GEOG1001 Environment and Society

2018

4.5

1 x 1-hour tutorial weekly
1 x 2-hour seminar weekly

Practical, Practical Worksheet, Wetland Practical and Short Paper, Major Assignment, Practical and Worksheet, Examination, and In class quizzes.

“Environment and Society” is the study of the interrelationships between people, places and environments. Students of Environment and Society investigate the interactions between environments and communities across local to global scales. The topic develops an understanding of how people interact with environments differently in different places and at different times, and of the opportunities, challenges, and constraints of different locations. Student experience an inquiry-based approach to develop an understanding of why phenomena and relationships are like they are and how they could be; how societies and environments are connected to one another; how and why they change; and how and why their characteristics vary across time and space at different scales. The topic comprises 3 modules. The “conceptual” module introduces the concepts of environmental functions and bio-diversity, human impact on environment and place and liveability. It discusses environmental change affecting humans. The “thematic” module provides discussions on the place of environment in terms of population, economy, culture, health, fresh water and food security. The “actions” module introduces the concept of sustainable development and explores various road maps for actions in communities and localities including indigenous practices of environmental conservation that can make a global impact. References to Australian and International examples flow throughout the topic.

Water Resources and Society is designed to introduce first year students to some of the pertinent water issues in Australia at present.

At the completion of the topic, students are expected to be able to:

1. Identify some of the current global and Australian water resource issues and describe their causes and envisaged management options in a concise written form
2. Recognise the role of rainfall in sustaining water resources and describe and compare rainfall characteristics, patterns and trends in a written and graphic form
3. Outline the processes required to render water and wastewater suitable for various beneficial uses
4. Conduct in-situ water sampling and measurements and provide a basic appraisal of the useability of the water
5. Evaluate the feasability of a range of water management options