SDG Detail

GEOG 320 : Resources and Environmental Management

Undergraduate course

Project description

This course examines the use and management of natural resources with reference to the way in which institutional structures determine resource use and allocation. In particular, attention is given to the management of the environmental impacts of resource use and the policy framework for resource and environmental management in New Zealand. The course adopts a definition of the environment that includes the economic and social structuring of human and biophysical ecosystems. It directs particular attention to Indigenous rights and resource managers' obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi. Key themes for the course include environmental justice, the conflict between expert knowledge and public participation, and the socio-cultural dimensions of sustainability in resource management. The course is suitable for most second or third year students who have an interest in the social dimensions of resource conflicts and environmental planning. It is ideally suited for senior undergraduate majors in Geography or Environmental Science, but a pleasing characteristic of the course is the diversity amongst those enrolled. Hence, many law, biology and engineering students use the course to provide an environmental inflection for their wider degree programmes.

Year 2022

Location New Zealand

Organization University of Auckland

Project aims

Project outcome

By the end of this course, students will be able to: Critically analyse the social, cultural and environmental outcomes of particular forms of resource and environmental management. (Capability 1, 2, 3 and 6) Communicate and explain the limitations placed on our ability to manage the environment by: the complexity of ecosystems; the intractability of cultural and social norms; and, the centrality of economic development. (Capability 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6) Identify, critique and evaluate Treaty of Waitangi obligations as they apply to resource management. (Capability 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6) Analyse the adequacy and impacts of new forms of �scientific� management of the environment. (Capability 1, 2, 5 and 6) Recognise and interpret the ethical complexities in competing social and cultural understandings of the environment. (Capability 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6) Develop resource and environmental policies to achieve environmental goals, and minimise social impacts. (Capability 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6) Engage and collaborate with community groups in the process of environmental planning. (Capability 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6) Critically explore the complex interface between social and environmental systems and bring together information from social, natural and legal sciences in authorship. (Capability 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6)