Environmental Sustainability is one of two core subjects for the Master of Environment degree. This subject provides students with a strong foundation in interdisciplinary understanding of critical environmental sustainability issues, and how and why they have emerged, in the context of policy, management, and governance across scales and sectors.

Exploring environmental sustainability through an interdisciplinary lens, this subject considers concepts and principles fundamental for understanding the complex nature of the environmental crises facing humanity and, in turn, for developing solutions. Environmental Sustainability will cover:

• The fundamental earth system processes that provide humanity’s life-support system;
• The conditions that have led to the Anthropocene, and its implications for life as we know it;
• Global and local environmental challenges, including for biodiversity, water, energy, and food, in relation their natural and social environments;
• Complex social-ecological systems and their role in contributing to and solving critical environmental sustainability issues;
• Different perspectives, and the influence of worldview, values and beliefs on sustainability;
• The role of individuals, governments, business and innovation in building a sustainable future; and
• Management, governance, and social-ecological issues for achieving environmental sustainability.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Environmental sustainability issues are often complex, controversial and associated with uncertain conditions. Multiple individuals and organisations may have an interest or stake in the problem, may have relevant expertise or resources, or may contribute to decision-making and management. Developing, implementing and evaluating pathways for sustainable futures thus often requires cooperation across institutions, sectors, and communities. Private, public and not-for-profit sectors; local, national, regional and global jurisdictions; disciplinary, practitioner, local, and Indigenous knowledges: these all have different commitments, priorities, and ways of working. How do we successfully translate and collaborate across these areas, and how does this support transformational change for sustainable futures?

As highlighted by Sustainable Development Goal 17 (Partnerships), the collaborative capacity of individuals and organisations cannot be taken for granted, and instead requires the careful and critical development of a specific set of professional competencies. In this subject, students apply critical and reflexive thinking to professional practices that are crucial to leading effective partnerships for environmental sustainability, and which are highly valued in environmental sectors. Incorporating perspectives and practices from a range of environmental professions and disciplines, the subject develops students’ capacity for building, maintaining and evaluating partnerships in applying environmental expertise to decision-making and action for sustainable futures.

The subject focuses on the following questions:

• What kinds of partnerships are important in integrating environmental expertise and applying it to decision-making and action for sustainable futures, and why?
• What are the challenges for environmental professionals in developing such partnerships and collaborating effectively across organisations, sectors, forms of expertise, and communities?
• What skills and strategies can assist environmental professionals in developing, leading and maintaining effective partnerships with positive outcomes?
• How can we evaluate and learn from the collaborative processes and outcomes of partnerships?

View detailed information in the Handbook

Global food production is facing many challenges to meet current and future demand. Impacts of climate change on agriculture will add stress to our ability to produce enough food for a growing population with fewer resources. Adapting agriculture to climate change to meet these needs is a critical challenge for current and future generations.

This subject will examine the potential impacts of climate change on agricultural production and explore adaptation options within various sectors of agriculture and food production. This exploration of adaptation options will include consideration of barriers that may hinder effective adaptation.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject focuses on how to access and understand basic climate science and data and how to accurately communicate to a broader audience. The subject covers the fundamentals of climate science, including the physics and chemistry of climate change, future climate projections, climate extremes, and the interactions between the atmosphere and land, forests and the oceans. The subject also interrogates how global changes in climate lead to impacts on society, ecosystems, and economies. The subject has a particular focus on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports. To develop practical skills, students will make use of these scientific reports and concepts learnt in class to prepare short assessments that clearly and concisely communicate and translate aspects of climate science. The course culminates in a negotiation session where students take on the role of a state representative within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject introduces and analyses critical concepts and terms central to debates over climate change, including risk and uncertainty, adaptation and mitigation, burden sharing, and problems and issues relating to regimes, strategies and policy instruments for addressing global warming. The subject considers the rise of climate change as a policy problem. It reviews and analyses the history of climate change policy as it has evolved nationally and internationally. It examines the interactions between national and regional climate policy, including in Australia, the United States, the European Union and China. It analyses debates and concerns that have led to the evolution of the Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol, and more recent arrangements. Students will consider a range of policy instruments, including carbon taxes and emissions trading, and technologies that have been proposed or deployed to address this issue. This subject enables students to understand the evolution of a critical global environmental issue. It offers insights into technical, political, ethical and ecological issues that have framed climate change policy, and enables students to think critically about and participate in developing policy in this domain.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject will investigate the role of terrestrial ecosystems in the global carbon cycle and in a changing climate. Students will learn the scientific basis for climate change and the impact that a changing climate might have on terrestrial ecosystems and how ecosystems influence climate. We will learn what adaptation actions we can take to manage ecosystems in a changing climate. We will discuss the role ecosystems play in the global carbon cycle and the degree to which terrestrial ecosystems can be used as a carbon sequestration options. We will evaluate the requirements for forest carbon accounting and will apply carbon accounting tools in hands-on accounting sessions with industry partners. This scientific understanding will be extended to discuss policy instruments under consideration in Australia and in the international arena for the potential role of ecosystems in carbon emissions trading. The subject will equip students with state-of-the-art knowledge on the impact of climate change on forest ecosystems and with practical experiences in forest carbon accounting.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Climate change is a pressing environmental, economic and social problem. Global warming is predicted to have wide-ranging impacts, and it presents enormous challenges for conventional models of law and socio-economic governance due to its pervasive character, long-term effects and the need for dynamic change in many of the fundamental areas of life. This subject examines the challenges for law in driving that change, from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its associated Paris Agreement, to international trade, climate finance and litigation, to federal and state legislative responses, through to local effects including relating to Indigenous peoples. The lecturer is active in research and advice in climate change law and governance in the international and domestic law spheres.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• The scientific basis for global warming and physical impacts of climate change
• The international legal framework, including the UNFCCC, Kyoto Protocol, Paris Agreement and associated international instruments
• Social and cultural impacts and legal responses, such as human rights protection
• Climate finance and schemes for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD).
• The role of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in climate change governance, particularly with respect to renewable energy technologies and the disciplining of fossil fuel subsidies
• The interaction of climate change regimes with other international law frameworks; eg World Heritage, refugee law, human rights and security
• The federal legislative framework for climate change mitigation and adaptation, including direct action plans, market mechanisms and carbon trading
• State-based legislative and regulatory responses to climate change
• Bio-sequestration and carbon capture and storage
• The nature of climate change litigation

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject equips participants with an understanding of the role and limitations of science in environmental debates and decision-making. Global changes to the atmosphere, hydrological cycle, land-uses, urbanisation, climate, pollution, biodiversity, pests, and diseases are having profound impacts on the planet, its people and other species. You will gain an appreciation of strengths and limitations in the diversity of scientific approaches used to understand and manage environmental changes. These approaches include empirical observation, mathematical and statistical modelling, and expert opinion. The subject highlights the breadth of environmental changes, and the range of scientific methods that can be used to address these issues. Collectively, these elements provide a sound foundation for science-based advocacy and management that recognises the scientific and social contexts of environmental debates.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject focuses on climate change adaptation, and in particular its environmental, political, social and policy dimensions. It explores the ways in which climate change poses risks to human wellbeing, and the ways these risks can be managed. It draws on examples from Australia and the Asia-Pacific region, and in particular on the teaching staff’s concurrent research on climate change adaptation on small islands. It explains that adaptation and its success can be thought of and approached in multiple ways, shaped in part by existing interests and the varied and dynamic places in which adaptation is being consciously or unconsciously implemented. The subject also highlights that adaptation poses, as well as addresses, risks, and that decisions about adaptation need to be considered critically and iteratively. The subject is taught in an intensive mode. Topics include:

• Issues of complexity, uncertainty, knowledge, power, and practice in researching and implementing climate change
• The relationship between adaptation and other processes of change, including development
• Strategies for change at global, regional, local and individual scales, their inter-relations and how they may be facilitated.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject will focus on the complex topic of climate change mitigation. Climate change mitigation includes actions we take globally, nationally and individually to limit changes in the global climate caused by human activities. Mitigation activities are designed to reduce greenhouse emissions and/or increase the amount of greenhouse gases removed from the atmosphere by greenhouse sinks.

The subject will provide a critical and multidisciplinary overview of strategies for climate change mitigation but focuses on the technical feasibility and effectiveness of different mitigation options in the many different sectors that emit or sequester greenhouse gases. We will discuss in detail the emissions profiles and potentials for reducing emissions in energy systems, transport, buildings and industry, but we also include agriculture and land based systems and new breakthrough technologies. The subject will discuss the criteria and considerations for evaluating climate change mitigation, assess the feasibility in a technical and economic sense and the potential transformation pathways.

The strengths and weaknesses of mitigation strategies will be discussed in the context of national and international frameworks and economies. It will be demonstrated that climate change mitigation cannot be achieved by a single action but that multiple approaches may be necessary to achieve meaningful mitigation and that many societal sectors will be required to take action.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject allows students to conduct an original literature review of research relevant to clearly specified area of environment and sustainability. The project comprises a substantial review of a body of literature or an evaluation of research or experimental protocols. The specific focus of the literature review will be initiated by the student arising from their keen interests and consultations with other networks and academic staff with relevant expertise. Proposals for projects must be submitted to the subject coordinator in the semester prior to commencement in the subject. Final approval for the topic lies with the subject co-ordinator.

The work will be equivalent to lecture and practical based subjects worth 12.5 points The work commitment includes regular one hour meetings with supervisors where students report on progress, difficulties and research plans. Workshops conducted by the subject coordinator will deliver skill development in research practice including oral and written report presentation, with a focus on communication of research in interdisciplinary contexts.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject allows students to conduct an independent, original research project in a specified area of environment and sustainability. The project comprises a review of a body of literature, a review and discussion of methodology and/ or an evaluation of research or experimental protocols and some original research. The specific focus of the research project will be initiated by the student arising from their keen interests and consultations with other networks and academic staff with relevant expertise. Proposals for research projects must be submitted to the subject coordinator in the semester prior to commencement in the subject. Final approval for the topic lies with the subject co-ordinator.

The work will be equivalent to lecture and practical based subjects worth 25 points. The work commitment includes regular one hour meetings with supervisors where students report on progress, difficulties and research plans. Workshops conducted by the subject coordinator will deliver skill development in research practice including oral and written report presentation, with a focus on communication of research in interdisciplinary contexts.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject allows students to conduct a substantial, independent, original research project in a specified area of environment and sustainability. The project comprises a review of a body of literature, a review and discussion of methodology and/ or an evaluation of research or experimental protocols and some original research. The specific focus of the research project will be initiated by the student arising from their keen interests and consultations with other networks and academic staff with relevant expertise. Proposals for research projects must be submitted to the subject coordinator in the semester prior to commencement in the subject. Final approval for the topic lies with the subject co-ordinator.

The work will be equivalent to lecture and practical based subjects worth 50 points. The work commitment includes regular one hour meetings with supervisors where students report on progress, difficulties and research plans. Workshops conducted by the subject coordinator will deliver skill development in research practice including oral and written report presentation, with a focus on communication of research in interdisciplinary contexts.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject allows students to conduct an independent, original research project in a specified area of environment and sustainability, in collaboration with an industry partner. The project addresses a real world problem in an industry context and comprises a review of a body of literature, a review and discussion of methodology and/ or an evaluation of research or experimental protocols and some original research.

The specific focus of the research project will be initiated by either the student arising from their keen interests and consultations with other networks and academic staff with relevant expertise, or by an industry partner. Proposals for research projects must be submitted to the subject coordinator in the semester prior to commencement in the subject. Final approval for the topic lies with the subject co-ordinator.

The work will be equivalent to lecture and practical based subjects worth 25 points. The work commitment includes regular one hour meetings with academic and industry partner supervisors where students report on progress, difficulties and research plans. Workshops conducted by the subject coordinator will deliver skill development in research practice including oral and written report presentation, with a focus on communication of research in interdisciplinary contexts.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject allows students to conduct an substantial independent, original research project in a specified area of environment and sustainability, in collaboration with an industry partner. The project addresses a real world problem in an industry context and comprises a review of a body of literature, a review and discussion of methodology and/ or an evaluation of research or experimental protocols and some original research.

The specific focus of the research project will be initiated by either the student arising from their keen interests and consultations with other networks and academic staff with relevant expertise, or by an industry partner. Proposals for research projects must be submitted to the subject coordinator in the semester prior to commencement in the subject. Final approval for the topic lies with the subject coordinator.

The work will be equivalent to lecture and practical based subjects worth 25 points. The work commitment includes regular one hour meetings with academic and industry partner supervisors where students report on progress, difficulties and research plans. Workshops conducted by the subject coordinator will deliver skill development in research practice including oral and written report presentation, with a focus on communication of research in interdisciplinary contexts.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Internship in Development is an elective subject available to graduate students in Development and various cognate disciplines and fields of study. The internship subject aims to provide students with the opportunity to apply their knowledge and skills learnt in class and enhance their understanding of the current approaches to the broad field of development through a structured period of contributing as a temporary staff member in a government, non-government or private corporation inside or outside Australia. Students are able to select a host organisation to further develop their knowledge and skills in their chosen area of interest. The exposure to a different cultural, socio-political or organisational context provides students with vast opportunities to critically reflect on the relationship between theory and practice, and the thus the nature of development as they have studied it and as they observe it to be approached or practiced during their internship placement.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject involves completion of a minimum 80 hours work placement integrating academic learning, employability skills and attributes, and an improved knowledge of organisations, workplace culture and career pathways. The placement is supplemented by pre- and post-placement classes designed to introduce skills for developing, identifying and articulating employability skills and attributes and linking them to employer requirements. The placement should draw on specific discipline skills associated with the course of enrolment. Pre-placement seminars will also include consideration of career planning and professional skills. The placement is designed to be a standalone internship not integrated into any other subject.

Students are responsible for identifying a suitable work placement prior to the start of semester, and will be assisted by the Subject Coordinator and the Careers and Industry team in the Faculty of Science. In the semester prior to the placement students should access the Careers & Employability Studio: https://careers.unimelb.edu.au/students/career-and-employability-drop-in-sessions drop in sessions, workshops and resources to help identify potential host organisations and employment preparation. Students will be responsible for identifying a suitable work placement prior to the semester.

Application for credit need to be submitted via the Internships Portal at least 3 weeks prior to internship commencement and within the Key Dates mentioned on the website. More information is available on the subject webpage here: https://science.unimelb.edu.au/students/plan-your-study/internship-subjects.

If you have questions on how and where to find internship, you should contact the Careers and Industry team in the Faculty of Science at hyperlink: https://forms.your.unimelb.edu.au/4747166?SID=a3xOY000000018z

On completion of the subject, students will have completed and reported on a course-related project in a workplace. They will also have enhanced employability skills including communication, interpersonal, analytical and problem-solving skills, organisation and time-management, and an understanding of career planning and professional development.

View detailed information in the Handbook

International Internship in the Environment is an elective subject available to students in the Master of Geography, Master of Environment or Master of Ecosystem Management and Conservation. Eligible students gain subject credit for a placement with an organisation based in another country. It provides students with the opportunity to gain exposure to a different cultural setting and to think critically about the nature of the relationship between theory and practice.

The broad aim of the internship is to provide the opportunity for graduate students to gain invaluable practical experience and to build their networks with industry, government or NGOs in order to further enhance their knowledge and skills in their chosen area of study. Students will have the chance to make a positive contribution to the host organisation by applying their previous experience, skills and knowledge gained through study.

To enrol into this subject students will be in the final 100 points of their Masters’ degree in the semester they intend to enrol. Students will be responsible for identifying a suitable work placement prior to the semester and seek coordinator permission one semester prior to enrolling into this subject.

Application for credit needs to be submitted via the Internships Portal at least 3 weeks prior to internship commencement and within the Key Dates mentioned on the website. Students undertaking the International Internship in Environment subject may have some additional flexibility for placements that extend beyond these dates. However, applications must be submitted before the application deadline. More information is available on the subject webpage here: https://science.unimelb.edu.au/students/plan-your-study/internship-subjects. If you have questions on how and where to find internship, you should contact the Careers and Industry team in the Faculty of Science at hyperlink: https://forms.your.unimelb.edu.au/4747166?SID=a3xOY000000018z

Students will complete all necessary internship and travel paperwork PRIOR to enrolment in the subject.

Students will generally need to meet the cost of travel and subsistence in the destination country.

Completion of Internship Placement and Risk Assessment form and the on-line Student Travel Registration https://safety.unimelb.edu.au/management/implement

View detailed information in the Handbook

Internship in Development is an elective subject available to graduate students in Development and various cognate disciplines and fields of study. This subject aims to provide students with the opportunity to apply their knowledge and skills learnt in class and enhance their understanding of the current approaches to the broad field of development through a structured period of contributing as a temporary staff member in a government, non-government or private corporation inside or outside Australia. Students are able to select a host organisation to further develop their knowledge and skills in their chosen area of interest. The exposure to a different cultural, socio-political or organisational context provides students with vast opportunities to critically reflect on the relationship between theory and practice, and the thus the nature of development as they have studied it and as they observe it to be approached or practiced during their internship placement.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject allows students to conduct an independent, original research project in a specified area of environment and sustainability. The project comprises a review of a body of literature, a review and discussion of methodology and/ or an evaluation of research or experimental protocols and some original research. The specific focus of the research project will be initiated by the student arising from their keen interests and consultations with other networks and academic staff with relevant expertise. Proposals for research projects must be submitted to the subject coordinator in the semester prior to commencement in the subject. Final approval for the topic lies with the subject co-ordinator.

The work will be equivalent to lecture and practical based subjects worth 25 points. The work commitment includes regular one hour meetings with supervisors where students report on progress, difficulties and research plans. Workshops conducted by the subject coordinator will deliver skill development in research practice including oral and written report presentation, with a focus on communication of research in interdisciplinary contexts.

Students enrol in the Part 1 subject in the first semester and the Part 2 subject in the second semester.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject allows students to conduct an independent, original research project in a specified area of environment and sustainability. The project comprises a review of a body of literature, a review and discussion of methodology and/ or an evaluation of research or experimental protocols and some original research. The specific focus of the research project will be initiated by the student arising from their keen interests and consultations with other networks and academic staff with relevant expertise. Proposals for research projects must be submitted to the subject coordinator in the semester prior to commencement in the subject. Final approval for the topic lies with the subject co-ordinator.

The work will be equivalent to lecture and practical based subjects worth 25 points. The work commitment includes regular one hour meetings with supervisors where students report on progress, difficulties and research plans. Workshops conducted by the subject coordinator will deliver skill development in research practice including oral and written report presentation, with a focus on communication of research in interdisciplinary contexts.

Students enrol in the Part 1 subject in the first semester and the Part 2 subject in the second semester.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject allows students to conduct a substantial, independent, original research project in a specified area of environment and sustainability. The project comprises a review of a body of literature, a review and discussion of methodology and/ or an evaluation of research or experimental protocols and some original research. The specific focus of the research project will be initiated by the student arising from their keen interests and consultations with other networks and academic staff with relevant expertise. Proposals for research projects must be submitted to the subject coordinator in the semester prior to commencement in the subject. Final approval for the topic lies with the subject coordinator.

The work will be equivalent to lecture and practical based subjects worth 50 points. The work commitment includes regular one hour meetings with supervisors where students report on progress, difficulties and research plans. Workshops conducted by the subject coordinator will deliver skill development in research practice including oral and written report presentation, with a focus on communication of research in interdisciplinary contexts.

Students enrol in the Part 1 subject in the first semester and the Part 2 subject in the second semester.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject allows students to conduct a substantial, independent, original research project in a specified area of environment and sustainability. The project comprises a review of a body of literature, a review and discussion of methodology and/ or an evaluation of research or experimental protocols and some original research. The specific focus of the research project will be initiated by the student arising from their keen interests and consultations with other networks and academic staff with relevant expertise. Proposals for research projects must be submitted to the subject coordinator in the semester prior to commencement in the subject. Final approval for the topic lies with the subject co-ordinator.

The work will be equivalent to lecture and practical based subjects worth 50 points. The work commitment includes regular one hour meetings with supervisors where students report on progress, difficulties and research plans. Workshops conducted by the subject coordinator will deliver skill development in research practice including oral and written report presentation, with a focus on communication of research in interdisciplinary contexts.

Students enrol in the Part 1 subject in the first semester and the Part 2 subject in the second semester.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject allows students to conduct an independent, original research project in a specified area of environment and sustainability, in collaboration with an industry partner. The project addresses a real world problem in an industry context and comprises a review of a body of literature, a review and discussion of methodology and/ or an evaluation of research or experimental protocols and some original research.

The specific focus of the research project will be initiated by either the student arising from their keen interests and consultations with other networks and academic staff with relevant expertise, or by an industry partner. Proposals for research projects must be submitted to the subject coordinator in the semester prior to commencement in the subject. Final approval for the topic lies with the subject co-ordinator.

The work will be equivalent to lecture and practical based subjects worth 25 points. The work commitment includes regular one hour meetings with academic and industry partner supervisors where students report on progress, difficulties and research plans. Workshops conducted by the subject coordinator will deliver skill development in research practice including oral and written report presentation, with a focus on communication of research in interdisciplinary contexts.

Students enrol in the Part 1 subject in the first semester and the Part 2 subject in the second semester

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject allows students to conduct an independent, original research project in a specified area of environment and sustainability, in collaboration with an industry partner. The project addresses a real world problem in an industry context and comprises a review of a body of literature, a review and discussion of methodology and/ or an evaluation of research or experimental protocols and some original research.

The specific focus of the research project will be initiated by either the student arising from their keen interests and consultations with other networks and academic staff with relevant expertise, or by an industry partner. Proposals for research projects must be submitted to the subject coordinator in the semester prior to commencement in the subject. Final approval for the topic lies with the subject co-ordinator.

The work will be equivalent to lecture and practical based subjects worth 25 points. The work commitment includes regular one hour meetings with academic and industry partner supervisors where students report on progress, difficulties and research plans. Workshops conducted by the subject coordinator will deliver skill development in research practice including oral and written report presentation, with a focus on communication of research in interdisciplinary contexts.

Students enrol in the Part 1 subject in the first semester and the Part 2 subject in the second semester

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject allows students to conduct an substantial independent, original research project in a specified area of environment and sustainability, in collaboration with an industry partner. The project addresses a real world problem in an industry context and comprises a review of a body of literature, a review and discussion of methodology and/ or an evaluation of research or experimental protocols and some original research.

The specific focus of the research project will be initiated by either the student arising from their keen interests and consultations with other networks and academic staff with relevant expertise, or by an industry partner. Proposals for research projects must be submitted to the subject coordinator in the semester prior to commencement in the subject. Final approval for the topic lies with the subject co-ordinator.

The work will be equivalent to lecture and practical based subjects worth 25 points. The work commitment includes regular one hour meetings with academic and industry partner supervisors where students report on progress, difficulties and research plans. Workshops conducted by the subject coordinator will deliver skill development in research practice including oral and written report presentation, with a focus on communication of research in interdisciplinary contexts.

Students enrol in the Part 1 subject in the first semester and the Part 2 subject in the second semester.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject allows students to conduct an substantial independent, original research project in a specified area of environment and sustainability, in collaboration with an industry partner. The project addresses a real world problem in an industry context and comprises a review of a body of literature, a review and discussion of methodology and/ or an evaluation of research or experimental protocols and some original research.

The specific focus of the research project will be initiated by either the student arising from their keen interests and consultations with other networks and academic staff with relevant expertise, or by an industry partner. Proposals for research projects must be submitted to the subject coordinator in the semester prior to commencement in the subject. Final approval for the topic lies with the subject co-ordinator.

The work will be equivalent to lecture and practical based subjects worth 25 points. The work commitment includes regular one hour meetings with academic and industry partner supervisors where students report on progress, difficulties and research plans. Workshops conducted by the subject coordinator will deliver skill development in research practice including oral and written report presentation, with a focus on communication of research in interdisciplinary contexts.

Students enrol in the Part 1 subject in the first semester and the Part 2 subject in the second semester.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject involves the definition and development of an internship placement in collaboration with the host institution. It has at its core a workplace project that will allow students to develop skills in project management, problem solving, multi-disciplinary workplace practice, institutional policy and strategy mapping, project reporting and communication.

This internship subject aims to provide students with a high-level employment experience with government, industry or non-government organisation (NGO). Students will develop a good understanding of potential employer expectations of Masters graduates and the skills required to function and excel in a workplace involved in the application of scientific research, technology, policy, planning or management.

With assistance from the subject coordinator, students will be required to source a host-institution and develop a workplace project in consultation with (a) representative(s) from the host institution. More information is available on the subject webpage here: https://science.unimelb.edu.au/study/internship-subjects. The student and academic supervisor then define and coordinate the internship placement and develop a workplace project in consultation with (a) representative(s) from the host institution.

Application for credit needs to be submitted via the Internships Portal at least 3 weeks prior to internship commencement and within the Key Dates mentioned on the website. However, students undertaking the Ecosystem Internship subject may have some additional flexibility for placements that extend beyond these dates. However, applications must be submitted before the application deadline. More information is available on the subject webpage here: https://science.unimelb.edu.au/students/plan-your-study/internship-subjects. If you have questions on how and where to find internship, you should contact the Careers and Industry team in the Faculty of Science at hyperlink: https://forms.your.unimelb.edu.au/4747166?SID=a3xOY000000018z

This project may relate to an applied science, technological, economic, social or management topic. Each student will prepare an ‘Internship Plan’ which includes relevant information about the project’s aims, context in relation to the institution, approaches to be used, relevant background knowledge and potential outputs to the host-institution. Students will then spend a period of 4-5 weeks (full-time equivalent; ca. 200 hours) working within their host institution i) gaining experience, ii) shadowing institution mentors and iii) working on their internship project. At completion of the internship placement, students will be required to present their findings to an audience, including members of the host-institution, in form of an ‘Internship Seminar’, and submit a ‘Main Report’ on their internship project.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject involves completion of an 80-100 hour science or technology work placement integrating academic learning in science areas of study, employability skills and attributes and an improved knowledge of science and technology organisations, workplace culture and career pathways. The placement is supplemented by pre- and post-placement classes designed to develop an understanding of science and technology professions, introduce skills for developing, identifying and articulating employability skills and attributes and linking them to employer requirements in the science and technology domains. Work conducted during the placement will be suitable for a graduate level of expertise and experience. While immersed in a work environment, students will be expected to challenge themselves by accepting roles and responsibilities that stretch their existing capabilities. They will interrogate the requirements of specific careers and continually monitor their own progress towards developing the necessary knowledge, skills and attributes to thrive in these roles.

Students will be responsible for identifying a suitable work placement prior to the semester. Application for credit need to be submitted via the Internships Portal at least 3 weeks prior to internship commencement and within the Key Dates mentioned on the website. More information is available on the subject webpage here: https://science.unimelb.edu.au/students/plan-your-study/internship-subjects. If you have questions on how and where to find internship, you should contact the Careers and Industry team in the Faculty of Science at hyperlink: https://forms.your.unimelb.edu.au/4747166?SID=a3xOY000000018z

On completion of the subject, students will have completed and reported on a course-related project in a science or technology workplace. They will also have enhanced employability skills including communication, interpersonal, analytical and problem-solving, organisational and time-management, and an understanding of career planning and professional development.

View detailed information in the Handbook

AIMS

This subject provides a multi-disciplinary overview of the design of sustainable buildings and considers the design from an architectural, services engineering, facade engineering, environmental engineering and structural engineering, tenants and owners perspective. A number of industry based case study examples will be introduced to complement the lectures.

This subject uses a project based learning project where students work in teams to design a new or refurbished commercial building to improve the environmental and social performance of the building. Students learn to apply sustainability-rating tools used in industry to their solutions.

Students in the subject come from different disciplinary backgrounds, principally engineering and architecture, and are expected to share their knowledge and learn from each other to successfully complete the project work. This stands them in good stead for entering professional practice in the area of sustainability.

INDICATIVE CONTENT

Topics include: ecological sustainable design, life cycle analysis, planning for sustainable buildings and cities, regulatory environment, barriers to green buildings, green building rating tools, material selection, embodied energy, operating energy, indoor environmental quality (noise, light and air), facade systems, ventilation systems, transportation, water treatment systems, water efficiency, building economics, and staff productivity. These will be covered in the following thematic areas:

• Sustainable Cities
• Sustainable Precincts
• Building Envelope
• Building services - Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning
• Building services - Energy
• Building Services - water
• Existing Buildings
• Green Building Rating Tools
• ESD Drivers and Barriers
• ESD Economics
• the process of a green building - 60L CH2
• Business Perspective
• Case Studies.

View detailed information in the Handbook

The subject provides an understanding of the economic analysis of market and government decisions affecting the environment. Topics include economic principles used in analysing private sector decisions on resource use and preservation, externalities and public goods reasons for government intervention, the theory and practice of benefit cost analysis, case study illustrations to water, forests, greenhouse gases and biodiversity.

View detailed information in the Handbook

AIMS

Environmental Management ISO 14000 aims to provide students with the skills and knowledge to apply and help develop environmental management systems. The subject builds on the student’s knowledge of risk management, such as that gained in CVEN30008 Risk Analysis, and develops their ability to identify, assess and manage environmental risk that arises from the construction and operation of manufacturing or infrastructure facilities. It also builds on knowledge about sustainability such as is learnt in the subject CVEN90043 Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering, and other management systems such as those learnt in CVEN90045 Engineering Project Implementation.

At the conclusion of the subject, it is expected that students should be able to work under supervision in a capacity where they are responsible for the maintenance of an existing environmental management system, or assist in developing a new system. They should also be in a position to conduct simple internal audits and assist in more complex internal audits. The subject does not provide students with sufficient practice and skills to immediately become an accredited auditor in Australia.

INDICATIVE CONTENT

Environmental Management ISO 14000 will cover the following related areas of study: the history of EMS from Demming Wheel to ISO 14000 series; the elements of an EMS; systems audit and review and gap analysis; legal requirements, due diligence document control, liability and ISO 9000 review; regulation and accreditation; community consultation; emerging issues in environmental management.

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AIMS

This subject explores the scope and methods for improving energy efficiency across a range of sectors. Improving energy efficiency is one of the key responses to increasingly scarce natural resources and problems caused by pollutants arising from energy production and use. A range of energy supply and usage scenarios will be considered including transport, manufacturing, commercial and domestic sectors. Collection of information by auditing and then using this information for planning, demand management and impact assessment will be investigated.

Knowledge gained in this subject will allow graduates to practice in the area of energy efficiency. This subject draws on students’ fundamental understanding of engineering efficiency, as well as their ability to use mathematics and statistics to analyse data to inform innovative solutions. The subject complements other subjects offered in the energy theme of the Department such as Energy for Sustainable Development and Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering.

INDICATIVE CONTENT

Areas of study include: potential for improvements in energy efficiency in petrol and diesel vehicles; energy efficiency technologies for the manufacturing, commercial and domestic sectors; demand side management; integrated resource planning; energy auditing; and economic and environmental impacts.

These are applied to the following thematic areas;

• Introduction: fundamentals, energy conversion, supply, distribution and utilisation of energy, Indices, indicators and measurements
• Advanced energy systems
• Energy audits
• Manufacturing sector
• Commercial sector (office & retail)
• Residential sector
• Transport sector
• Life cycle energy analysis
• Developing countries & remote areas
• Energy policy and planning

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AIMS

This subject provides understanding of the principles of development and sustainability in the context of renewable and non-renewable energy sources. Social, environmental and financial implications of technologies to de-carbonise emissions and technologies that can offer a future non-carbon energy supply are discussed.

This subject uses project based learning where students work in teams to investigate the appropriateness of a selected energy source or a selected technology for a particular country, region or a location. Students learn to apply the principles of sustainability and development.

Knowledge gained in this subject will allow graduates to practice in the area of energy policy and planning. The subject complements other subjects offered in the energy theme of the Department such as Solar Energy, Energy Efficiency Technology and Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering.

INDICATIVE CONTENT

• Introduction: What does 'sustainable' mean? What is development? A model for sustainable development
• Consumption (needs versus wants), Global perspectives (inequality and resource distribution)
• Role of energy in development
• Requirements for an sustainable energy supply
• Carbon versus non-carbon energy supply - overview (resources, usage)
• Problems with past patterns of energy use
• Energy efficiency (potential and limits)
• Energy Policy
• Transport futures and peak oil (resources)
• Carbon capture and storage
• Nuclear fission and fusion
• Renewable energy technologies - large and small
• Discussion Forum: Reality of Sustainability.

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This subject develops the skills to understand and assess the social impacts of development, including international development projects, resource management, and proposed infrastructure or new policies. We do this in two ways: by looking at how to assess the impacts of proposed projects, and through evaluation techniques for existing developments or projects. In each case we develop practical skills and interdisciplinary techniques to appraise and evaluate impacts. These techniques draw from anthropology, development studies, and the policy sciences, and move beyond simple summative assessments and financial accounting. We consider the social and environmental contexts in which any form of appraisal is embedded, and the capacities of different actors (from the state to NGOs and community groups) to avert or mitigate negative impacts through learning, negotiation, and citizen participation. Examples, some presented by guest speakers, are drawn from Australia, Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Asia. At the completion of the subject students will have developed the conceptual skills to understand the impacts of development; be familiar with the range of methodologies and techniques used in impact assessment; understand development evaluation; and will be able to apply this in critical evaluation of the impact of projects and programmes.

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This subject engages with critical concepts and issues related to environmental politics and policy. Special attention is paid to the political dimensions of policy development and implementation, with reference to national and international domains. Students will be introduced to relevant theories, cases, and tools for policy makers and environmental activists. Students will consider a variety of case studies including climate change, ozone depletion, water management, land conflict, forest preservation, waste and 'sustainability planning'. Case studies will be drawn from Australia, Southeast Asia, and other global contexts. The subject is taught through a combination of lectures and seminars. Students will gain a practical understanding of issues confronting policymakers and other political actors in relation to a range of environment problems and solutions.

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Environmental Risk Assessment aims to provide you with the skills to undertake and critically evaluate environmental risk assessments. We outline the history and social context of risk and explore the psychology of risk perception. You will be introduced to quantitative and qualitative tools with the objective of giving you the ability to select, apply and assess technical and socially based risk assessment. The subject is structured to develop your skills in writing reports and participating in group exercises.

While the contact period is six intensive days, the learning period is longer. Reading materials are distributed in May and a small assessment task is set to encourage you to be fully prepared. You will be required to complete a take-home examination and a substantial practical report in the weeks following the course.

The subject is made up of lectures in the mornings and practical exercises in the afternoons. It assumes no formal background in quantitative methods. An understanding of basic statistical concepts (means, medians, standard deviations, confidence intervals, basic linear regression) is an advantage. If you have not been involved in an undergraduate statistics class before, contact the subject coordinator to discuss your options.

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This subject prepares students for environmental management roles by providing them with the principles of how human impacts on the environment might be detected and managed. The principles will be placed within the legal and social contexts of environmental impact assessment. At the completion of the subject, students should understand three aspects: prediction of the kind of changes that might occur with human activities; the design and implementation of proper monitoring programs that can detect changes; and assessment of those changes. Additionally, a strong emphasis is placed on the practical implementation of principles.

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Modelling is a fundamental component of Environmental Science, being used for prediction, monitoring, auditing, evaluation, and assessment. This subject introduces students to a wide range of models used by environmental scientists including models of climate change, population dynamics, pollution, hydrology, habitat and species distributions. Both deterministic and stochastic models are used as examples. The subject explains how to develop conceptual models that can then be quantified and analysed using mathematical and statistical methods. Topics covered include development of the basic model structure, estimation of parameters and calibration, methods of analysis, sensitivity analysis, model evaluation and model refinement. The subject teaches students how to simplify apparently complex problems.

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The course covers the fundamentals of fire behaviour and the key drivers. Students will examine the importance of the key factors affecting fire behaviour including fuels, weather, topography and ignitions. Methodologies for measuring fuels, fuel moisture, and weather will be examined through theoretical and practical approaches. Using these skills, students will learn computer and manual approaches for predicting the extent and intensity of landscape fires in a range of ecosystems. Finally, we will assess the potential changes to fire patterns under global climate change.

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This subject examines various ways of knowing the environment. Students develop an understanding of the unprecedented transformation in the environment, the sciences, and in politics around environment and knowledge across the twentieth century. As part of their assessment students will study the knowledge practices of a particular environmental organisation becoming sensitised to historical, political and cultural influences on environmental knowledge.

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This subject is designed as an overview of environmental law for students without a legal background who are admitted to courses through the Office for Environmental Programs. It provides students with an understanding of the sources and conceptual foundations of environmental law and aims to develop the ability and confidence of students to understand and critically analyse environmental regulation as an approach to environmental issues. The subject will provide an examination of the development and current scope of Australian environmental law, with a focus on the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) and Victorian pollution control laws . There will also be an introduction to international environmental law.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• Origins and conceptual foundations of environmental law, and the operation of environmental regulation in Australia’s federal system
• Diversity in environmental law approaches, including relationships with other regulatory areas such as planning and natural resource management, and the use of financial measures and economic instruments in regulation
• The integration of environmental law and relevant disciplines concerned with environmental protection, particularly science
• Implementation and enforcement of environmental law
• The importance of international law, recognising that environmental protection issues cross territorial and regulatory boundaries
• Trends in environmental regulation and current debates about the reform of environmental law

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This subject offers an introduction to development project management and design from interdisciplinary and critical perspectives. We begin by understanding the standard project cycle approach to project management. We focus on strategy, vision and mission formulation, as well as problem identification and analysis, objectives analysis, stakeholder analysis, formulation of projects and budgets, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation. We will examine how different functions require different forms of program design and planning. Students will be familiarised with the 'Logframe Approach' and 'Theory of Change', which will be contrasted with ‘Learning Process’, 'Strengths Based' and 'Social enterprise' approaches to project design. Students will explore participation and empowerment as methodologies to address gender and other power inequalities specific to disadvantaged groups, and consider the ethics and motivations of field workers. Students will also be introduced to recent critiques of, and debates on, project management and development practice. Case studies of projects in developing countries, practical exercises including a group project, and critically reflective learning will be integral to the syllabus.

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Improving global health in the long term requires a deep appreciation of the impact of environmental issues at local, national and global scales. To facilitate depth of learning, this subject focuses on five key public health threats that require complex multidisciplinary solutions, which are: climate change; poor sanitation and water security; nuclear weapons; air pollution and COVID-19. Students of this subject will explore these interrelated planetary challenges, their profound implications for population health, and the demand for high level integrated problem solving in the coming decades. Students will become familiar with and critique relevant policies and international agreements pertaining to environmental health. Students will also learn to identify complex systems and barriers implicated in processes of responding to environmental challenges on global, national and local scales. This subject involves interactive sessions and is facilitated by internationally recognised experts in this field.

Planetary and Global Health is a dual delivery block mode intensive subject. This means that the assessable material is delivered through self-directed online modules that students complete over a two-week period. The online modules offer flexibility in relation to the timing of when students complete them, or what hours of the day you may choose to study. However, allocated modules must be completed in time to allow effective participation in live interactive sessions that are linked with those modules. Live interactive sessions are held on six days across the two week period, in which module material is discussed with fellow students and lecturers. Students may choose to attend these live sessions online or face to face. Students are expected to commit approximately 40 hours to learning each week, comprised of learning modules, reading, discussion board activities, group work and live sessions. This two-week teaching period is followed by group work and independent learning towards three pieces of assessment to be completed over four weeks.

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Ecological Restoration examines the principles and practices needed to restore terrestrial ecosystems in a range of modified landscapes from settled to agricultural to forested. The subject’s focus is ecological, although consideration is also given to socio-economic factors that influence restoration programs. Lectures and field trips explore ecological principles and projects from site to landscape scales, encompassing biodiversity values and ecosystem services. The subject is delivered via a compressed-semester model including a one-week intensive in the mid-semester break, which will aim to include an overnight two-day field trip to north-eastern Victoria.

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International environmental law is the field of public international law concerned principally with the protection of the natural environment. It is a vitally important branch of international law, seeking as it does to safeguard the environment on which humanity depends for its very existence. International environmental law seeks to integrate the activities of diverse actors — states, international organisations, businesses, communities and non-government organisations (NGOs) — and uses a wide range of legal tools (including economic instruments and participatory mechanisms) to address pressing environmental concerns. This subject explores the critical governance and regulatory dimensions of international environmental law, as well as introducing you to cases and treaties that have been pivotal to the development of this area of international law. The lecturers in the subject are international environmental law experts, with both academic and practical experience in the field, which will be drawn into the delivery of a stimulating and relevant subject.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• The need for international environmental law and its historical development
• Fundamental principles and concepts necessary for an understanding of international environmental law, eg sustainable development, precautionary principle and 'polluter pays' principle
• The principal institutions and actors involved in the creation, implementation and enforcement of international environmental law
• The principal cases and treaties that have been influential in the development of international environmental law
• Current issues of concern in international environmental law, including atmospheric pollution and climate change, the protection of the oceans, species protection and biodiversity as well as environmental issues relevant to finance, human rights and international trade.

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Much of the world’s data relates to processes and objects situated in space. Spatial data is a rich source of insights about patterns, processes, trends and behaviours in space and time. To tap into these insights, specialised statistical, analytical and computational techniques are required.

This subject exposes students to fundamental aspects of spatial analytics. Students are introduced to key techniques and principles for the analysis of point, area, and field data, covering concepts such as point pattern analysis, spatial autocorrelation and geostatistics. As part of putting these techniques and principles into practice, students learn computational thinking approaches and acquire technical software skills in a high-level scripting language (such as Python and R) that enable them to effectively address spatial data science problems across a variety of domains.

The subject partners with other subjects on spatial data management and visualisation and is of particular relevance to people wishing to establish a career in digital infrastructure, spatial information technology, or the quantitative environmental modelling or planning sectors.

The subject delivers underlying and cross-disciplinary concepts of geographic information science (GIS) and spatial analytics in managing environmental and infrastructure data, and the visual representation of spatial and temporal information. Relating these relevant concepts to applications through case study examples from various sectors such as digital infrastructure, spatial information technology, quantitative environmental modelling, urban sustainability, and planning. Defining and realizing a student-driven project employing a modern scripting language and spatial-temporal relationships of the observed data from real world.

Students will be provided with pointers and material to familiarise themselves with the tools used in this subject before the semester starts; this element of preparation is expected for successful participation in the subject. Advice will be provided on LMS.

Please view this video for further information: Spatial Data Analytics

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Formerly FOOD90026

This subject examines the politics of the global food system, and will focus on the policies, structures, power relations and political debates surrounding the production, distribution and consumption of food. The impacts of food production and consumption on food security, health, the environment, animal welfare, and the livelihoods of producers, will be critically explored. Key theoretical frameworks and concepts for understanding the dominant paradigms and dynamics of the food system will be discussed and evaluated. Integrated policies and strategies for creating more sustainable and equitable food systems, and alternative paradigms and practices of production, distribution and consumption, will also be critically examined. This subject will primarily draw on theories and methodologies from the sociology and politics of food and agriculture, food policy, and the political economy and political ecology of food.

The topics and debates covered include:

• Food policy and governance at the global, national and local levels
• Food security, food sovereignty and the Global Food Crisis
• Global trading relations, free trade and fair trade
• Environmental impacts and sustainable forms of food production and consumption
• Animal production, factory farms and animal welfare
• Supermarkets and alternative retailing and distribution networks
• Agricultural paradigms and technologies: chemical-industrial agriculture, genetically modified foods, organic agriculture and agroecology
• Corporate concentration within and across sectors of the food system
• Competition for food and land: animal feed, biofuels and land-grabbing
• Food processing, food marketing, dietary advice and health
• Local and urban food production and planning
• Alternative paradigms and networks of food production, distribution and consumption

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It is perhaps obvious that human behaviour is having a negative impact on our environment. Behavioural change, thus, is pivotal to ensure a more environmentally sustainable future. However the question of behavioural change is vexed. Some argue that humans are ‘naturally’ greedy and selfish, others suggest that we are ‘puppets’ - the victims of the social structures engendered by capitalism, and yet others trust that good behaviour will follow from the ‘truth’; knowledge about environmental problems. These and other views of behaviour set up particular change strategies. The above examples suggest three strategies for changing behaviour: provide people with incentives that will lead them to ‘choose’ different behaviours, or the transformation of social structures such as capitalism and patriarchy, or the provision of environmental education.

This subject examines the question of behavioural change from a number of disciplinary perspectives (psychology, sociology ecology, marketing and economics). Each discipline ‘sees’ the problem differently and this allows us to map insights and gaps in these knowledges. These purported differences can be understood and reconciled; behaviour is show to be a function of the physical, social and psychological aspects of social practices. This allows for a more holistic understanding of behaviour and the strategies that might create behaviour change.

NB: This subject uses a ‘flipped classroom’ mode of delivery. Most weeks require the watching of a vodcast prior to attending a 2 hour seminar. The success of the seminars and student learning is governed by individuals’ preparation and participation. This subject covers a lot of theory and requires active engagement. The consideration of societal behaviour change will likely engender a consideration of your own behaviour, including as a student.

Topics and themes include:

The effect of disciplines: behaviour and behavioural change from the perspectives of psychology, sociology, behavioural economics, ecology and marketing
How insights afforded by the disciplines can be used to create an more holistic and integrated understanding of behaviour change
Critiquing programs for behaviour change

Weekly topics: (1) Defining behaviour, (2) Perspectives: Behavioural Economics, (3) Perspectives: Marketing, (4) Perspectives: Psychology, (5) Perspectives: Sociology, (6) Perspective Ecology, (7) Integration, (8) Strategies: Social Marketing, (9) Strategies: Nudge, (10) Trans-disciplinary Perspectives 1, (11) Trans-disciplinary Perspectives 2

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This subject covers the principles and practices of integrating trees into the rural agricultural landscape for both conservation and profit. The farming community require trees and shrubs for shade and shelter, soil conservation, salinity control and aesthetics. Farmers can also produce commercial tree products such as timber, fuel, fodder, essential oils and food. Because farmers manage the majority of the Australian landscape governments, community groups and industry are increasingly working in partnership with them to grow trees for environmental services including carbon sequestration, biodiversity and downstream water quality.

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Students will learn the theoretical underpinnings of environmental education through a study of the concept of environmentalism. The subject will combine an introduction to theory and practice in the field of environmental education. A particular focus will be on different understandings of nature and the environment and the implications of these for education. This will include the role that science has played and continues to play in our understanding of both the environment and education. The subject will provide students with some of the important strategies for the development of environmental education in a variety of sectors. It will also provide ideas for educational activities. In addition, the subject will deal with ways of actualising individuals or groups who wish to learn how to become involved in action for the environment and social change.

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This subject covers key frameworks for making complex business decisions and implementing using the philosophy and techniques of project management. It specifically covers an in-depth study of decision trees and risk analysis, followed by decision implementation and organisation. Case studies relating to supply chain management will be used to develop applied knowledge of how to use these procedures to formulate and implement strategy in supply chains. Project management concepts and applications are developed as the powerful approach for managing strategy implementation, change management and facilities development. Project management philosophies and techniques are applied to supply chain design and implementation.

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Sustainable Landscapes combines social and ecological disciplines to consider the management of urban and rural/regional landscapes for sustainable futures. Subject teaching includes weekly lectures and a 1x weekend field trip to observe and discuss management of landscapes for sustainable outcomes. Australian and overseas case studies are drawn upon to cover the following topics:

• the meaning and significance of sustainability in the context of urban, urban fringe, rural, and regional landscapes and their futures;
• rural and urban land use, and drivers of current and future landscape change, including fragmentation, social change and transformation, biodiversity loss, industrialisation, intensification, pollution, sovereignty, and security;
• assumptions around land ownership, ethics and economics that influence issues of environmental security, commons and sustainable regional futures; · the utilisation, degradation, and management of rural and urban biophysical resources for sustainable futures, including maintenance of ecosystem services and processes;
• the involvement of different stakeholders in decision making for regional, service, rural, fringe and urban areas, including the role of relationships and social features such as politics, memory, and values; and
• the role of governance, including institutions, deliberative democracy, empowerment; and community based natural resource management in navigating landscape change.

The content and the issues raised will draw upon and integrate theory, knowledge and practices from different disciplines familiarising students with systems theory and how it is integral to framing an understanding of landscape management. Theories of complex adaptive systems, social ecological systems, uncertainty, resilience and complexity will also frame the investigation of these issues. Landscape ecology sciences, social sciences (including cultural geographies) and policy frameworks will be drawn upon in analysing and evaluating landscapes and their futures, with a strong focus on community-based knowledge systems. Students will engage deeply with the literature that informs these ideas and will develop a critical understanding of their value and limitations.

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This subject will investigate the role of terrestrial ecosystems in the global carbon cycle and in a changing climate. Students will learn the scientific basis for climate change and the impact that a changing climate might have on terrestrial ecosystems and how ecosystems influence climate. We will learn what adaptation actions we can take to manage ecosystems in a changing climate. We will discuss the role ecosystems play in the global carbon cycle and the degree to which terrestrial ecosystems can be used as a carbon sequestration options. We will evaluate the requirements for forest carbon accounting and will apply carbon accounting tools in hands-on accounting sessions with industry partners. This scientific understanding will be extended to discuss policy instruments under consideration in Australia and in the international arena for the potential role of ecosystems in carbon emissions trading. The subject will equip students with state-of-the-art knowledge on the impact of climate change on forest ecosystems and with practical experiences in forest carbon accounting.

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This subject provides a multi-disciplinary overview of the design of sustainable buildings and considers the design from an architectural, services engineering, facade engineering, environmental engineering and structural engineering, tenants and owners perspective. Topics include: ecological sustainable design, life cycle analysis, planning for sustainable buildings and cities, regulatory environment, barriers to green buildings, green building rating tools, material selection, embodied energy, operating energy, indoor environmental quality (noise, light and air), facade systems, ventilation systems, transportation, water treatment systems, water efficiency, building economics, and staff productivity.

A number of industry based case study examples will be introduced to complement the lectures.

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AIMS

This subject provides the application of principles of solar energy engineering. A number of solar technologies and applications methods are investigated.

This subject uses a project based learning where students work in teams to design a solar system for a particular application considering environmental, social and financial constraints. Students learn to apply the principles of solar energy and design.

Knowledge gained in this subject will allow graduates to practice in the area of renewable energy industry. The subject complements other subjects offered in the energy theme of the Department such as Energy for Sustainable Development and Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering.

INDICATIVE CONTENT

• Introduction to Solar Energy in the energy economy; Fundamental heat & mass transfer; Radiation properties of materials; and selective surfaces
• Solar Geometry and solar angles; atmospheric effects and radiation prediction; and Solar radiation measurement
• Flat plate collectors design and performance characteristic
• Concentrating collectors design and performance characteristic; Evacuated tube collectors
• Solar System design methods
• Fundamentals of photovoltaic systems
• Solar process heating
• Solar drying, Solar cookers, Green houses and Solar stills
• Solar water pumping; Solar refrigeration
• Built environment applications passive and active systems
• Solar hot water and solar heat pump systems.

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AIMS

This subject provides a general introduction to the many issues that need to be considered when examining the global energy system.

These include -

• A brief history of different forms of energy and energy technologies
• The historical relationship between energy use and industrialisation
• The social, environmental and economic costs and benefits of different forms of energy and energy technology
• An introduction to energy resources and resource economics
• A brief review of the costs of different forms of energy
• Historical, current and projected energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutant emissions
• Opportunities for greenhouse gas mitigation.

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AIMS

This subject examines in detail the main forms of non-renewable energy and their uses, including:

• The composition and origin of coal, oil, natural gas and uranium
• The performance of coal, gas, liquid fuel and nuclear power generation
• The performance of power plants featuring steam turbines, gas turbines and reciprocating engines.

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Interactions between risk managers and publics represent the ‘coalface’ for disaster risk reduction. Despite the centrality of these relationships, they are rarely the focus of teaching and learning. This challenge is acute in the context of ‘risk management’, where competing theories and the diversity of cases and factors contribute to masses of content, often with little connection to skill development for students. Furthermore, risk is by its nature difficult to study and often dangerous, making experience-based inquiry exceptionally rare but desperately needed. This subject addresses this gap by providing students with active participation and experience with community engagement through self-directed field research.

This subject will train students to utilise the Community Engagement for Disaster Risk Reduction (CEDRR) methodology, which uses traditional door-knocking between the emergency services and publics, but alters those interactions in order to nurture inter-personal relationships. The subject and method is premised on research that demonstrates that publics do not respond to ‘top-down instructions’ nor to awareness raising. In this subject, students will learn community engagement by doing it with individuals in their social networks (e.g., friends, neighbours, family).

Students will use the web-application for data collection, producing data that will form the basis of their assessments. The subject will deliver skills not currently taught in Australian universities, skills that organisations are increasingly seeking given acceptance that community engagement, participation, and citizen science are required for effective governance.

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Adequate, reliable and sustainable supplies of energy are crucial to modern societies, and their assurance demands the close and continuous involvement of governments. This subject explains the challenges—affordability, security of supply, safety, control of monopoly, sustainability in an age of global warming—that the economic and technical characteristics of different energy sources present to governments in Australia, and analyses the regulatory tools that they have at their disposal for responding to such challenges. It shows how the law can function both as an essential vehicle for such regulation and as a constraint on its content. The lecturer is a leading international authority on oil and gas law and has published extensively in the field of regulation.

Principal topics include:

• The nature of regulation, its development in Australia and its relationship with law

• General explanations and justifications for regulation

• The techniques of regulation

• Regulatory issues posed by the supply of different types of energy:

  • Mineral energies: coal, petroleum and uranium
  • Network energies: electricity, gas
  • Renewable energies

• The Australian federal environment for energy regulation. Two or more case studies of Australian energy regulation:

  • Electricity and gas: from state monopolies to regulated national markets
  • Mined energies: securing effective exploitation, managing resource conflicts
  • Renewable energies: regulatory incentives

• Cross-cutting issues in energy regulation:

  • Regulatory authorities
  • Forms of regulation: prescription versus goal-based regulation; discretion versus rules; legislation versus contract
  • Regulatory review and evaluation.

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This subject examines the science, technology and policy instruments of a broad range of renewable energy technologies including solar, wind and water as well as other thermal renewables. Specifically, the subject covers:

• Solar: Overview of the fundamental physics of solar radiation; Technical details of photovoltaic cells and concentrating solar power systems
• Wind and water: Overview of the fundamental physics of motion involved in energy in wind & water; Technical details of wind turbines and hydro-power systems, including pumped Hydro-Energy Storage
• Other thermal renewables: Overview of the chemistry and technologies for biomass for heat and electricity and liquid biofuels
• Renewable integration and policy: Overview of renewable energy policy considerations; Understanding challenges of integration of renewables into power systems. This includes managing variability and the opportunities provided by storage and demand-side management.

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Global food production is facing many challenges to meet current and future demand. Impacts of climate change on agriculture will add stress to our ability to produce enough food for a growing population with fewer resources. Adapting agriculture to climate change to meet these needs is a critical challenge for current and future generations.

This subject will examine the potential impacts of climate change on agricultural production and explore adaptation options within various sectors of agriculture and food production. This exploration of adaptation options will include consideration of barriers that may hinder effective adaptation.

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This subject focuses on how to access and understand basic climate science and data and how to accurately communicate to a broader audience. The subject covers the fundamentals of climate science, including the physics and chemistry of climate change, future climate projections, climate extremes, and the interactions between the atmosphere and land, forests and the oceans. The subject also interrogates how global changes in climate lead to impacts on society, ecosystems, and economies. The subject has a particular focus on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports. To develop practical skills, students will make use of these scientific reports and concepts learnt in class to prepare short assessments that clearly and concisely communicate and translate aspects of climate science. The course culminates in a negotiation session where students take on the role of a state representative within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

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This subject introduces and analyses critical concepts and terms central to debates over climate change, including risk and uncertainty, adaptation and mitigation, burden sharing, and problems and issues relating to regimes, strategies and policy instruments for addressing global warming. The subject considers the rise of climate change as a policy problem. It reviews and analyses the history of climate change policy as it has evolved nationally and internationally. It examines the interactions between national and regional climate policy, including in Australia, the United States, the European Union and China. It analyses debates and concerns that have led to the evolution of the Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol, and more recent arrangements. Students will consider a range of policy instruments, including carbon taxes and emissions trading, and technologies that have been proposed or deployed to address this issue. This subject enables students to understand the evolution of a critical global environmental issue. It offers insights into technical, political, ethical and ecological issues that have framed climate change policy, and enables students to think critically about and participate in developing policy in this domain.

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This subject will focus on the complex topic of climate change mitigation. Climate change mitigation includes actions we take globally, nationally and individually to limit changes in the global climate caused by human activities. Mitigation activities are designed to reduce greenhouse emissions and/or increase the amount of greenhouse gases removed from the atmosphere by greenhouse sinks.

The subject will provide a critical and multidisciplinary overview of strategies for climate change mitigation but focuses on the technical feasibility and effectiveness of different mitigation options in the many different sectors that emit or sequester greenhouse gases. We will discuss in detail the emissions profiles and potentials for reducing emissions in energy systems, transport, buildings and industry, but we also include agriculture and land based systems and new breakthrough technologies. The subject will discuss the criteria and considerations for evaluating climate change mitigation, assess the feasibility in a technical and economic sense and the potential transformation pathways.

The strengths and weaknesses of mitigation strategies will be discussed in the context of national and international frameworks and economies. It will be demonstrated that climate change mitigation cannot be achieved by a single action but that multiple approaches may be necessary to achieve meaningful mitigation and that many societal sectors will be required to take action.

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This subject focuses on climate change adaptation, and in particular its environmental, political, social and policy dimensions. It explores the ways in which climate change poses risks to human wellbeing, and the ways these risks can be managed. It draws on examples from Australia and the Asia-Pacific region, and in particular on the teaching staff’s concurrent research on climate change adaptation on small islands. It explains that adaptation and its success can be thought of and approached in multiple ways, shaped in part by existing interests and the varied and dynamic places in which adaptation is being consciously or unconsciously implemented. The subject also highlights that adaptation poses, as well as addresses, risks, and that decisions about adaptation need to be considered critically and iteratively. The subject is taught in an intensive mode. Topics include:

• Issues of complexity, uncertainty, knowledge, power, and practice in researching and implementing climate change
• The relationship between adaptation and other processes of change, including development
• Strategies for change at global, regional, local and individual scales, their inter-relations and how they may be facilitated.

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This subject equips participants with an understanding of the role and limitations of science in environmental debates and decision-making. Global changes to the atmosphere, hydrological cycle, land-uses, urbanisation, climate, pollution, biodiversity, pests, and diseases are having profound impacts on the planet, its people and other species. You will gain an appreciation of strengths and limitations in the diversity of scientific approaches used to understand and manage environmental changes. These approaches include empirical observation, mathematical and statistical modelling, and expert opinion. The subject highlights the breadth of environmental changes, and the range of scientific methods that can be used to address these issues. Collectively, these elements provide a sound foundation for science-based advocacy and management that recognises the scientific and social contexts of environmental debates.

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Climate change is a pressing environmental, economic and social problem. Global warming is predicted to have wide-ranging impacts, and it presents enormous challenges for conventional models of law and socio-economic governance due to its pervasive character, long-term effects and the need for dynamic change in many of the fundamental areas of life. This subject examines the challenges for law in driving that change, from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its associated Paris Agreement, to international trade, climate finance and litigation, to federal and state legislative responses, through to local effects including relating to Indigenous peoples. The lecturer is active in research and advice in climate change law and governance in the international and domestic law spheres.

Indicative list of principal topics:

• The scientific basis for global warming and physical impacts of climate change
• The international legal framework, including the UNFCCC, Kyoto Protocol, Paris Agreement and associated international instruments
• Social and cultural impacts and legal responses, such as human rights protection
• Climate finance and schemes for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD).
• The role of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in climate change governance, particularly with respect to renewable energy technologies and the disciplining of fossil fuel subsidies
• The interaction of climate change regimes with other international law frameworks; eg World Heritage, refugee law, human rights and security
• The federal legislative framework for climate change mitigation and adaptation, including direct action plans, market mechanisms and carbon trading
• State-based legislative and regulatory responses to climate change
• Bio-sequestration and carbon capture and storage
• The nature of climate change litigation

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This subject involves completion of a minimum 80 hours work placement integrating academic learning, employability skills and attributes, and an improved knowledge of organisations, workplace culture and career pathways. The placement is supplemented by pre- and post-placement classes designed to introduce skills for developing, identifying and articulating employability skills and attributes and linking them to employer requirements. The placement should draw on specific discipline skills associated with the course of enrolment. Pre-placement seminars will also include consideration of career planning and professional skills. The placement is designed to be a standalone internship not integrated into any other subject.

Students are responsible for identifying a suitable work placement prior to the start of semester, and will be assisted by the Subject Coordinator and the Careers and Industry team in the Faculty of Science. In the semester prior to the placement students should access the Careers & Employability Studio: https://careers.unimelb.edu.au/students/career-and-employability-drop-in-sessions drop in sessions, workshops and resources to help identify potential host organisations and employment preparation. Students will be responsible for identifying a suitable work placement prior to the semester.

Application for credit need to be submitted via the Internships Portal at least 3 weeks prior to internship commencement and within the Key Dates mentioned on the website. More information is available on the subject webpage here: https://science.unimelb.edu.au/students/plan-your-study/internship-subjects.

If you have questions on how and where to find internship, you should contact the Careers and Industry team in the Faculty of Science at hyperlink: https://forms.your.unimelb.edu.au/4747166?SID=a3xOY000000018z

On completion of the subject, students will have completed and reported on a course-related project in a workplace. They will also have enhanced employability skills including communication, interpersonal, analytical and problem-solving skills, organisation and time-management, and an understanding of career planning and professional development.

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Internship in Development is an elective subject available to graduate students in Development and various cognate disciplines and fields of study. The internship subject aims to provide students with the opportunity to apply their knowledge and skills learnt in class and enhance their understanding of the current approaches to the broad field of development through a structured period of contributing as a temporary staff member in a government, non-government or private corporation inside or outside Australia. Students are able to select a host organisation to further develop their knowledge and skills in their chosen area of interest. The exposure to a different cultural, socio-political or organisational context provides students with vast opportunities to critically reflect on the relationship between theory and practice, and the thus the nature of development as they have studied it and as they observe it to be approached or practiced during their internship placement.

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This subject allows students to conduct an original literature review of research relevant to clearly specified area of environment and sustainability. The project comprises a substantial review of a body of literature or an evaluation of research or experimental protocols. The specific focus of the literature review will be initiated by the student arising from their keen interests and consultations with other networks and academic staff with relevant expertise. Proposals for projects must be submitted to the subject coordinator in the semester prior to commencement in the subject. Final approval for the topic lies with the subject co-ordinator.

The work will be equivalent to lecture and practical based subjects worth 12.5 points The work commitment includes regular one hour meetings with supervisors where students report on progress, difficulties and research plans. Workshops conducted by the subject coordinator will deliver skill development in research practice including oral and written report presentation, with a focus on communication of research in interdisciplinary contexts.

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This subject allows students to conduct an independent, original research project in a specified area of environment and sustainability. The project comprises a review of a body of literature, a review and discussion of methodology and/ or an evaluation of research or experimental protocols and some original research. The specific focus of the research project will be initiated by the student arising from their keen interests and consultations with other networks and academic staff with relevant expertise. Proposals for research projects must be submitted to the subject coordinator in the semester prior to commencement in the subject. Final approval for the topic lies with the subject co-ordinator.

The work will be equivalent to lecture and practical based subjects worth 25 points. The work commitment includes regular one hour meetings with supervisors where students report on progress, difficulties and research plans. Workshops conducted by the subject coordinator will deliver skill development in research practice including oral and written report presentation, with a focus on communication of research in interdisciplinary contexts.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject allows students to conduct a substantial, independent, original research project in a specified area of environment and sustainability. The project comprises a review of a body of literature, a review and discussion of methodology and/ or an evaluation of research or experimental protocols and some original research. The specific focus of the research project will be initiated by the student arising from their keen interests and consultations with other networks and academic staff with relevant expertise. Proposals for research projects must be submitted to the subject coordinator in the semester prior to commencement in the subject. Final approval for the topic lies with the subject co-ordinator.

The work will be equivalent to lecture and practical based subjects worth 50 points. The work commitment includes regular one hour meetings with supervisors where students report on progress, difficulties and research plans. Workshops conducted by the subject coordinator will deliver skill development in research practice including oral and written report presentation, with a focus on communication of research in interdisciplinary contexts.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject allows students to conduct an substantial independent, original research project in a specified area of environment and sustainability, in collaboration with an industry partner. The project addresses a real world problem in an industry context and comprises a review of a body of literature, a review and discussion of methodology and/ or an evaluation of research or experimental protocols and some original research.

The specific focus of the research project will be initiated by either the student arising from their keen interests and consultations with other networks and academic staff with relevant expertise, or by an industry partner. Proposals for research projects must be submitted to the subject coordinator in the semester prior to commencement in the subject. Final approval for the topic lies with the subject coordinator.

The work will be equivalent to lecture and practical based subjects worth 25 points. The work commitment includes regular one hour meetings with academic and industry partner supervisors where students report on progress, difficulties and research plans. Workshops conducted by the subject coordinator will deliver skill development in research practice including oral and written report presentation, with a focus on communication of research in interdisciplinary contexts.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject allows students to conduct an independent, original research project in a specified area of environment and sustainability, in collaboration with an industry partner. The project addresses a real world problem in an industry context and comprises a review of a body of literature, a review and discussion of methodology and/ or an evaluation of research or experimental protocols and some original research.

The specific focus of the research project will be initiated by either the student arising from their keen interests and consultations with other networks and academic staff with relevant expertise, or by an industry partner. Proposals for research projects must be submitted to the subject coordinator in the semester prior to commencement in the subject. Final approval for the topic lies with the subject co-ordinator.

The work will be equivalent to lecture and practical based subjects worth 25 points. The work commitment includes regular one hour meetings with academic and industry partner supervisors where students report on progress, difficulties and research plans. Workshops conducted by the subject coordinator will deliver skill development in research practice including oral and written report presentation, with a focus on communication of research in interdisciplinary contexts.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject involves the definition and development of an internship placement in collaboration with the host institution. It has at its core a workplace project that will allow students to develop skills in project management, problem solving, multi-disciplinary workplace practice, institutional policy and strategy mapping, project reporting and communication.

This internship subject aims to provide students with a high-level employment experience with government, industry or non-government organisation (NGO). Students will develop a good understanding of potential employer expectations of Masters graduates and the skills required to function and excel in a workplace involved in the application of scientific research, technology, policy, planning or management.

With assistance from the subject coordinator, students will be required to source a host-institution and develop a workplace project in consultation with (a) representative(s) from the host institution. More information is available on the subject webpage here: https://science.unimelb.edu.au/study/internship-subjects. The student and academic supervisor then define and coordinate the internship placement and develop a workplace project in consultation with (a) representative(s) from the host institution.

Application for credit needs to be submitted via the Internships Portal at least 3 weeks prior to internship commencement and within the Key Dates mentioned on the website. However, students undertaking the Ecosystem Internship subject may have some additional flexibility for placements that extend beyond these dates. However, applications must be submitted before the application deadline. More information is available on the subject webpage here: https://science.unimelb.edu.au/students/plan-your-study/internship-subjects. If you have questions on how and where to find internship, you should contact the Careers and Industry team in the Faculty of Science at hyperlink: https://forms.your.unimelb.edu.au/4747166?SID=a3xOY000000018z

This project may relate to an applied science, technological, economic, social or management topic. Each student will prepare an ‘Internship Plan’ which includes relevant information about the project’s aims, context in relation to the institution, approaches to be used, relevant background knowledge and potential outputs to the host-institution. Students will then spend a period of 4-5 weeks (full-time equivalent; ca. 200 hours) working within their host institution i) gaining experience, ii) shadowing institution mentors and iii) working on their internship project. At completion of the internship placement, students will be required to present their findings to an audience, including members of the host-institution, in form of an ‘Internship Seminar’, and submit a ‘Main Report’ on their internship project.

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This subject focuses on the advanced language required for successful graduate study in English. In this subject students will develop critical approaches to researching, reading and writing. They will also develop the ability to plan and present confidently on a research topic and to write a literature review fluently and accurately. Particular attention is paid to grammatical and stylistic aspects of written and spoken academic discourse. Students write and present on a research topic that is relevant to their field of study.

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This subject allows students to conduct an independent, original research project in a specified area of environment and sustainability. The project comprises a review of a body of literature, a review and discussion of methodology and/ or an evaluation of research or experimental protocols and some original research. The specific focus of the research project will be initiated by the student arising from their keen interests and consultations with other networks and academic staff with relevant expertise. Proposals for research projects must be submitted to the subject coordinator in the semester prior to commencement in the subject. Final approval for the topic lies with the subject co-ordinator.

The work will be equivalent to lecture and practical based subjects worth 25 points. The work commitment includes regular one hour meetings with supervisors where students report on progress, difficulties and research plans. Workshops conducted by the subject coordinator will deliver skill development in research practice including oral and written report presentation, with a focus on communication of research in interdisciplinary contexts.

Students enrol in the Part 1 subject in the first semester and the Part 2 subject in the second semester.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject allows students to conduct an independent, original research project in a specified area of environment and sustainability. The project comprises a review of a body of literature, a review and discussion of methodology and/ or an evaluation of research or experimental protocols and some original research. The specific focus of the research project will be initiated by the student arising from their keen interests and consultations with other networks and academic staff with relevant expertise. Proposals for research projects must be submitted to the subject coordinator in the semester prior to commencement in the subject. Final approval for the topic lies with the subject co-ordinator.

The work will be equivalent to lecture and practical based subjects worth 25 points. The work commitment includes regular one hour meetings with supervisors where students report on progress, difficulties and research plans. Workshops conducted by the subject coordinator will deliver skill development in research practice including oral and written report presentation, with a focus on communication of research in interdisciplinary contexts.

Students enrol in the Part 1 subject in the first semester and the Part 2 subject in the second semester.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject allows students to conduct a substantial, independent, original research project in a specified area of environment and sustainability. The project comprises a review of a body of literature, a review and discussion of methodology and/ or an evaluation of research or experimental protocols and some original research. The specific focus of the research project will be initiated by the student arising from their keen interests and consultations with other networks and academic staff with relevant expertise. Proposals for research projects must be submitted to the subject coordinator in the semester prior to commencement in the subject. Final approval for the topic lies with the subject coordinator.

The work will be equivalent to lecture and practical based subjects worth 50 points. The work commitment includes regular one hour meetings with supervisors where students report on progress, difficulties and research plans. Workshops conducted by the subject coordinator will deliver skill development in research practice including oral and written report presentation, with a focus on communication of research in interdisciplinary contexts.

Students enrol in the Part 1 subject in the first semester and the Part 2 subject in the second semester.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject allows students to conduct a substantial, independent, original research project in a specified area of environment and sustainability. The project comprises a review of a body of literature, a review and discussion of methodology and/ or an evaluation of research or experimental protocols and some original research. The specific focus of the research project will be initiated by the student arising from their keen interests and consultations with other networks and academic staff with relevant expertise. Proposals for research projects must be submitted to the subject coordinator in the semester prior to commencement in the subject. Final approval for the topic lies with the subject co-ordinator.

The work will be equivalent to lecture and practical based subjects worth 50 points. The work commitment includes regular one hour meetings with supervisors where students report on progress, difficulties and research plans. Workshops conducted by the subject coordinator will deliver skill development in research practice including oral and written report presentation, with a focus on communication of research in interdisciplinary contexts.

Students enrol in the Part 1 subject in the first semester and the Part 2 subject in the second semester.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject allows students to conduct an independent, original research project in a specified area of environment and sustainability, in collaboration with an industry partner. The project addresses a real world problem in an industry context and comprises a review of a body of literature, a review and discussion of methodology and/ or an evaluation of research or experimental protocols and some original research.

The specific focus of the research project will be initiated by either the student arising from their keen interests and consultations with other networks and academic staff with relevant expertise, or by an industry partner. Proposals for research projects must be submitted to the subject coordinator in the semester prior to commencement in the subject. Final approval for the topic lies with the subject co-ordinator.

The work will be equivalent to lecture and practical based subjects worth 25 points. The work commitment includes regular one hour meetings with academic and industry partner supervisors where students report on progress, difficulties and research plans. Workshops conducted by the subject coordinator will deliver skill development in research practice including oral and written report presentation, with a focus on communication of research in interdisciplinary contexts.

Students enrol in the Part 1 subject in the first semester and the Part 2 subject in the second semester

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject allows students to conduct an independent, original research project in a specified area of environment and sustainability, in collaboration with an industry partner. The project addresses a real world problem in an industry context and comprises a review of a body of literature, a review and discussion of methodology and/ or an evaluation of research or experimental protocols and some original research.

The specific focus of the research project will be initiated by either the student arising from their keen interests and consultations with other networks and academic staff with relevant expertise, or by an industry partner. Proposals for research projects must be submitted to the subject coordinator in the semester prior to commencement in the subject. Final approval for the topic lies with the subject co-ordinator.

The work will be equivalent to lecture and practical based subjects worth 25 points. The work commitment includes regular one hour meetings with academic and industry partner supervisors where students report on progress, difficulties and research plans. Workshops conducted by the subject coordinator will deliver skill development in research practice including oral and written report presentation, with a focus on communication of research in interdisciplinary contexts.

Students enrol in the Part 1 subject in the first semester and the Part 2 subject in the second semester

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject allows students to conduct an substantial independent, original research project in a specified area of environment and sustainability, in collaboration with an industry partner. The project addresses a real world problem in an industry context and comprises a review of a body of literature, a review and discussion of methodology and/ or an evaluation of research or experimental protocols and some original research.

The specific focus of the research project will be initiated by either the student arising from their keen interests and consultations with other networks and academic staff with relevant expertise, or by an industry partner. Proposals for research projects must be submitted to the subject coordinator in the semester prior to commencement in the subject. Final approval for the topic lies with the subject co-ordinator.

The work will be equivalent to lecture and practical based subjects worth 25 points. The work commitment includes regular one hour meetings with academic and industry partner supervisors where students report on progress, difficulties and research plans. Workshops conducted by the subject coordinator will deliver skill development in research practice including oral and written report presentation, with a focus on communication of research in interdisciplinary contexts.

Students enrol in the Part 1 subject in the first semester and the Part 2 subject in the second semester.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject allows students to conduct an substantial independent, original research project in a specified area of environment and sustainability, in collaboration with an industry partner. The project addresses a real world problem in an industry context and comprises a review of a body of literature, a review and discussion of methodology and/ or an evaluation of research or experimental protocols and some original research.

The specific focus of the research project will be initiated by either the student arising from their keen interests and consultations with other networks and academic staff with relevant expertise, or by an industry partner. Proposals for research projects must be submitted to the subject coordinator in the semester prior to commencement in the subject. Final approval for the topic lies with the subject co-ordinator.

The work will be equivalent to lecture and practical based subjects worth 25 points. The work commitment includes regular one hour meetings with academic and industry partner supervisors where students report on progress, difficulties and research plans. Workshops conducted by the subject coordinator will deliver skill development in research practice including oral and written report presentation, with a focus on communication of research in interdisciplinary contexts.

Students enrol in the Part 1 subject in the first semester and the Part 2 subject in the second semester.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Green infrastructure is the network of natural and designed vegetation elements within our cities and towns, in both public and private domains. Green infrastructure includes traditional green elements such as urban parks, gardens and trees, as well as newer green roofs, green walls and rain garden technologies. Green infrastructure provides a number of significant economic, social and environmental benefits and is an effective means of helping to adapt our buildings, communities and cities to climate change. In this subject students will gain insights into aspects of policy and planning, design and management of green-infrastructure and how it can improve ecosystem service provision in cities. The use of green infrastructure as ‘living architecture’ and the design considerations involved will be discussed. At the building scale, this will include an understanding of the improved energy efficiencies provided by green infrastructure and their role in building star energy rating systems. At the neighbourhood and landscape scale, the role and function of different green infrastructure technologies and systems will be discussed, including roles in ameliorating urban climates, improving urban water retention, use and quality providing more liveable urban communities for people and wildlife.

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This subject examines the nature and causes of past changes in Earth’s climate during the Quaternary Period (the last 2.7 million years), with a particular emphasis on the last glacial-interglacial cycle. It aims to place modern climate and the projections of future global warming into a longer-term perspective, and will allow students to understand why human interference in the climate system may be a legitimate cause for concern. Emphasis is placed on how Earth materials (ice, rocks, sediments, biological materials) record past climate changes, the techniques used to extract this ‘palaeoenvironmental information’, and the principles that govern how this information is interpreted.

A series of lectures covering the theoretical elements of the subject will immediately precede 10 days of field study (in either Tasmania, mainland SE Australia or New Zealand). The field component focuses on how particular environments (e.g. coastal, lake, fluvial, cave, and glacial) preserve evidence of past climate change. Additional lectures and practicals following completion of the field work will focus on the types of analytical methods employed in this field, the nature of the data that are produced and how these are processed and interpreted. By the end of the subject, students will not only appreciate the dynamics of Earth’s past climate and the mechanisms that have forced it, but also the way in which we practice this important and growing field of study.

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This subject provides a detailed understanding about the dynamics of coastal landforms, the processes driving change and the impact on human occupation of the coastal zone. The coast is one of the most intensively utilised landscapes worldwide and Australia is no exception. Population densities and development pressures are all rapidly rising providing ever increasing stress on the landscape. Intense human development is however a relatively recent phenomena. Coastal landforms operate over much longer timescales than people. Beaches and dunes have natural cycles of erosion and deposition of decadal to centennial scales while cliffs may have a history of several thousand years. It is therefore impossible to successfully manage, or simply enjoy this environment without knowledge of how it evolved and operates. During this course we will explore the operation and management of the key landforms found at the shore.

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This subject provides an introduction to the key environmental challenges in contemporary China and to China’s environmental governance. The subject is structured around four topics: water resources, land resources, air pollution, and energy and climate change. For each of these topics lectures and tutorials will analyse impacts, policy and governance arrangements, citizen and NGO involvement, government and media discourse, and international linkages. Students will be introduced to key theoretical debates in China studies, development studies and human geography to help them understand the complexities of China’s environmental challenges. Using the environment as a lens, students will gain an understanding of politics and state-society relations in contemporary China.

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This subject examines principles in the two disciplines of hydrology and ecology, emphasising the application of both to understand how to solve environmental management problems in river ecosystems. The subject focuses primarily on processes occurring within the channel, while the surrounding catchment type is considered as background context. The subject examines water in terms of quantity and quality; and the physical channel and floodplain systems in which it is conveyed and stored, along with transported materials such as sediments and organic matter. The subject also examines population, community and ecosystem dynamics of riverine organisms and their geographical distributions and diversities. Through practicals and fieldwork, students should develop skills in acquiring, analysing and presenting hydrological and ecological data, and in the identification and proper field sampling of stream biota. Students should become aware of the multidisciplinary nature of environmental management and the need for critical examination of ideas in the literature.

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This subject was previously known as Urban Sustainability and Climate Change.

Human activity has altered the earth's natural environment significantly. This has resulted in biodiversity loss and warming of the earth’s climate, the implications of which are often distributed unequally. Organisations such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have documented the risks associated with continued climate change. This has given rise to international agreements such as the Paris Agreement to limit warming to 1.5oC. While there are increasing commitments by nation states to address this international goal through the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, actions to date have not been to the scale, and at the pace necessary to achieve it. The role of cities and urban activities in contributing to this goal must be enhanced, and the international goals translated across levels of policy.

This subject will provide students with an understanding of the key factors contributing to climate change and biodiversity loss, and their centrality to urban planning and broader built environment activities. Students will critically analyse the complex interrelationship between environmental processes, climate change, urban change, sustainability goals and urban planning policies. Current urban planning issues including: sustainability, climate change, resilience, and vulnerability; will be critically analysed and applied to current and future urban problems arising from climate change (e.g. sea level rise, urban heat). Local and global examples will be drawn upon. The subject’s learning activities will equip students with the capability to propose urban planning solutions to address climate change – through both the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, and adaptation to unavoided impacts – to facilitate urban sustainability. Consideration of the equity and justice implications of proposed solutions will be facilitated.

Through completion of this subject students will be provided with exposure to cutting edge urban planning approaches to address and solve climate change and sustainability problems. Students will be well prepared to take elective subjects which focus in detail on environment, resilience and sustainability topics. A field trip to a site of interest to climate change and sustainability within Melbourne will be undertaken to embed learning in a real world urban planning example.

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The course covers the fundamentals of spatial analysis for ecosystem management and conservation problems. Students will develop skills in the application of remote sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for landscape analysis of data. Methodologies for collecting, analysing and interpreting spatial data will be considered through theoretical and practical approaches. These will include data collected by drones through to satellite derived measures at a continental to global scale. Students will learn the spatial skills essential to environmental management by applying industry standard tools and methods. Finally, students will develop an understanding of the emerging technologies in data collection and analysis.

View detailed information in the Handbook

AIMS

The subject has a strong practical component with a five-day field camp during the week before the mid-semester break involving student-led environmental monitoring. There is also a semester long project to design and implement an environmental monitoring program supported by weekly practice classes.

Component skills taught in this subject:

• Conceptualising environmental responses
• Selecting and using environmental measurement techniques (considering scale issues)
• Analysis of environmental monitoring data.

This subject is a critical foundation for a career for environmental engineering but is also relevant to civil and other engineering disciplines where environmental impacts of engineering projects must be addressed to ensure sustainable engineering solutions.

INDICATIVE CONTENT

Selection of measurement techniques and consideration of measurement scale, conceptualising environmental responses to human activities, environmental sampling and monitoring design, systematic review of causal evidence, statistical analysis of environmental effects, risk assessments for occupational health and safety during environmental field programs.

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Understanding of social process and action is critical to effective land and environment management and social research skills are therefore valued by resource management agencies. This subject aims to equip students with knowledge and skills to design social research, which can be used to improve management of environments, agricultural and food systems. The subject presents a framework for understanding diverse approaches to social research; the relationship between theory and method is given particular emphasis.

The research process is considered step by step including scoping research issues, the evolution of research questions, and selection of appropriate methods. A number of research strategies are considered in more detail including survey research, case studies and action research. Social research ethics, quality in social research and advances in social research methods are examined.

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Why is it essential that scientists learn to communicate effectively to a variety of audiences? What makes for engaging communication when it comes to science? How does the style of communication need to change for different audiences? What are the nuts and bolts of good science writing? What are the characteristics of effective public speaking?

Weekly seminars and tutorials will consider the important role science and technology plays in twenty-first century society and explore why it is vital that scientists learn to articulate their ideas to a variety of audiences in an effective and engaging manner. These audiences may include school students, agencies that fund research, the media, government, industry, and the broader public. Other topics include the philosophy of science communication, talking about science on the radio, effective public speaking, writing press releases and science feature articles, science performance, communicating science on the web and how science is reported in the media.

Students will develop skills in evaluating examples of science and technology communication to identify those that are most effective and engaging. Students will also be given multiple opportunities to receive feedback and improve their own written and oral communication skills.

Students will work in small teams on team projects to further the communication skills developed during the seminar programme. These projects will focus on communicating a given scientific topic to a particular audience using spoken, visual, written or web-based communication.

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What conclusion can be drawn from a pool of data? How can a scientist draw meaningful conclusions while not overreaching? How can modelling help the scientist interpret data? This subject will address these questions by teaching students critical thinking and data analysis skills. After completing this subject students will understand the basic principles of sampling and experimental design, how the results of statistical analyses are reported, the statistical thinking behind common statistical procedures and will be able to carry out a range of standard statistical techniques.

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This subject explores the role of marketing and consumption in a world facing significant social and environmental challenges. What is the role of marketing and marketers in climate change, digital privacy, or the obesity crisis? Does marketing actually improve consumers’ wellbeing? Many ‘ethical’ consumers now integrate their concern for society and the environment into their purchasing decisions. And many ‘ethical’ brands now promote their social and/or environmental credentials. So, can we market and consume our way out of these crises? This subject will address the criticisms of marketing’s role in sustainability issues, and then equip students with the strategic and ethical direction to respond proactively to the opportunities these challenges provide.

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Terrestrial ecosystems provide a wide range of values—from biodiversity and carbon storage to clean water and recreational opportunities in interaction with social systems. Managing ecosystems to sustain these values requires understanding what values exist in a given ecosystem, their interactions with society and how they change over time and space. However, natural ecosystems and the social context within which they are embedded are inherently variable across scales—capturing the many ecosystem values presents a significant challenge. This unit will explore the principles of, and approaches to, ecosystem assessment and monitoring across both the biophysical and social domains. We will focus on developing practical skills in the design of social and biophysical assessments, data collection and the analysis of quantitative and qualitative data associated with natural resources and their management. Example assessment approaches include ecological monitoring, forest inventory, stakeholder analysis, participatory mapping and value-based conversations, among many others. We will draw on examples from a range of ecosystems around the world.

This subject will involve practicals and a three-day, pre-semester field trip.

View detailed information in the Handbook