In Progress
Please note that this Unit Profile is still in progress. The content below is subject to change.Overview
For decades society has been grappling with the deleterious impact of the human population on the Earth. How does society move forward in the wake of climate change and the sixth great extinction? How do we turn around the Anthropocene Epoch so that the balance of nature is restored and respected? In this unit, you will immerse yourself in the philosophy of Environmental Ethics and the Rights of Nature. You will explore how Environmental Policy is formulated and influenced and investigate emerging approaches, such as Nature-Based Solutions. In this unit, you will lay a solid theoretical grounding for further studies of the environment and geography and be a policy-ready influencer on graduation.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
There are no requisites for this unit.
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 1 - 2026
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of 'pass' in order to pass the unit. If any 'pass/fail' tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully ('pass' grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the 'assessment task' section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback - Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from Student feedback.
Scaffold the unit topics into a more cohesive narrative.
Review the unit structure to enhance cohesion and learning design transparency.
- Explain the concepts of Environmental Ethics that underpin environmental policy and stewardship
- Analyse emerging environmental policy processes designed to ameliorate societal environmental angst
- Discuss how applying environmental ethics and policy could ameliorate a recent environmental issue.
The learning outcomes allow BEd(Sec) students to engage with the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority 9.0 aims for geography and environmental studies.
The School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences staff have discussed accrediting the Bachelor of Environmental Science with the Environmental Institute of Australia and New Zealand. This unit will strengthen any case put forward.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1 - Portfolio - 40% | |||
| 2 - Portfolio - 40% | |||
| 3 - Creative work - 20% | |||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1 - Communication | |||
| 2 - Problem Solving | |||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | |||
| 4 - Information Literacy | |||
| 5 - Team Work | |||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | |||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | |||
| 8 - Ethical practice | |||
| 9 - Social Innovation | |||
| 10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | |||