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PERM20003 - Permaculture and Regenerative Agricultural Systems

General Information

Unit Synopsis

Conventional agricultural approaches have been criticised for un-sustainable methods of food production including feedlots, factory farming and monocultures, with associated negative social and environmental impacts. Regenerative agriculture is a concept embraced by permaculture in order to counter soil degradation, the excessive use of nonrenewable inputs and toxins, and the loss of genetic diversity that can result from conventional agricultural approaches. Global demand for food produced in an environmentally responsible manner continues to grow and landholders and producers are realizing the importance of increasing markets available to organic growers. Such trends are reflected in the development and proliferation of food certification systems. Food security and sovereignty are also key issues in food production systems. There is increasing public appreciation of the economic, social, environmental and health aspects of more localised and diverse approaches to food production, processing and distribution. Such approaches include urban food production, community support agriculture, agroforestry, organic and biodynamic farming, community gardens and family food production. In this unit, you will explore all of the above issues with a focus on the planning and design of regenerative food production systems.

Details

Level Postgraduate
Unit Level Not Applicable
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 2
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Pre-requisites: PERM20001 Introduction to Permaculture: Ethics and Principles and PERM20002 Creating Permaculture Solutions

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).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 2 - 2018

There are no availabilities for this unit on or after Term 2 - 2018

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).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Postgraduate 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.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Presentation 50%
2. Written Assessment 50%

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

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 3 - 2017 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 4 (on a 5 point Likert scale), based on a 42.86% response rate.

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.

Source: Student feedback.
Feedback
Students found studying two units in term three extremely challenging and this created difficulties with student retention.
Recommendation
We will restructure delivery of the units so that teaching for the Graduate Certificate takes place over two terms from 2018.
Action Taken
This restructure was planned, however, course is now in teach out.
Source: Student feedback.
Feedback
Students felt they would like to receive greater assessment feedback prior to submission of the final assessment items.
Recommendation
Formative feedback will be given throughout term where possible.
Action Taken
Formative feedback was given throughout term.
Source: Student feedback.
Feedback
Students felt that having a tutorial moderator in addition to the unit coordinator was confusing and unnecessary.
Recommendation
In future iterations of this unit, the unit coordinator will oversee all tutorials.
Action Taken
Unit coordinator was present for all tutorials.
Source: Moodle
Feedback
Students would like additional guest lecturers.
Recommendation
Should this unit be resurrected in future, further guest lecturers will be organised where possible.
Action Taken
Nil.
Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Critique the history and development of permaculture approaches to agriculture in relation to conventional agriculture, organic and other food production systems
  2. Evaluate permaculture strategies used to regenerate landscapes, create integrated sustainable food systems and manage the dynamics of productive ecosystems with particular regard to water, soil and health
  3. Develop a Permaculture Management Plan to design a productive year round localised food production system adapted to the local economy and bioregion
  4. Develop codes of practice for the implementation of this localised food system that address local market needs and the relevant legislation and standards to ensure duty of care
  5. Analyse the input/output needs and contributions of this localised food production system in relation to the bioregion in which it is situated and link this with broader processes of transition.

Not applicable

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Presentation • • • • •
2 - Written Assessment • • • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Advanced Level
• Professional Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Knowledge • • • • •
2 - Communication • • • • •
3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills • • •
4 - Research • • • • •
5 - Self-management • •
6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Advanced Level
• Professional Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 - Presentation • • • • • • •
2 - Written Assessment • • • • • • •