Environmental Futures Field Course
| Module title | Environmental Futures Field Course |
|---|---|
| Module code | GEO3325 |
| Academic year | 2024/5 |
| Credits | 15 |
| Module staff | Dr Roger Auster () |
| Duration: Term | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration: Weeks | 11 |
| Number students taking module (anticipated) | 40 |
|---|
Module description
The Environmental Futures Field Course is an interdisciplinary module centred on enabling you to engage critically and experientially with a range of contemporary debates on sustainable futures and landscape transformations within the context of The Climate Emergency. This learning focus is extended through a commitment to using low carbon travel (whole module group rail travel) to visit the city and its surrounding areas. Through experiencing a diverse range of field sites, you will learn how physical and social scientists are helping to reimagine the ways we engage with urban and rural spaces to engender positive environmental and social transformations.
Throughout Term 2, you will attend lectures and undertake guided reading to gain an understanding of the contemporary environmental debates that will form the focus of the field course teaching and learning. This will include information that will enable you to become familiar with the field course rail travel and destination city. During the field course, you will participate in group-led discussions to critically debate the research learning activities for each day. You will work individually during and after the field course to develop a fieldwork extended essay based on an environment and sustainability theme related to your learning experience on the field course.
Module aims - intentions of the module
This field course aims to provide an interdisciplinary field setting for you to learn and reflect on debates relating to environmental and social transformations within the context of anthropogenic climate change. The module will:
- Enable you to experience ‘slow travel’ by rail as a means of a) reducing your carbon emissions for field work and b) reflecting on the value of incorporating your journey into the learning process.
- Develop your understanding of the value of working within an interdisciplinary setting to better understand the barriers and opportunities to environmental transformation and meaningful climate action.
- Develop skills of group working and an associated appreciation for the complementary nature of social and natural science knowledges and approaches to research.
- Promote critical self-reflection on your own environmental values and practices.
- Foster academic confidence through leading and participating in student group discussions on research learning exercises.
- Provide an opportunity to engage critically with specific academic debates as a focus for your fieldwork extended essay.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
ILO: Module-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 1. Develop place-based understandings of the interdisciplinary research themes related to the field course
- 2. Articulate and evaluate key academic debates, concepts and approaches associated with the field course
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 3. Apply geographical concepts in different environmental settings
- 4. Identify a diverse range of approaches to the generation of knowledge and understanding in Geography
ILO: Personal and key skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 5. Communicate complex ideas, concepts and theories
- 6. Reflect on and discuss learning experiences and draw lessons for personal development
Syllabus plan
Term 2 (Weeks 1-10)
Week 1: Module introduction
Weeks 3, 5, 7 and 9 – Contemporary debates lectures to introduce you to the module research themes
Week 10 – Pre-departure workshop
Term 2 (Field Course – Week 11)
See field course poster advert
Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 58 | 92 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning & Teaching activities | 8 | Lectures: 2-hour module introduction and four 2-hour contemporary debates lectures |
| Scheduled Learning & Teaching activities | 2 | Workshop: Pre-departure preparation session |
| Scheduled Learning & Teaching activities | 56 | Field course: learning (including: outward / inward rail journey and five field course days) |
| Guided Independent Study | 20 | Pre-field course reading associated with the four contemporary debates (lecture content) |
| Guided Independent Study | 64 | Completion of summative assessment |
Formative assessment
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| In-class group discussions during term 2 | 5-minute discussions | all | Verbal |
| Personal learning journal (to aid with preparation for the Student Conference) | 12 x A5 notebook pages per research activity | all | None |
| Field course group discussions | 5 x 15-minute group discussions | al | Verbal |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 0 | 0 |
Details of summative assessment
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Student group-led discussion | 30 | 45-minutes per discussion | all | Written |
| Fieldwork extended essay | 70 | 2500 words | all | Written |
Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Student group-led discussion | 1000-word research summary | all | Ref-Def |
| Fieldwork extended essay | 2500-word extended essay | all | Ref-Def |
Re-assessment notes
If you are unable to engage with any of the field course module assessments for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will be re-assessed for field work skills via the following assessments, to be submitted for the August deferral period:
• A 1000-word research summary, based upon desk-based research on a theme, site, or issue related to the Environmental Futures Field Course
• A 2500-word extended essay, related to key themes introduced in the contemporary debates lectures.
The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.
If you fail the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%), you will be required to submit a 1000-word research summary and a 2500-word extended essay. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of referral will count for 100% of the final mark and will be capped at 40%.
Indicative learning resources - Basic reading
Basic reading:
- Asbeck, T., Benneter, A., Huber, A., Margaritis, D., Buse, J., Popa, F., Pyttel, P., Förschler, M., Gärtner, S., and Bauhus, J., 2023. Enhancing structural complexity: An experiment conducted in the Black Forest National Park, Germany. Ecology and Evolution 13.1: DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9732.
- Buehler, R. and Pucher, J. (2011). “Sustainable transport in Freiburg: lessons from Germany’s environmental capital”. International Journal of Sustainable Transportation 5 (1): 43–70
- Fienitz, M., Busse, M., Fienitz, M., and Heiland, S., 2022. Analysing the impact of communication and public participation on the acceptability of Germany’s Black Forest National Park. Journal for Nature Conservation 67: 126155.
- Freytag, T., Gössling, S. and Mössner, S., 2014. Living the green city: Freiburg's Solarsiedlung between narratives and practices of sustainable urban development. Local Environment, 19(6), pp.644-659.
- Gebhardt, C., Almeida, M., and Etzkowitz, H. 2022. Triple Helix Twins: Operationalizing the Sustainability Agenda in the Northern Black Forest National Park in Germany. Triple Helix 9: 184-215.
- Henne, P.D., Bigalke, M., Büntgen, U., Colombaroli, D., Conedera, M., Feller, U., Frank, D., Fuhrer, J., Grosjean, M., Heiri, O. and Luterbacher, J., 2018. An empirical perspective for understanding climate change impacts in Switzerland. Regional environmental change, 18, pp.205-221.
- Larbi, M., Kellett, J., Palazzo, E. and Mehdipour, A., 2021. Urban sustainability transitions in two frontrunner cities: Insights from the multi-level perspective. Planning Practice & Research, 36(5), pp.494-513.
- Lüchtrath, A. and Schraml, U., 2015. The missing lynx—understanding hunters' opposition to large carnivores. Wildlife Biology, 21(2), pp.110-119.
- Metz, F. and Glaus, A., 2019. Integrated water resources management and policy integration: Lessons from 169 years of flood policies in Switzerland. Water, 11(6), p.1173.
- Okauchi, K. 2022. Slow Development Towards Park Creation: A History of the Black Forest in Post-War Germany. Environment and History 28.2: 229-258.
- Späth, P., & Ornetzeder, M. (2017). From building small urban spaces for a car-free life to challenging the global regime of automobility: Cases from Vienna and Freiburg. In N. Frantzeskaki, V. Castán Broto, L. Coenen and D. Loorbach (Eds.) Urban Sustainability Transitions (pp. 191-209). Routledge, Abingdon.
- Williams, J., 2016. Can low-carbon city experiments transform the development regime? Futures, 77, pp.80-96.
| Credit value | 15 |
|---|---|
| Module ECTS | 7.5 |
| Module pre-requisites | GEO2329 Geographies of Consumption: Doing Human Geography Research OR GEO2465 Doing Human Geography Research OR GEO2338 Doing Human Geography Research OR GEO2334 (Research Design in Physical Geography) |
| Module co-requisites | None |
| NQF level (module) | 6 |
| Available as distance learning? | No |
| Origin date | 19/9/2023 |
| Last revision date | 21/03/2024 |
