View
225
Download
0
Category
Tags:
Preview:
Citation preview
DATBLYGIAD CYNALIADWYA WELSH BA/BSc SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
John FarrarInstitute of Environmental ScienceUniversity of Wales, Bangor
the natural environment for learning
Undergraduate degree:
started Sept 2002planning started 1999
Not just a degree - research and institutional policy
Reasons - NAW policy - market niche - it matters
UW Bangor’s advantages:
Medium sizeStrengths in environmental scienceEconomics and social science expertiseHistory of research in sustainabilityInstitute of Environmental Science for inter-departmental collaboration
UW Bangor’s advantages: Strengths in environmental science –4 departments, 90 staff, NERC funded researchLots of supporting degrees eg Rural Resource Management, Coastal Water ResourcesEnvironmental Science as inter-departmental degree 350 environmental students per yearOur local environment
Problems, and UW Bangor’s disadvantages:
Working across departments and facultiesDepartment-based resource allocation modelConcern that a new degree will ‘steal’ students from existing degrees
What should a degree in sustainable development contain?
SD is understood by individuals as- eat organic food- recycle wine bottles- feel good
even if the organic food was produced with greater greenhouse gas emissions than non-organic
and the wine bottle transported 650 ml of water from Australia
SD is understood by politicians as– defined by Rio and Jo’burg, LA21- so biodiversity is more important than ecosystem services- and population growth doesn’t exist- and if it does it’s not a problem
- so hold conferences- place onus for change on others- feel good
SD as understood by academics
An enormously complex set of issuesImperfectly understood and changingMajor problems with integration between disciplines
Thus we don’t want a university-level education to have Rio or LA21 as its syllabus.
Need to give the grounding in each component discipline (environment, sociology, economics)
SD training should produce…
-people who can think with ease across disciplines-who can talk economy with economists and businesses-society with sociologists-environment with scientists-and all three with decision makers
Give students the language, assumptions and dogma of each discipline
SD training should produce…
Professionals who understand that
- policy should be evidence-based- it’s relatively easy to be rational about environment OR economy OR society- but very hard to integrate any two of these three - indicators - policy drivers - major intellectual difficulties
Use to employer – trained broadly, able to interact with a range of other professionals
The degree: subjects and structureSome bilingual coursesUse of local contactsUse of local environmentUse of local issues
The degree: Year 1 common to BA and BScSustainability and world environmentGlobal environmental issuesBiodiversity and ecologyEarth and atmospheric processesUnderstanding communityEnvironment and communityDivided BritainEnvironmental managementIntroduction to economics
The degree: Year 2
BA and BSc specialisation Core:Principles of conservationEnvironmental economicsEcosystems and communitiesRural sociologyPlanningPlus 4 modules of science+management (BSc)or community+management+economics (BA)plus any 2 others
The degree: Year 3 BA and BSc specialisation Core:Project or dissertationSustainable developmentEnergyChoice and welfarePlus 4 modules of science+management (BSc)or community+management+economics (BA)plus any 2 othersTenerife field course
Why should the rest of the University take SD seriously?
- serious numbers of students- research income
- moral grounds [?]
- pressure from NAW
Sustainable Development research
- long history in agriculture, forestry, arid zones- more recently in fisheries, land use, remediation (£0.75M)- new: footprinting, sustainability audit tool (TASK), climate change impacts and indicators (>£0.5M)
An institutional Sustainability Policyfor Bangor- approved by Council- very broad- commits us to actions
PRIFYSGOL CYMRU BANGORUNIVERSITY OF WALES, BANGOR
SUSTAINABILITY POLICY1. STATEMENT
The University of Wales, Bangor acknowledges the implications of its activities for the environment and for broader issues of sustainability, at a local, national
and global level.
….and next, how about anall-Wales MA/MSc in SD?
Recommended