for All.
New York: UNDP. Available at: http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr2011/


General readings: Sustainable Development and Sustainability

Books

Adams, W.M. (2001). Green Development: Environment and Sustainability in the Third World. 2nd edition. London:
Routledge.

Atkinson, G., Dietz, S., and Neumayer, E. (eds.) (2007). Handbook of Sustainable Development. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

Baker, Susan, Kousis, Maria, Richardson, Dick and Young, Stephen (eds.). (1997).The Politics of Sustainable Development: Theory,
Policy and Practice within the European Union, London: Routledge.

Baker, S. (2006). SustainableDevelopment. London: Routledge.

Beder, Sharon (2003). The Nature of Sustainable Development. Newham, Australia: Scribe Publications.

Bigg, T. (ed.) (2004). Survival for a Small Planet: The Sustainable Development Agenda. London: Earthscan.

Diesendorf, M. and Hamilton, C. (eds.) (1997). Human Ecology, Human Economy: Ideas for an Ecologically Sustainable Future.
Sydney: Allen and Unwin.

Dryzek, J. (1997). The Politics of the Earth: Environmental Discourses, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Jacobs, M. (ed.) (1997). Greening the Millennium? The New Politics of the Environment, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.

Elliott, J.A. (2006). An Introduction to Sustainable Development. 3rd edition. London: Routledge.

Johnston, J., Gismondi, M. and Goodman, J. (eds.) (2006). Nature’s Revenge: Reclaiming Sustainability in an Age of Corporate Globalization. Ontario: Broadview Press.

Johnston, R.J., Taylor, P.J. and Watts, M.J. (eds.) (2002). Geographies of Global Change: Remapping the World. 2nd edition. Oxford: Blackwell.

Keiner, M. (ed.) (2006). The Future of Sustainability. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.

Kirkby, J., O’Keefe, P. and Timberlake, L. (eds.) (1995). The Earthscan Reader in Sustainable Development.
London: Earthscan.

Lafferty, W.M. and Langhelle, O. (eds.) (1999). Towards Sustainable Development: On the Goals of Development and the Conditions of
Sustainability, London: MacMillan

Lee, K., Holland, A. and McNeill, D. (eds.) (2000). Global Sustainable Development in the Twenty-First Century.
Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Neumayer, E. (1999). Weak versus Strong Sustainability: Exploring the Limits of Two Opposing Paradigms, Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.

Purvis, M. and Grainger, A. (eds.) (2004). Exploring Sustainable Development: Geographical Perspectives. London: Earthscan.

Sachs, W. (1999). Planet dialectics: explorations in environment and development. London: Zed Books.

Sachs, W. (ed.) (1993). Global Ecology: A New Arena of Political Conflict. London: Zed Books.

United Nations (2002). Global Challenge, Global Opportunity: Trends in Sustainable Development. New York: United
Nations.

OECD (2002). Working Together Towards Sustainable Development: the OECD Experience. Paris: Organisation
for Economic Cooperation and Development.

World Commission on Environment and Development (1987). Our Common Future. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [Brundtland Report]

Journal articles/Book chapters/Papers

Adams, W.M. (2002). ‘Sustainable Development?’. In Johnston, R.J., Taylor, P.J., and Watts, M. Geographies of Global Change:
remapping the world. 2nd edition, pp. 412-426.

AtKisson, A. (2006). ‘Sustainability is Dead – Long Live Sustainability.’ In Keiner, M. (ed.) (2006). The Future of Sustainability.
Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer, pp. 231-243.

Beckerman W. (1994). ‘Sustainable development: is it a useful concept?’ Environmental Values 3: 191–209.

Binswanger, H.C. (1998). ‘Making sustainability work.’ Journal of Ecological Economics 27:
3-11.

Diesendorf, M. (2001). 'Models of sustainability and sustainable development', International Journal of Agricultural
Resources,  Governance and Ecology 1 (2): 109-122.

Diesendorf, M.(2000). 'Sustainability and sustainable development', in Dunphy, D, Benveniste, J, Griffiths, A and Sutton, P (eds.). Sustainability: The corporate challenge of the 21st century, Sydney: Allen & Unwin.

Chasek, P.S. and M.A.L. Miller (2005). ‘Sustainable Development in the Twenty-First Century.’ In M.Snarr and D.N. Snarr (eds.). Introducing Global Issues. 3rd edition. Boulder: Lynne Rienner.

Ekins, P. (1993). ‘Making development sustainable.’ In Sachs, W. (ed.). Global Ecology: A New Arena of Political
Conflict. London: Zed Books, pp. 91-103.

Fisher, W.F. (1995). ‘Full of Sound and Fury? Struggling Toward Sustainable
Development in India’s Narmada Valley.’ In W.F. Fisher (ed.). Toward Sustainable Development: Struggling Over
India’s Narmada River. London: M.E. Sharpe, pp. 445-461.

Glasby, G.B. (2002). ‘Sustainable development: the need for a new paradigm.’ Environment, Development and Sustainability
4(4): 333-345.

Harris, J.M. (2204) Basic Principles for Sustainable Development, Global Development and Environment Institute, working paper 00-04. Available at: http://ase.tufts.edu/gdae/publications/Working_Papers/Sustainable%20Development.PDF


Holden, E. and Linnerud, K. (2007). ‘The Sustainable Development Area: Satisfying Basic Needs and Safeguarding Ecological Sustainability.’ Sustainable Development 15: 174-187.

Lafferty, William M. (1996). ‘The Politics of Sustainable Development: Global Norms for National Implementation’, Environmental
Politics 5(2): 185-208.

Lélé, S.M. (1991). ‘Sustainable development: a critical review.’ World Development 19(6): 607-621.

McManus, P. (1996). ‘Contested terrains: Politics, stories, and discourses of sustainability.’ Environmental Politics 5: 48-53.

McManus, P. (2000). ‘Sustainable development.’ In Johnston, R.J., Gregory, D, Pratt, G. and Watts, M. (eds.). The
Dictionary of Human Geography. 4th edition. Oxford: Blackwell.

McNeill, D. (2000). ‘The Concept of Sustainable Development.’ In Lee, K., Holland, A. and McNeill, D. (eds.). Global Sustainable
Development in the Twenty-First Century. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2000, pp. 10-30.

New Internationalist  (2000).‘Sustainability. Searching for Solutions’, No. 329 (Special Issue), November 2000.

Parayil, G. (1998). ‘Sustainable development: The fallacy of a normatively-neutral development paradigm.’ Journal of Applied Philosophy
15(2.): 179-194.

Parris, T.M. (2003). ‘Toward a sustainability transition: the international consensus.’ Environment 45: 12-22.

Redclift, M. (1992). ‘The meaning of sustainable development’. Geoforum 23(3): 395-403.

Rios Osorio, L.A., Ortiz Lobato, M. and A’Lvarez del Castillo, X. (2005). ‘Debates on sustainable development: towards a
holistic view of reality.’ Environment, Development and Sustainability 7: 501-518.

Robinson, J. (2004) Squaring the circle? Some thoughts on the idea of sustainable development. Ecological Economics
48(4): 369-384.

O’Riordan, T. (1993). ‘The Politics of Sustainability.’ In Turner, R.K. (ed.), Sustainable Environmental Economics and Management: Principles and Practice, London: Belhaven Press, pp. 37-69.

O’Riordan, T. (2000). ‘The sustainability debate.’ In O’Riordan, T. (ed.). Environmental Science for Environmental
Management. 2nd edition. Harlow: Pearson Education, pp. 29-42.

Sachs, W. (1997). ‘Sustainable development.’ In Redclift, M. and Woodgate, G. (eds.). The International Handbook of Environmental
Sociology. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 71-82.

Sachs, W. (1999). ‘Sustainable development: on the political anatomy of an oxymoron’. In Sachs, W. Planet dialectics:
explorations in environment and development. London: Zed Books, pp. 71-89.

Saunier, R.E. (1999). ‘Sustainable development, global sustainability.’ In Alexander, D.E. and Fairbridge, R.W. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Environmental Science. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academics, pp. 587-592.

Sen, A.K. (2000). ‘The Ends and Means of Sustainability’. Key Note Address at the International Conference on ‘Transition to Sustainability’ of the Inter Academy Panel on International Issues, Tokyo.

Sneddon, C.S. (2000). ‘Sustainability in ecological economics, ecology and livelihoods.’ Progress in Human Geography 24(4):
521-549.

Taylor, L. (1996). 'Sustainable development: An introduction.’ World Development 24(2): 215-225.

Turner, R. K. (1993). ‘Sustainability: Principles and Practice.’ In Turner, R.K. (ed.), Sustainable Environmental Economics and
Management: Principles and Practice, London: Belhaven Press, pp. 3-36.

Williams, C.C. and Millington, A.C. (2004). ‘The diverse and contested meanings of sustainable development.’ The Geographical Journal
170(2): 99–104.   

Woodhouse, P. (2000).’ Environmental Degradation and Sustainability.’ In Allen, Tim and Thomas, A. (eds): Poverty and Development into the 21st Century. London: Oxford University Press.

 

MyUni is the main site through which this online course is being taught. MyUni is an important learning tool and means of communication and knowledge exchange in this course. MyUni provides students with course materials, announcements and many other features to help manage their online study. There are Learning Modules which students are required to complete on a weekly basis.

The teaching in this course is based on student-centred learning principles and strategies. Students are seen as partners in the learning journey. A range of teaching methods are employed to involve and integrate the students in the learning process, and provide them with the necessary skills and knowledge of the topic. The teaching and learning in this course is about active, collaborative and peer-assisted learning where students actively participate and work together online in the learning process and take responsibility for their own learning.

The course is a fully online course which makes effective use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the online
teaching and learning environment of MyUni.

NOTE: Since you have enrolled in an online course, I will expect that your technology is working and you are skilled in using it, and that you are competent with MyUni.

University policies suggest for a 3-unit course that there should be 12 hours of learning activities per week including attendance in lectures and tutorials. The times suggested here are guidelines for students to achieve the course requirements and to successfully complete the course. You will need to allocate appropriate time for your study:


6 hours online learning activities per week

4 hours reading and research per week

2 hours assignmentpreparation per week

The teaching and learning activties are structured and scaffolded on MyUni into weekly activties. There might be minor changes but t
the overall content is as follows:


Week 1              Introduction: Environment and Development

Week 2              Social Theory: Environmentalism, Developmentalism, Political ecology

Week 3              Conceptualisations of nature

Week 4              History and Actors of ‘Sustainable Development’: Rio+20 summit on SD

Week 5              Economic sustainability: green economy and green growth

Week 6              Ecological sustainability

Week 7              Political sustainability: green citizenship, green state, green democracy

Week 8              Cultural sustainability: gender, culture, knowledge

Week 9              Social sustainability: community, poverty and social justice

Week 10            Environmental Security, Justice and Ethics

Week 11            Global Futures: science and technology, education

Week 12            Conclusion, Review

This a fully online course. Students are required to have adequate technology and internet connections to be able to fully participate in the teaching and learning activities.

This is a fully online course where there is no face-to-face small group discovery experience.

Assessment                                                                  Weighting                                Learning Outcomes     


1.     Research Essay or Report (2,000 words)              40%                                       6, 7
      (Formative, Summative)
 
2.     Discussion Board Postings                                     30%                                        6, 7, 8
         (formative, summative)

3.     Take Home Exam                                                    30%                                        1-9
       (Summative)
  


NOTE: for all assignments, there will be penalty of 5% for each day late submission.



 

1. Personal Learning Plan: need to be submitted to the course convenor by week 3.
There is a process of negotiating the assessment format (e.g. weighting of assessment (within 10%
maximum difference) and timing of submissions) at the beginning of the course. Students prepare a Personal Learning Plan (PLP), due at the end of week 3, which states their choices for assessment and feedback. This is like a contract between course convenor and student. Student have the responsibility to adhere to their outlined PLP.

2. Assessment: To be able to pass the course you must complete and submit for assessment all THREE (3) assessment components with all of its parts as described in this course profile.

3. Participation on the Discussion Board is a compulsory component of the course, and is monitored during the course. The discussion board are the learning space where we interact and discuss the course content. It is absolutely essential for your learning that you regularly do the work on the discussion board. You will not be able to pass the course if you do not participate in at least 90% of the weekly discussion board activities.

4.. Referencing:  the Harvard (author-date) referencing system must be used for the written assignments. Your work needs to include references (references are not counted towards the word count).

There will be more detailed information sheets for each assignments on MyUni. In addition, examples of previous students' assignments will be provided.

All assignments are to be submitted electronically on MyUni.