AIMS: The systems approach provides the core methodology of this course. It is amplified by other sources, such as economic, historical, cultural, socio-political and scientific, to provide a holistic perspective on environmental issues.
The aims of the environmental systems and societies course are to:
- promote understanding of environmental processes at a variety of scales, from local to global
- provide a body of knowledge, methodologies and skills that can be used in the analysis of environmental issues at local and global levels
- enable students to apply the knowledge, methodologies and skills gained
- promote critical awareness of a diversity of cultural perspectives
- recognize the extent to which technology plays a role in both causing and solving environmental problems
- appreciate the value of local as well as international collaboration in resolving environmental problems
- appreciate that environmental issues may be controversial, and may provoke a variety of responses
- appreciate that human society is both directly and indirectly linked to the environment at a number of levels and at a variety of scales.