Outdoor & Environmental Studies

VCE Outdoor and Environmental Studies provides students with the skills and knowledge to participate safely and sustainably in a range of outdoor experiences and environments. Through participation in outdoor experiences, students learn to respect and value these landscapes and their living cultural history. 

Historically, Indigenous peoples modified outdoor environments on a small scale, but since colonisation Australian outdoor environments have been altered to meet commercial, conservation and recreation needs, as well as to feed an increasing population. Today, outdoor environments remain an important aspect of Australian identity and continue to be used by industry while also being places of adventure, recreation, scientific study, social action and enterprise. Outdoor environments also provide space for connectedness with nature and opportunities to reflect upon the past, live in the present and take action for sustainable futures.

By spending extended periods of time in outdoor environments to support experiential development of theoretical understandings, students learn to assess the health of, and evaluate the importance of, healthy outdoor environments. Students learn to recognise the impact of increasing pressures on these places through direct human use, while observing the indirect damage created by local, national and international practices. Students explore differing values and approaches of user groups; how these groups generate a range of impacts on outdoor environments; pressures and tensions between user groups; and issues concerning the preservation and sustainability of outdoor environments.

VCE Outdoor and Environmental Studies enables students to critically analyse different human relationships with outdoor environments and their subsequent effects, including socio-ecological issues at local and national levels. This provides students with the knowledge and skills to participate in, and contribute to, contemporary society by supporting and creating solutions for the future health of outdoor environments. 

Through its cross-disciplinary approach to studying outdoor environments, the study informs a range of future pathways, including formal study and involvement in areas where knowledge of, and interaction with, outdoor environments is central, such as natural resource management, nature-based tourism, conservation advocacy, outdoor leading and guiding, environmental research and policy, education and agriculture.

There are no prerequisites for entry to Units 1, 2 and 3. Students must undertake Unit 3 prior to undertaking Unit 4. Units 1 to 4 are designed to a standard equivalent to the final two years of secondary education. All VCE studies are benchmarked against comparable national and international curriculum.

This unit focuses on the different ways to understand outdoor environments and the impact of humans on outdoor environments.

In this unit students study the effects of natural changes and impacts of land management practices on the sustainability of outdoor environments by examining a number of case studies of specific outdoor environments, including areas where there is evidence of human intervention.

Students develop the practical skills required to minimise the impact of humans on outdoor environments. They comprehend a range of vocational perspectives that inform human use of outdoor environments. Through reflecting upon their experiences of outdoor environments, students make comparisons between outdoor environments, as well as develop theoretical knowledge about natural environments.

In this unit students explore the sustainable use and management of outdoor environments. They observe and assess the health of outdoor environments and consider the importance of this health for the future of Australian outdoor environments and the Australian population.

Students examine the importance of the sustainability of human relationships with outdoor environments and the urgent need to balance human needs and the needs of outdoor environments. They investigate current acts and conventions as well as management strategies for achieving and maintaining healthy and sustainable Australian outdoor environments in contemporary Australian society.

Students engage in multiple related experiences in outdoor environments, conducting an ongoing investigation into the health of, and care for, these places. They learn and apply the practical skills and knowledge required to sustain healthy outdoor environments and evaluate the strategies and actions they employ. Through these practical experiences, students reflect upon outdoor environments and make comparisons between them by applying theoretical knowledge developed about outdoor environments.

As global citizens, students investigate how individuals and community members take action towards promoting sustainable and healthy outdoor environments and describe possible solutions to threats facing outdoor environments and their sustainability.

Students undertake an independent investigation into the changing relationships with, and sustainability of, at least two different visited outdoor environments across both Units 3 and 4, which is assessed in Unit 4, Outcome 3.