Unit rationale, description and aim
The rapidly growing field of environment and heritage management tackles issues of global significance, the human impact on the environment, the management of valuable heritage and landscapes, and the planning of sustainable cities and regions.
In this unit, students will build on conceptual knowledge gained in earlier units on geography, environment and society by applying geographical and social science perspectives on environmental and heritage management needed in many government and non-government sectors today. Students will examine environmental and cultural values and how they are identified and translated into practice in the protection and management of landscapes, places, natural resources, and ecosystems at local, global and national scales. This unit will focus on developing key skills in analysing environmental and heritage issues from geographical perspectives, and examine how regulatory, policy and strategic planning concepts and frameworks are used to derive evidence-based, ethical, and equitable management outcomes. Through topics such as urban heritage protection, protected area and World Heritage site management, geoheritage and biodiversity conservation, urban landscape heritage, forestry, rural land conservation, Indigenous land and heritage management, students will learn to critically evaluate management approaches and their application in society. Students studying this unit will also gain a more practical understanding of the mechanisms of government at the local state and federal level in Australia in relation to environmental and heritage management.
The aim of this unit is meet the research and professional needs of graduates with an interest in environmental practice and heritage management and increase the theoretical knowledge, research and skills of students that is required to understanding and engage with issues in environmental and heritage management in government and non-government sectors.
Learning outcomes
To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.
Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.
Explore the graduate capabilities.
Identify and evaluate the role and relevance of ge...
Learning Outcome 01
Demonstrate knowledge of relevant institutions, le...
Learning Outcome 02
Develop understanding of the policy and management...
Learning Outcome 03
Critically analyse geographical, environmental and...
Learning Outcome 04
Apply a range of relevant research skills to envir...
Learning Outcome 05
Content
Topics will include:
- Environmental and heritage management theory and its application in Australia
- Environmental and heritage management policy and legislation, domestic and international
- The geography of heritage, and heritage-scapes
- Heritage management in the digital and online era
- Geoheritage, geoparks, and landscape conservation
- Urban and rural landscape conservation and protection
- Geographic processes, landforms and heritage conservation
- Heritage tourism and sustainable management
- Heritage and development: challenges and best practices
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander landscapes and cultural heritage
- Environmental and Heritage protection: private vs public vs government lands
- World Heritage sites in Australia and their management
- Community engagement and citizen science in environment and heritage management
Assessment strategy and rationale
A range of assessment procedures will be used to meet the unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes consistent with University assessment requirements. The assessment strategy allows students to engage in a variety of tasks, each aligned to their own learning outcomes.
The first assessment is a series of worksheets that students will complete throughout semester, focused on content from lectures and key readings discussed in tutorials. The worksheets serve to consolidate learning of key content in the unit and to provide students with rapid feedback on their progress in the unit. The second assessment task is a project proposal, where students will describe a project to complete a significance assessment on a landscape of their choice. This assessment allows students the opportunity to undertake initial research and work through a rationale for their choice of a particular landscape, and practice formal presentation skills in front of their peers. In the third assessment, students will draw on a range of research skills developed in previous geography, environment and society units, including field work, to undertake a significance assessment of a landscape of their choice. This assessment allows student to work through the process of significance assessment using relevant state and/or national guidelines and the experience of researching, documenting, and assessing heritage places. Students will need to develop a detailed multidisciplinary understanding of the landscape they choose to investigate in order to assess its significance in the context of similar heritage-listed places.
Overview of assessments
Project proposal In this task, students will comp...
Project proposal In this task, students will complete a project proposal for the heritage significance assessment project in the unit (Assessment 3) and present this in class
25%
Formative assessment: Students will complete week...
Formative assessment: Students will complete weekly worksheets on content covered in readings, lectures and tutorials with rapid feedback provided.
35%
Assessing Landscape Significance: In this assessm...
Assessing Landscape Significance: In this assessment, students will apply relevant (industry-standard and/or state/federal) assessment guidelines to completing an assessment on the significance of a landscape of their choice
40%
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
This unit will use both face-to-face and/or multimedia forms of instruction, and field-based teaching. The in-class lecture component is used to convey new material and offer students the chance to engage and ask questions in person. The tutorial portion of the course is to be used as a resource to offer students the opportunity to put their knowledge learned in lectures to use and gain hands-on experience and learn and practice geographical skills. This is a 10-credit point unit and has been designed to ensure that the time needed to complete the required volume of learning to the requisite standard is approximately 150 hours in total across the semester. To achieve a passing standard in this unit, students will find it helpful to engage in the full range of learning activities and assessments utilised in this unit, as described in the learning and teaching strategy and the assessment strategy. The learning and teaching and assessment strategies include a range of approaches to support your learning such as reading, reflection, discussion, webinars, podcasts, video etc.