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Sustainable and Just Futures - ENV00114M

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  • Department: Environment and Geography
  • Module co-ordinator: Dr. Adrian Gonzalez
  • Credit value: 20 credits
  • Credit level: M
  • Academic year of delivery: 2024-25

Module summary

This module provides a critical introduction to the concepts of sustainability and justice (environmental, climate and social), unpacking their history, meaning, interactions and real world application. This will ensure that students can fully grasp why any discussion and visioning of our planetary future must consider and balance these twin objectives. A day fieldtrip will be a visit to an organisation attempting to implement sustainability and justice strategies.

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching period
A Semester 1 2024-25

Module aims

The aim of this module is to equip students with a holistic understanding of sustainability and justice concepts, and the challenge and struggles in their real world application. By doing so, students will be able to recognise the role that business and other organisations have to play in facilitating a sustainable and just future.

Skills:

  • Undertake advanced research on sustainability and justice issues and their links to organisation practices

  • Analyse complex sustainability and justice problems

Module learning outcomes

At the end of the module students will be able to:

  • Critically discuss and undertake advanced research to establish the fundamental principles which underlie key environmental sustainability and justice issues;

  • Establish and evaluate the drivers for change to organisational practice and innovation to solve sustainability and justice issues;

  • Analyse complex sustainability and justice issues and critically assess the role of organisations in creating and solving associated problems;

  • Discuss and debate sustainability and justice issues in an international setting.

Assessment

Task Length % of module mark
Essay/coursework
Policy report		 N/A 100

Special assessment rules

None

Reassessment

Task Length % of module mark
Essay/coursework
Policy report		 N/A 100

Module feedback

Feedback on summative assessments will follow DEG guidelines with written scripts being annotated and a feedback form provided.

Indicative reading

Agyeman, J. 2005. Sustainable Communities and the Challenge of Environmental Justice. NYU Press.

Albareda, L., Bocken, N., Ritala, P., and Verburg, R. (eds.) 2019. Innovation for Sustainability: Business Transformations Towards a Better World. Springer International Publishing.

Cardona, J. L. 2014. Sustainability: a history. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Chancel, L and DeBevoise, M. 2020. Unsustainable Inequalities. Harvard: Harvard University Press.

Gonzalez, C. G., Seck, S. L. and Atapattu, S. (eds.). 2021. The Cambridge Handbook of Environmental Justice and Sustainable Development. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.

Merchant, C. 2020. The Anthropocene and the Humanities: From Climate Change to a New Age of Sustainability. Yale: Yale University Press.


The information on this page is indicative of the module that is currently on offer. The University is constantly exploring ways to enhance and improve its degree programmes and therefore reserves the right to make variations to the content and method of delivery of modules, and to discontinue modules, if such action is reasonably considered to be necessary by the University. Where appropriate, the University will notify and consult with affected students in advance about any changes that are required in line with the University's policy on the Approval of Modifications to Existing Taught Programmes of Study.