Australian Environmental Futures
ASSESSMENT TASK 1: Sustainability Essay
- Word length: 1,500 words maximum (excluding figures, tables and references); you will be penalised for exceeding the word limit
- Date Due: 9am Thursday 1st September
- Weight: 20%
- Submission instructions: Assignments are to be submitted online via
Grademark – found as a link in iLearn: hardcopy submissions will not be accepted.
ESSAY QUESTION
Choose an Australian-based sustainability project as a case study, and discuss the decision-making processes involved in its design and implementation. This will include identification of various stakeholders and an analysis of their relationships. In your conclusion please address the level of success, or potential for success, of the project.
Note: In your answer, you may draw upon information from case material from readings, web sites or your own experience, but you must not use the Wild Rivers, Snowy River, water sustainability and landscape management at Macquarie (other sustainability efforts at Macquarie are fine) as your case study for this essay.[unique_solution]
Hints
Specific REM project:
At present there are various ‘sustainability’ projects across Australia. Students are encouraged to look at a number of examples before choosing a specific case for their essay. To help get things started, a number of suggestions have been listed below and students are welcome to use one of these for the assignment; however, this list is by no means definitive. Students are welcome to investigate other projects with which they might take a personal interest.
Ideas for a case study can also come from some of the examples mentioned in lectures and tutorials, from course readings, from your general knowledge, news excerpts or web searches. You should take advantage of the freedom offered here to focus on something that really interests you and/or will be useful for your future study, portfolio, career etc. When you have an idea about what your case study may be you need to do some research to learn more about the decision-making processes surrounding the case study and then you need to make a decision as to if you have enough reliable information with which to write your essay. If not, either look for more data or try a different case study.
Note: a number of these projects are very large in scope, making it difficult to cover all aspects in a 1500-word assignment. For example, the sustainability program at Macquarie University
(Sustainability@MQ) includes: fair trade, biodiversity, energy and emissions, transport, waste, and water. Similarly, Sustainable Sydney 2030 has a number of ‘directions’. Students are asked to choose one particular dimension (excluding the water sustainability and landscape management at Macquarie) of the plan (i.e. transport or development/renewal and design) so that focused assessment and analysis can take place in the essay.
- Sustainable Sydney 2030: http://www.sydney2030.com.au
- Sustainability program at the Sydney Fish Market: http://www.sydneyfishmarket.com.au/ sustainability/corporate-social-responsibility
- Greening the House (Sydney Opera House): https://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/ environment/greening_the_house.aspx
- Sustainability program at the Sydney Harbour Trust: http://www.harbourtrust.gov.au/about/ environment-sustainability
- Sustainable Farm Families: http://www.farmerhealth.org.au/sustainable-farm-families/sff-programs
- Sustainable Forest Management (Forestry Tasmania): http://www.forestrytas.com.au/sfm
- Sustainable Table: https://www.sustainabletable.org.au/
- Sustainability@MQ: http://www.mq.edu.au/sustainability/
Doing research:
To be able to formulate an argument you need to conduct research. This will involve gathering data from secondary sources (things that other people have written) and should at the minimum include:
- General literature on decision-making processes and stakeholders in REM
- Specific literature on your case study
Please take advantage of the references given in the unit guide (see ‘suggested reading’ under this assessment item) and during lectures, but you will be particularly expected to develop your research skills by finding your own journal articles, book chapters, books and other references. Notes on conducting research and writing have been included on the ENV267 iLearn site, week 2.
Evaluate:
In your essay you need to formulate an argument in relation to the case study you have undertaken. Based on the evidence from your research, do you think that the project has demonstrated a high level of success? Shows potential for success? Has not been very successful at all? What does success mean in the context of sustainability and different stakeholder perspectives? Whatever your argument is, you must also explain why. For example, do you consider the project unsuccessful because it has failed to consider the various stakeholders who may be affected by its implementation? The argument needs to be stated within the introduction, and it needs to be backed up with evidence in the body of the essay. Further, the argument needs to be revisited in the conclusion of your essay.
Decision-making processes
As part of your answer you will be analysing the power relationships that exist in and around your case study and REM. This will involve thinking about what the decision- making processes are, who the stakeholders are, how they do (or don’t) participate in the process and the relationship between scientific knowledge and other forms of knowledge. In your discussion and/or conclusion you must also consider what general lessons can be drawn for REM from your particular case study.
Writing the essay
Remember:
o Before you start writing read the notes on doing research in this hand-out and the unit guide.
o Be critical of material provided on the web in terms of its reliability and its potential bias.
o If in doubt about the structure to use, again see the notes and readings from Tutorial 1.
o Your conclusion should restate your key points / arguments and should not introduce new material.