This module delivers a broad understanding of the fields of environmental management and environmental human geography, demonstrating the value of a theoretically grounded social scientific approach for understanding and implementing contemporary approaches to environmental management.  

Semester 1 will start with some important principles and debates that frame environmental thinking and environmental management approaches, before going on to introduce a range of policies and management approaches that are commonly used in environmental management and decision making in various contexts - such as Environmental Impact Assessment, Agri-Environment Schemes, and Payments for Ecosystem Services.

Semester 2 will broadly address rationales and mechanisms for the engagement of different parties, including the wider public, in decision-making about environmental matters. More specifically, it will explore issues such as climate change, EU environmental policy, and the role of different types of knowledge about the environment.  

By the end of the module the student should be able to:

• Articulate, problematize and critique key concepts framing environmental management;
• Assess the policy and decision-making implications of sustainability at a range of scales;
• Describe and assess the role of various formal approaches to environmental assessment and decision-making, and their limitations;
• Apply different theoretical understandings of human-environment relations to analyse and interpret contemporary approaches to environmental management;
• Assess the role of science in decision-making and its limitations;
• Identify key factors and concerns in the public understanding of environmental issues;
• Appreciate and demonstrate the importance of cultural, political and economic geography to contemporary environmental management.