What is to be done? Sustainability, climate change and just energy transitions in the Anthropocene

Overview

The module will comprise three distinct sections:

1. Section one will introduce students to the module and set the context for a study of environment and sustainability in the context of the Anthropocene;
2. Section two will focus on key issues such as society’s dependency on fossil fuels and associated socio-ecological conflicts; and
3. The third section will concentrate on pathways towards sustainability, using complex systems thinking to help integrate students’ appreciation of the contributions of diverse disciplines. In doing so, this module will introduce students to some of the most significant problems facing our world and offer alternative individual and institutional pathways to a more sustainable future.

Breakdown of lecture/tutorial topics
Section One
Society-environment interactions
Risk society
Welcome to the Anthropocene
Is climate change a ‘wicked’ problem?
Climate change mitigation & adaptation
The politics of our personal/ political responses to the Anthropocene

Section Two
Carbon captured? Carbon lock in & our dependency on fossil fuels
Extractive industries
Sustainability politics and policies
Social conflicts and the environment
The organisation of ‘sustainable degradation’
The mythic lure of techno-optimism
The impact of neoliberalism or transnational global environmental negotiations and law making
The political economy of lobbying and capture

Section Three
Just Energy transitions x 2
Renewable energies, people and place
Rethinking Economics and Rethinking prosperity x 2
Post-growth rethinking beyond GDP/GNP, critical approaches to wellbeing
Creativity, envisioning and Developing sustainable communities and societies

Learning Objectives

By the end of the module, students will be able to:

-Understand key concepts such as the ‘Anthropocene’, socio-technical transitions, just transition, environmental and climate justice, energy democracy;
-Articulate key socio-ecological issues such as enclosure of common natural resources, carbon lock-in, sustainability policy formation;
-Analyse society-environment interactions in the context of unequal resource distribution and inequality in both a global and national context;
-Offer a cultural political economy analysis of anthropogenic climate change and just energy transitions;
-Critically evaluate the concept of sustainability/sustainable development;
-Confidently integrate a variety of disciplinary perspectives and bodies of knowledge within the arts, humanities and social sciences and between the latter and natural science and technological studies;
-Formulate their own conceptualisation of desirable and realisable low and post-carbon energy futures;
-Utilise learning technologies to deepen their learning process.

Skills

Ability to work with other people;

Ability to work across and integrate different disciplinary perspectives on the same issue;
Managing & Prioritizing Knowledge: identify relevant and subject-specific knowledge, sources and data; manage such information in an independent manner
Analytical Thinking: identify, understand, interpret and evaluate relevant subject-specific arguments made by others; construct independent arguments *
Critical & Independent Thinking: ability to think critically and in creative and innovative ways and construct one’s own position in relation to existing and ongoing debates in the fields of study
Communication Skills: ability to communicate clearly with others, both orally and in writing Teamwork: ability to work with others in a team, negotiate conflicts and recognize different ways of learning
Diversity: ability to acknowledge and be sensitive to the range of cultural differences present in the learning environment
Self-Reflexivity: ability to reflect on one’s own progress and identify and act upon ones own development needs with respect to life-long learning and career development
Time Management: ability to negotiate diverse and competing pressures; cope with stress; and achieve a work / life balance Technical and practical skills
Information Technology: demonstrate the knowledge and ability to use contemporary and relevant ICT Organizational skills
Efficient and effective work practice: demonstrate ability to work efficiently to deadlines
Clear organisation of information: show efficiency in the organisation of large amounts of complex information and the ability to identify, describe and analyse the key features of the information.

Organisation and communication: demonstrate ability to use evidence to develop logical and clear arguments; show aptitude for the effective use of information in a direct and appropriate way
Enterprising thinking: Demonstrate ability to think and argue in novel and enterprising ways, to display originality of

Assessment

None.