Master of Geography

This subject is concerned with the history and philosophy of geography and is designed to introduce students to key debates, both past and present, on the nature and scope of geography as an academic discipline. It therefore sets out an essential context for understanding contemporary research in human and physical geography, as well for understanding the nature of interdisciplinary research. Students who complete this subject will be able to think critically about different schools of geographical thought; be able to evaluate theoretical concepts from geography and elsewhere; and be able to demonstrate an understanding of the dynamic and contested nature of the discipline. Students will also gain insights into a selected issue at the leading-edge of contemporary geographical research. Finally, via a seminar diary, students will critically evaluate how contemporary geographic research is communicated via research seminars within the School and, where relevant, in other schools/departments of the university.

The subject provides a conceptual and practical overview of the diverse research methods used in geography. It is designed to help commencing Master of Geography students (or equivalent) prepare for their research projects, and is taught in intensive mode in February. Topics covered include the scope of geographical research, the socio-political context of research, research design, sampling design and data collection, data analysis and presentation, project feasibility and management, ethics, oral and written presentation skills. Practical skills will include a range of quantitative and qualitative methods used by geographers.

The subject will provide Masters-level training in desktop, field and/or laboratory techniques that serve as preparation for the completion of a capstone subject in the Master of Geography. Students will choose a topic area/project from a list provided by School of Geography academic staff.

This subject examines the impacts of disasters in cities. It will explore why some groups are more vulnerable to particular hazards than others, while considering the role of social capital and adaptation for increasing the resilience of urban communities to disasters.This is important because the trend towards increasing urbanisation and larger cities is a major contributor to the rising toll of disaster losses globally. In addition, climate change predictions indicate that natural hazards such as bushfires, floods, storms and cyclones are likely to increase in intensity and possibly also frequency in many places, including cities. Contemporary cases will be used to highlight key issues and policy debates. Implications for urban planning and disaster planning and management in cities and at the rural-urban interface will be considered.

Cases and examples will be drawn from around the world, primarily from developed countries. Students will have the opportunity to examine case/s of their own choosing (with approval from the subject coordinator), and will undertake locally based research in preparation of the field report. There will be a local field trip associated with this subject.

This subject examines principles in the two disciplines of hydrology and ecology, emphasising the application of both to understand how to solve environmental management problems in river ecosystems. The subject examines water in terms of quantity and quality; and the physical channel and floodplain systems in which it is conveyed and stored, along with transported materials such as sediments and organic matter. The subject also examines population, community and ecosystem dynamics of riverine organisms and their geographical distributions and diversities. Through practicals and fieldwork, students should develop skills in acquiring, analysing and presenting hydrological and ecological data, and in the identification and proper field sampling of stream biota. Students should become aware of the multidisciplinary nature of environmental management and the need for critical examination of ideas in the literature.

This field class subject, combining on-campus classes with periodic off-campus field work in the Melbourne area, asks the question: in what ways are local sites globally connected? Sites selected for field study around Melbourne will vary year by year, as will the specific processes studied geographically at those sites. For example, study might be made of a selection of places and communities damaged by recent bushfire or flood, investigating how globally-sourced advice, personnel and equipment played a part in responding to those events, forging lasting links between those local places and the sources of their global assistance. Or, the global sources of contamination of local ocean sites might be studied. Or, the global worlds of social media might be mapped, by looking at a set of local social media users within particular urban populations. Or, the manner in which local environmental or urban policies may be drawn from overseas situations might be examined and critiqued, involving investigation of governance sites/settings in our local area and the ways they connect globally.

This is a field class subject, for which the field work will be conducted in Melbourne or its immediate environs. It is not an intensive subject.

Note this subject may be taken as the Capstone subject in the Geography major of the BA and BSc. All students, whether they are capstone students or not, will be required to complete online introductory learning materials that are common across all field classes.

This subject introduces and analyses critical concepts and terms central to debates over climate change, including risk and uncertainty, adaptation and mitigation, burden sharing, and problems and issues relating to regimes, strategies and policy instruments for addressing global warming. The subject considers the rise of climate change as a policy problem. It reviews and analyses the history of climate change policy as it has evolved nationally and internationally. It examines the interactions between national and regional climate policy, including in Australia, the United States, the European Union and China. It analyses debates and concerns that have led to the evolution of the Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol, and more recent arrangements. Students will consider a range of policy instruments, including carbon taxes and emissions trading, and technologies that have been proposed or deployed to address this issue. This subject enables students to understand the evolution of a critical global environmental issue. It offers insights into technical, political, ethical and ecological issues that have framed climate change policy, particularly since 1992, and enables students to think critically about and participate in developing policy in this domain.

This subject provides an introduction to critical concepts and issues related to environmental policy development and implementation, with specific reference to national and international policy domains. Students are introduced to relevant concepts, theoretical issues and practical tools for policy makers. They consider case studies relating to climate change, ozone depletion, water, land degradation, forest preservation, waste and 'sustainability planning'. These case studies include Australian, developing country and international dimensions and considerations. The subject is taught through a combination of lectures and seminars. Students will gain a practical understanding of issues confronting policymakers for a range of environment problems and solutions available to them.

This subject prepares students for environmental management roles by providing them with the principles of how human impacts on the environment might be detected and managed. The principles will be placed within the legal and social contexts of environmental impact assessment. At the completion of the subject, students should understand three aspects: prediction of the kind of changes that might occur with human activities; the design and implementation of proper monitoring programs that can detect changes; and assessment of those changes. Additionally, a strong emphasis is placed on the practical implementation of principles.

Environmental Risk Assessment aims to provide you with the skills to undertake and critically evaluate environmental risk assessments. We outline the history and social context of risk and explore the psychology of risk perception. You will be introduced to quantitative and qualitative tools with the objective of giving you the ability to select, apply and assess technical and socially based risk assessment. The subject is structured to develop your skills in writing reports and participating in group exercises.

While the contact period is six intensive days, the learning period is longer. Reading materials are distributed in September and a small assessment task is set to encourage you to be fully prepared. You will be required to complete a take-home examination and a substantial practical report in the weeks following the course.

The subject is made up of lectures in the mornings and practical exercises in the afternoons. It assumes no formal background in quantitative methods. An understanding of basic statistical concepts (means, medians, standard deviations, confidence intervals, basic linear regression) is an advantage. If you have not been involved in an undergraduate statistics class before, contact the subject coordinator to discuss your options.

Currently, there is more than sufficient food produced on a global scale to feed the population. This has been an upward trend throughout agricultural history, whereby humans have altered their cultivation habits to produce more. However, the continued rise in productivity is unlikely to continue under current systems within which resources are finite. The full impacts of this on a global scale are yet to be experienced by much of the population, largely in developed areas, although viability has dropped in many food producing systems due to increases in input costs of fuel, water, fertilizers and pest and disease control. Meanwhile, at the regional scale, food production systems are already found to be unsustainable with dropping productivity in previously fertile and highly productive areas. The reasons for the production declines are varied and complex, ranging from climate impacts to unsustainable cultivation methods leading to land degradation, reduced fertility and biodiversity required for healthy ecosystems. This subject will explore the biological issues contributing to the reduction of productivity we are currently observing in these fragile agricultural systems and explore the future issues that are likely to impact on systems thought to currently be more stable. We will thereby understand the components that contribute to sustainable food productivity and learn which of these are most unsustainable and will require future investment in systems change to maintain productivity.

Rivers are amongst the hardest of natural resources to manage. They are long and thin, and so maximise the impact of catchment changes; they also focus environmental, social and production pressures. Rivers are the archetypal example of the conflict between private and public goods. In most western countries we have done an effective job of degrading these resources. The last 20 years has seen a transformation in the way rivers have been managed. We are now less concerned with protecting people from rivers (via flood mitigation), and more focused on environmental rehabilitation and protection. This subject equips students to manage rivers more effectively by integrating catchment management activities. In reality, there are not many things that we do to manage rivers: change landuse, change flow, change water quality, change riparian vegetation, or make structural changes to the river. In this course we concentrate on (a) how much do you have to alter each of these management levers in order to produce the most cost effective improvements in river condition and sustainability; (b) how do we integrate the management of many levers at different scales; and (c) how do we evaluate whether we have had any effect. The subject has a strong emphasis on how to develop strong and successful policy for managing natural systems. The principles for managing rivers apply to managing most natural resources, so students can be confident of learning general management and policy principles.

This subject consists of a two-week field class in China in July with some pre-departure (in semester 1) and post-field-trip (in semester 2) workshops/seminars in Melbourne. The subject is designed to develop students' interests in Asia, in China in particular, and in the interactions between society, economy, government, and the environment. While in China, students will interact with local communities, academics and environmental managers who will inform them about issues and processes in China. These interactions will be supplemented by site visits and household interviews. The field trip will be under the supervision of the subject coordinator. Students are responsible for the cost of travel, accommodation and food.

International Internship in the Environment is an elective subject available to students in the Master of Geography, Master of Environment or Master of Ecosystem Management and Conservation. Eligible students gain subject credit for a placement with an organisation based in another country. It provides students with the opportunity to gain exposure to a different cultural setting and to think critically about the nature of the relationship between theory and practice.

The broad aim of the internship is to provide the opportunity for graduate students to gain invaluable practical experience and to build their networks with industry, government or NGOs in order to further enhance their knowledge and skills in their chosen area of study. Students will have the chance to make a positive contribution to the host organisation by applying their previous experience, skills and knowledge gained through study.

To enrol into this subject students will be in the final 100 points of their Masters’ degree in the semester they intend to enrol. Students will also seek coordinator permission one semester prior to enrolling into this subject.

Students will complete all necessary internship and travel paperwork PRIOR to enrolment in the subject.

Students will generally need to meet the cost of travel and subsistence in the destination country.

Completion of Internship Placement and Risk Assessment form and the on-line Student Travel Registration https://safety.unimelb.edu.au/management/implement

This subject provides a detailed understanding about the dynamics of coastal landforms, the processes driving change and the impact on human occupation of the coastal zone. The coast is one of the most intensively utilised landscapes worldwide and Australia is no exception. Population densities and development pressures are all rapidly rising providing ever increasing stress on the landscape. Intense human development is however a relatively recent phenomena. Coastal landforms operate over much longer timescales than people. Beaches and dunes have natural cycles of erosion and deposition of decadal to centennial scales while cliffs may have a history of several thousand years. It is therefore impossible to successfully manage, or simply enjoy this environment without knowledge of how it evolved and operates. During this course we will explore the operation and management of the key landforms found at the shore.

This subject examines the nature and causes of past changes in Earth’s climate during the Quaternary Period (the last 2.7 million years), with a particular emphasis on the last glacial-interglacial cycle. It aims to place modern climate and the projections of future global warming into a longer-term perspective, and will allow students to understand why human interference in the climate system may be a legitimate cause for concern. Emphasis is placed on how Earth materials (ice, rocks, sediments, biological materials) record past climate changes, the techniques used to extract this ‘palaeoenvironmental information’, and the principles that govern how this information is interpreted. A series of lectures covering the theoretical elements of the subject will immediately precede 10 days of field study (in either Tasmania, mainland SE Australia or New Zealand). The field component focuses on how particular environments (e.g. coastal, lake, fluvial, cave, and glacial) preserve evidence of past climate change. Additional lectures and practicals following completion of the field work will focus on the types of analytical methods employed in this field, the nature of the data that are produced and how these are processed and interpreted. By the end of the subject, students will not only appreciate the dynamics of Earth’s past climate and the mechanisms that have forced it, but also the way in which we practice this important and growing field of study.

Student numbers are subject to a quota. . The estimated cost of the field trip is in the vicinity of $900.

Fire is one of the most important controls over the distribution of vegetation on Earth. This subject examines the role of fire in natural systems, with a particular emphasis on the importance of fire in determining global vegetation patterns and dynamics over long periods of time. The aim is to understand how terrestrial systems have evolved to cope with and exploit fire, and to place the extreme flammability of Australia's vegetation within a global context. The subject will examine concepts such as resilience, positive feedback loops, hysteresis and alternative stable states. The use of fire by humans to manipulate environments will be examined, with a particular emphasis on the variety of approaches employed by people across a diversity of environments over long periods of time, allowing an exploration of the social and cultural dynamics of fire and environmental management. A March field excursion in Tasmania will visit a number of sites which will exemplify the subject themes. The practical exercises leading up to the field trip will focus on how to gather fire-related ecological data. The practical exercises following the field trip will be devoted to processing, analysing, interpreting and reporting on the field data. At the end of the subject, students will have gained an understanding of the way in which fire has shaped natural systems, as well as acquiring the skills necessary to formulate and test hypotheses.

More information about the subject and field trip can be seen at: http://michaelsresearch.wordpress.com/GEOG30025/

The estimated additional cost of the 7 day field trip to Cradle Mountain, Tasmania, is in the vicinity of $750.

AIMS

This is an introductory subject to Geograhpic Information Systems (GIS) and Geographic Information Science, both practically and theoretically, at postgraduate level. Spatial information is ubiquitous in decision making. Be it in urban planning, in traffic or disaster management, in way-finding, in issues of the environment, public health and sustainability, or in economic contexts: the question of 'where' is a fundamental one. Spatial information is also special in many respects, such as its dimensionality and autocorrelation, its volume, its links to the Internet of Things (things are always located somewhere), to social networks (which exist in space and time), to streaming data from sensors everywhere, or to intelligent (location-aware) systems. The subject provides the foundations for more specialized subjects on spatial data management, spatial data analysis and spatial data visualization, and is of particular relevance to people wishing to establish a career in the spatial information industry, the environmental or planning industry. It is also suited for every postgraduate student who is looking for solid GIS skills.

INDICATIVE CONTENT

We will discuss representations and analysis of this information in spatial information technologies, from location-based services to geographic information systems. Topics addressed are observing the environment; spatial and spatiotemporal data representations, spatial analysis and spatial communication. The practical part will introduce to GIS in a hands-on manner, starting in individual software training and then applying new skills in a team-designed GIS project.

Climate change is one of the most important issues of our time. This subject covers the basics of climate science - including climate change, natural variability, extremes, climate scenarios, and detection and attribution - and how this translates into impacts on society, ecosystems and economies. The subject focuses on the production of climate science and data and how its creation, analysis, and use informs decisions made from multiple perspectives and across multiple levels, including governments, industry and communities. The subject has a particular focus on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports. To develop practical skills, students are required to apply knowledge from the course to develop and justify various stakeholder positions, policies, or business cases. Students will build climate profiles for relevant stakeholders in order to assess and debate how national or other circumstances frame responses at the local, state and international level.

As Australian landscapes continue to degrade under current land management practices, land managers and stake-holders are looking toward alternative and more sustainable land management strategies, such as indigenous land management and traditional knowledge. This subject looks at how indigenous people in Australia manage their environment and how management practices vary across the Australian landscape. The subject will examine indigenous land management in Australia and abroad, and evaluate how traditional knowledge and beliefs guide approaches to land management. We will examine examples where indigenous land management has been reintroduced to landscapes in Australia and investigate the potential application of similar schemes across different parts of Australia. The subject will be taught as a 14-day intensive during the mid-semester break, comprising lectures and field observations in western Victoria and the Northern Territory. These two very different regions will be used to examine the relationship between environmental context, indigenous land management and post-colonial history. Lectures will provide the necessary conceptual framework with which to engage and understand the different environmental contexts and indigenous land management practices of these regions.

More information about this subject and the field trips can be seen at: http://michaelsresearch.wordpress.com/geog90019/

This subject will incur additional fees in the vicinity of $900 per student to cover travel.

This subject consists of a 12-day field trip to East Timor in mid-year break with a series of compulsory pre-departure information sessions in semester 1 and a post-trip workshop in early Semester two. The subject is designed to develop students’ understanding of the Asia-Pacific region and in particular of the complex geographies of sm. all island and post-conflict states. Students will gain an in situ appreciation of the historical and contemporary issues relevant to East Timor and develop their empirical and analytical research skills while carrying out small group research into the impacts of conflict, climate and culture on social and economic development and the environment. While in East Timor, students will participate in a number of rural, urban and remote site visits during which time they will interact with local communities, civil society leaders, academics, government and aid organizations. The field trip will be under the supervision of the subject coordinators. Students are responsible for the cost of airfares, internal travel, accommodation and food.

The East Timor field subject (GEOG30026/ GEOG90025) involves a full program of activities comprising travel to and around East Timor, including across remote and rough terrain using various modes of transportation (car, boat, foot). Students will be provided with privileged access to local Timorese communities and experiences, in both an urban, regional and rural setting.  The East Timor Field Course can be emotionally and physically demanding and will include a level of personal intensity and challenge, and students are expected to manage their own personal health and safety. 

Modernization has led to development pressures that have increasingly disrupted natural systems leading to widespread concerns about the long-term viability of important environmental services, including those critical to food security worldwide. Case studies in topical areas of environment and food production systems are used to explore interrelationships among social, economic, and environmental factors basic to sustainable development.

The case studies vary between years but have included:

• Traditional knowledge
• Genetically modified foods and food sovereignty
• Land grabs
• Global warming and climate change
• Water quality and quantity
• Global responsibility

The student will participate in global classroom discussions and debates with students from Costa Rica, Honduras, China and the USA. This interaction is facilitated by local classroom discussions, postings to discussion forums and live interactive videoconferences (interactive seminars). The subject challenges the student to develop a clear understanding of sustainability from both a regional and a global context.

Everyone knows what ‘Sustainable Development’ is, but if you stop to think, it may become less clear. Sustainable development has become a chameleon, suiting different needs and fulfilling different roles for different people with different interests. In this subject, we will explore this appealing-yet-slippery idea with the aim of deciding whether it is a suitable concept with which to explore the cultural, environmental, and economic challenges facing society. Is sustainable development a useful idea, do we need to move on, or can we take it back?

In addition to the debates over sustainable development, this subject will provide students with the skills needed to examine, analyse, and report on challenges related to their interests. At its heart, the subject explores the primary question of sustainable development, which is whether it can be useful in a world (seemingly) approaching numerous catastrophic tipping points. The climate is changing, the oceans are acidifying, the soils cannot keep producing our food, and wealth is being concentrated amongst a smaller and smaller segment of the world. Is sustainable development helpful in understanding, and ideally changing, these trends?

There are also more practical considerations surrounding the debate over sustainable development. Some people might be interested in having a greater impact on the world through development projects, micro-credit, or volunteering. Is sustainable development helpful? Can the concept help individuals seeking to improve our world (or at least trying)? Does it help ensure that their efforts are beneficial and not perverted by opposing interests and processes?

It is also worth considering whether sustainable development might not be better thought of as an analytical framing: as a way of pulling apart problems or projects in order to better understand or assess their impact on ecological sustainability, development, or economics? Is sustainable development an analytical tool for making sense of ‘wicked’ problems?

In this subject we will review the history of sustainable development, which draws together literature from Geography, Sociology, Engineering, Psychology, Economics, and the Sciences. We will explore critiques of sustainable development, and force ourselves to consider whether it is possible, practical, or even useful in the ‘real world’. We will explore several key challenges, using sustainable development as a lens or framing. And finally and most creatively, we will attempt to reinterpret sustainable development in a world of growing inequality.

For more information see: http://briansresearch.wordpress.com/teaching/sustainable-development/

This subject examines the impacts of disasters in cities. It will explore why some groups are more vulnerable to particular hazards than others, while considering the role of social capital and adaptation for increasing the resilience of urban communities to disasters.This is important because the trend towards increasing urbanisation and larger cities is a major contributor to the rising toll of disaster losses globally. In addition, climate change predictions indicate that natural hazards such as bushfires, floods, storms and cyclones are likely to increase in intensity and possibly also frequency in many places, including cities. Contemporary cases will be used to highlight key issues and policy debates. Implications for urban planning and disaster planning and management in cities and at the rural-urban interface will be considered.

Cases and examples will be drawn from around the world, primarily from developed countries. Students will have the opportunity to examine case/s of their own choosing (with approval from the subject coordinator), and will undertake locally based research in preparation of the field report. There will be a local field trip associated with this subject.

This subject examines principles in the two disciplines of hydrology and ecology, emphasising the application of both to understand how to solve environmental management problems in river ecosystems. The subject examines water in terms of quantity and quality; and the physical channel and floodplain systems in which it is conveyed and stored, along with transported materials such as sediments and organic matter. The subject also examines population, community and ecosystem dynamics of riverine organisms and their geographical distributions and diversities. Through practicals and fieldwork, students should develop skills in acquiring, analysing and presenting hydrological and ecological data, and in the identification and proper field sampling of stream biota. Students should become aware of the multidisciplinary nature of environmental management and the need for critical examination of ideas in the literature.

This subject introduces students to the physical environment, history and development challenges facing contemporary Sub-Saharan Africa. Students will examine in detail intellectual and ethical debates surrounding the strategies undertaken by postcolonial African states and the overseas development “industry” to tackle poverty, inequality, environmental change and the colonial legacy. Students will consider how Africa’s problems are portrayed and understood by the rest of the world. Topics may include: the physical environment and competing understandings of environmental change; the history and governance of the continent; regional case studies (West Africa and the D.R. Congo); agrarian transformations and rural livelihoods; development projects and rise of the NGO; military conflict and mineral wealth; hunger, famine, and the controversies of the relief industry; forestry; wildlife conservation; and urban geographies.

This field class subject, combining on-campus classes with periodic off-campus field work in the Melbourne area, asks the question: in what ways are local sites globally connected? Sites selected for field study around Melbourne will vary year by year, as will the specific processes studied geographically at those sites. For example, study might be made of a selection of places and communities damaged by recent bushfire or flood, investigating how globally-sourced advice, personnel and equipment played a part in responding to those events, forging lasting links between those local places and the sources of their global assistance. Or, the global sources of contamination of local ocean sites might be studied. Or, the global worlds of social media might be mapped, by looking at a set of local social media users within particular urban populations. Or, the manner in which local environmental or urban policies may be drawn from overseas situations might be examined and critiqued, involving investigation of governance sites/settings in our local area and the ways they connect globally.

This is a field class subject, for which the field work will be conducted in Melbourne or its immediate environs. It is not an intensive subject.

Note this subject may be taken as the Capstone subject in the Geography major of the BA and BSc. All students, whether they are capstone students or not, will be required to complete online introductory learning materials that are common across all field classes.

The subject will help students understand human-environment relationships and key development issues using a political ecology perspective, with cases from developing and developed countries. Political ecologists use a variety of approaches to understand complex human-environment problems, and these are applied to concrete situations. We critically analyze a number of development initiatives that are reconstituting human-environment relationships and, in some cases, promoting new forms of ‘environmental governance’. The range of topics covered does change, and some indicative ones are; supporting rural livelihoods; water management; conservation policy; urban environmental governance; the environmental outcomes of corporate misdeeds; global land grabbing; and environmental movements. Through a seminar presentation, reading, and participation, students will learn how different institutions, and the politics surrounding them, impose constraints upon, and present opportunities for, the promotion of sustainable and equitable development.

This subject introduces and analyses critical concepts and terms central to debates over climate change, including risk and uncertainty, adaptation and mitigation, burden sharing, and problems and issues relating to regimes, strategies and policy instruments for addressing global warming. The subject considers the rise of climate change as a policy problem. It reviews and analyses the history of climate change policy as it has evolved nationally and internationally. It examines the interactions between national and regional climate policy, including in Australia, the United States, the European Union and China. It analyses debates and concerns that have led to the evolution of the Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol, and more recent arrangements. Students will consider a range of policy instruments, including carbon taxes and emissions trading, and technologies that have been proposed or deployed to address this issue. This subject enables students to understand the evolution of a critical global environmental issue. It offers insights into technical, political, ethical and ecological issues that have framed climate change policy, particularly since 1992, and enables students to think critically about and participate in developing policy in this domain.

This subject provides an introduction to critical concepts and issues related to environmental policy development and implementation, with specific reference to national and international policy domains. Students are introduced to relevant concepts, theoretical issues and practical tools for policy makers. They consider case studies relating to climate change, ozone depletion, water, land degradation, forest preservation, waste and 'sustainability planning'. These case studies include Australian, developing country and international dimensions and considerations. The subject is taught through a combination of lectures and seminars. Students will gain a practical understanding of issues confronting policymakers for a range of environment problems and solutions available to them.

This subject develops the skills to understand and assess the social impacts of development, including international development projects, resource management, and proposed infrastructure or new policies. We do this in two ways: by looking at how to assess the impacts of proposed projects, and through evaluation techniques for existing developments or projects. In each case we develop practical skills and interdisciplinary techniques to appraise and evaluate impacts. These techniques draw from anthropology, development studies, and the policy sciences, and move beyond simple summative assessments and financial accounting. We consider the social and environmental contexts in which any form of appraisal is embedded, and the capacities of different actors (from the state to NGOs and community groups) to avert or mitigate negative impacts through learning, negotiation, and citizen participation. Examples, some presented by guest speakers, are drawn from Australia, Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Asia. At the completion of the subject students will have developed the conceptual skills to understand the impacts of development; be familiar with the range of methodologies and techniques used in impact assessment; understand development evaluation; and will be able to apply this in critical evaluation of the impact of projects and programmes.

This subject prepares students for environmental management roles by providing them with the principles of how human impacts on the environment might be detected and managed. The principles will be placed within the legal and social contexts of environmental impact assessment. At the completion of the subject, students should understand three aspects: prediction of the kind of changes that might occur with human activities; the design and implementation of proper monitoring programs that can detect changes; and assessment of those changes. Additionally, a strong emphasis is placed on the practical implementation of principles.

Environmental Risk Assessment aims to provide you with the skills to undertake and critically evaluate environmental risk assessments. We outline the history and social context of risk and explore the psychology of risk perception. You will be introduced to quantitative and qualitative tools with the objective of giving you the ability to select, apply and assess technical and socially based risk assessment. The subject is structured to develop your skills in writing reports and participating in group exercises.

While the contact period is six intensive days, the learning period is longer. Reading materials are distributed in September and a small assessment task is set to encourage you to be fully prepared. You will be required to complete a take-home examination and a substantial practical report in the weeks following the course.

The subject is made up of lectures in the mornings and practical exercises in the afternoons. It assumes no formal background in quantitative methods. An understanding of basic statistical concepts (means, medians, standard deviations, confidence intervals, basic linear regression) is an advantage. If you have not been involved in an undergraduate statistics class before, contact the subject coordinator to discuss your options.

Formerly FOOD90026

This subject examines the politics of the global food system, and will focus on the policies, structures, power relations and political debates surrounding the production, distribution and consumption of food. The impacts of food production and consumption on food security, health, the environment, animal welfare, and the livelihoods of producers, will be critically explored. Key theoretical frameworks and concepts for understanding the dominant paradigms and dynamics of the food system will be discussed and evaluated. Integrated policies and strategies for creating more sustainable and equitable food systems, and alternative paradigms and practices of production, distribution and consumption, will also be critically examined. This subject will primarily draw on theories and methodologies from the sociology and politics of food and agriculture, food policy, and the political economy and political ecology of food.

The topics and debates covered include:

• Food policy and governance at the global, national and local levels
• Food security, food sovereignty and the Global Food Crisis
• Global trading relations, free trade and fair trade
• Environmental impacts and sustainable forms of food production and consumption
• Animal production, factory farms and animal welfare
• Supermarkets and alternative retailing and distribution networks
• Agricultural paradigms and technologies: chemical-industrial agriculture, genetically modified foods, organic agriculture and agroecology
• Corporate concentration within and across sectors of the food system
• Competition for food and land: animal feed, biofuels and land-grabbing
• Food processing, food marketing, dietary advice and health
• Local and urban food production and planning
• Alternative paradigms and networks of food production, distribution and consumption

Currently, there is more than sufficient food produced on a global scale to feed the population. This has been an upward trend throughout agricultural history, whereby humans have altered their cultivation habits to produce more. However, the continued rise in productivity is unlikely to continue under current systems within which resources are finite. The full impacts of this on a global scale are yet to be experienced by much of the population, largely in developed areas, although viability has dropped in many food producing systems due to increases in input costs of fuel, water, fertilizers and pest and disease control. Meanwhile, at the regional scale, food production systems are already found to be unsustainable with dropping productivity in previously fertile and highly productive areas. The reasons for the production declines are varied and complex, ranging from climate impacts to unsustainable cultivation methods leading to land degradation, reduced fertility and biodiversity required for healthy ecosystems. This subject will explore the biological issues contributing to the reduction of productivity we are currently observing in these fragile agricultural systems and explore the future issues that are likely to impact on systems thought to currently be more stable. We will thereby understand the components that contribute to sustainable food productivity and learn which of these are most unsustainable and will require future investment in systems change to maintain productivity.

This subject consists of a two-week field class in China in July with some pre-departure (in semester 1) and post-field-trip (in semester 2) workshops/seminars in Melbourne. The subject is designed to develop students' interests in Asia, in China in particular, and in the interactions between society, economy, government, and the environment. While in China, students will interact with local communities, academics and environmental managers who will inform them about issues and processes in China. These interactions will be supplemented by site visits and household interviews. The field trip will be under the supervision of the subject coordinator. Students are responsible for the cost of travel, accommodation and food.

This subject will provide students with the skills needed to examine, analyse, and report on risk management and public participation. The subject addresses the primary challenge of risk management, which involves determining what stakeholders want, analysing how they interpret risks, and understanding how their knowledge(s) shapes their behaviour. Added to this very complex topic is the question of how government can attempt to reshape that behaviour.

The subject will be available to social and physical scientists whose interests and/or research involve risk, vulnerability, adaptation, and resilience. It will be particularly appealing to students interested in how research can inform governance.

For further detail please see:

http://briansresearch.wordpress.com/teaching/risk-management-public-participation/

This subject provides students with advanced level analysis and interpretation of the range of issues associated with the conservation and management of cultural environments. The subject advances student knowledge of cross cultural issues as they relate to natural and cultural resource management in diverse socio-cultural environments and examines specific issues pertaining to the evaluation and management of cultural resources. The range of topics includes conservation trends; world heritage cultural landscapes; heritage and conservation management tensions; valuing nature through diverse knowledge interfaces; and the reclamation of ethnographic images and objects by indigenous and local peoples

International Internship in the Environment is an elective subject available to students in the Master of Geography, Master of Environment or Master of Ecosystem Management and Conservation. Eligible students gain subject credit for a placement with an organisation based in another country. It provides students with the opportunity to gain exposure to a different cultural setting and to think critically about the nature of the relationship between theory and practice.

The broad aim of the internship is to provide the opportunity for graduate students to gain invaluable practical experience and to build their networks with industry, government or NGOs in order to further enhance their knowledge and skills in their chosen area of study. Students will have the chance to make a positive contribution to the host organisation by applying their previous experience, skills and knowledge gained through study.

To enrol into this subject students will be in the final 100 points of their Masters’ degree in the semester they intend to enrol. Students will also seek coordinator permission one semester prior to enrolling into this subject.

Students will complete all necessary internship and travel paperwork PRIOR to enrolment in the subject.

Students will generally need to meet the cost of travel and subsistence in the destination country.

Completion of Internship Placement and Risk Assessment form and the on-line Student Travel Registration https://safety.unimelb.edu.au/management/implement

AIMS

This is an introductory subject to Geograhpic Information Systems (GIS) and Geographic Information Science, both practically and theoretically, at postgraduate level. Spatial information is ubiquitous in decision making. Be it in urban planning, in traffic or disaster management, in way-finding, in issues of the environment, public health and sustainability, or in economic contexts: the question of 'where' is a fundamental one. Spatial information is also special in many respects, such as its dimensionality and autocorrelation, its volume, its links to the Internet of Things (things are always located somewhere), to social networks (which exist in space and time), to streaming data from sensors everywhere, or to intelligent (location-aware) systems. The subject provides the foundations for more specialized subjects on spatial data management, spatial data analysis and spatial data visualization, and is of particular relevance to people wishing to establish a career in the spatial information industry, the environmental or planning industry. It is also suited for every postgraduate student who is looking for solid GIS skills.

INDICATIVE CONTENT

We will discuss representations and analysis of this information in spatial information technologies, from location-based services to geographic information systems. Topics addressed are observing the environment; spatial and spatiotemporal data representations, spatial analysis and spatial communication. The practical part will introduce to GIS in a hands-on manner, starting in individual software training and then applying new skills in a team-designed GIS project.

Climate change is one of the most important issues of our time. This subject covers the basics of climate science - including climate change, natural variability, extremes, climate scenarios, and detection and attribution - and how this translates into impacts on society, ecosystems and economies. The subject focuses on the production of climate science and data and how its creation, analysis, and use informs decisions made from multiple perspectives and across multiple levels, including governments, industry and communities. The subject has a particular focus on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports. To develop practical skills, students are required to apply knowledge from the course to develop and justify various stakeholder positions, policies, or business cases. Students will build climate profiles for relevant stakeholders in order to assess and debate how national or other circumstances frame responses at the local, state and international level.

As Australian landscapes continue to degrade under current land management practices, land managers and stake-holders are looking toward alternative and more sustainable land management strategies, such as indigenous land management and traditional knowledge. This subject looks at how indigenous people in Australia manage their environment and how management practices vary across the Australian landscape. The subject will examine indigenous land management in Australia and abroad, and evaluate how traditional knowledge and beliefs guide approaches to land management. We will examine examples where indigenous land management has been reintroduced to landscapes in Australia and investigate the potential application of similar schemes across different parts of Australia. The subject will be taught as a 14-day intensive during the mid-semester break, comprising lectures and field observations in western Victoria and the Northern Territory. These two very different regions will be used to examine the relationship between environmental context, indigenous land management and post-colonial history. Lectures will provide the necessary conceptual framework with which to engage and understand the different environmental contexts and indigenous land management practices of these regions.

More information about this subject and the field trips can be seen at: http://michaelsresearch.wordpress.com/geog90019/

This subject will incur additional fees in the vicinity of $900 per student to cover travel.

This subject consists of a 12-day field trip to East Timor in mid-year break with a series of compulsory pre-departure information sessions in semester 1 and a post-trip workshop in early Semester two. The subject is designed to develop students’ understanding of the Asia-Pacific region and in particular of the complex geographies of sm. all island and post-conflict states. Students will gain an in situ appreciation of the historical and contemporary issues relevant to East Timor and develop their empirical and analytical research skills while carrying out small group research into the impacts of conflict, climate and culture on social and economic development and the environment. While in East Timor, students will participate in a number of rural, urban and remote site visits during which time they will interact with local communities, civil society leaders, academics, government and aid organizations. The field trip will be under the supervision of the subject coordinators. Students are responsible for the cost of airfares, internal travel, accommodation and food.

The East Timor field subject (GEOG30026/ GEOG90025) involves a full program of activities comprising travel to and around East Timor, including across remote and rough terrain using various modes of transportation (car, boat, foot). Students will be provided with privileged access to local Timorese communities and experiences, in both an urban, regional and rural setting.  The East Timor Field Course can be emotionally and physically demanding and will include a level of personal intensity and challenge, and students are expected to manage their own personal health and safety. 

Modernization has led to development pressures that have increasingly disrupted natural systems leading to widespread concerns about the long-term viability of important environmental services, including those critical to food security worldwide. Case studies in topical areas of environment and food production systems are used to explore interrelationships among social, economic, and environmental factors basic to sustainable development.

The case studies vary between years but have included:

• Traditional knowledge
• Genetically modified foods and food sovereignty
• Land grabs
• Global warming and climate change
• Water quality and quantity
• Global responsibility

The student will participate in global classroom discussions and debates with students from Costa Rica, Honduras, China and the USA. This interaction is facilitated by local classroom discussions, postings to discussion forums and live interactive videoconferences (interactive seminars). The subject challenges the student to develop a clear understanding of sustainability from both a regional and a global context.

This subject will introduce you to the challenging philosophical issues raised by climate change. We will cover some of the following questions: is climate change a Tragedy of the Commons? Do our individual GHG emissions do harm? If they do not, do we have any reason to restrain our emissions? What is the non-identity problem, and how seriously should we take it? Does climate change have differential impacts on women and people of colour, and if so, what implications does that have for climate responsibilities? How should the burden of reducing global emissions be shared among states? What is the precautionary principle, and what does it tell us to do about climate change? What is the relative importance of action against climate change compared against other morally important goals? What (if anything) is wrong with geoengineering? What psychological obstacles get in the way of individual action on climate change? In this subject you'll learn both how to defend and criticize arguments relating to climate ethics and environmental activism, and how to articulate what actions might be required of individuals, companies, and states to mitigate climate change.

Please note: this is a research seminar, not a lectured course. We'll read two papers a week and discuss them together, structured around brief student summaries & criticisms.

Everyone knows what ‘Sustainable Development’ is, but if you stop to think, it may become less clear. Sustainable development has become a chameleon, suiting different needs and fulfilling different roles for different people with different interests. In this subject, we will explore this appealing-yet-slippery idea with the aim of deciding whether it is a suitable concept with which to explore the cultural, environmental, and economic challenges facing society. Is sustainable development a useful idea, do we need to move on, or can we take it back?

In addition to the debates over sustainable development, this subject will provide students with the skills needed to examine, analyse, and report on challenges related to their interests. At its heart, the subject explores the primary question of sustainable development, which is whether it can be useful in a world (seemingly) approaching numerous catastrophic tipping points. The climate is changing, the oceans are acidifying, the soils cannot keep producing our food, and wealth is being concentrated amongst a smaller and smaller segment of the world. Is sustainable development helpful in understanding, and ideally changing, these trends?

There are also more practical considerations surrounding the debate over sustainable development. Some people might be interested in having a greater impact on the world through development projects, micro-credit, or volunteering. Is sustainable development helpful? Can the concept help individuals seeking to improve our world (or at least trying)? Does it help ensure that their efforts are beneficial and not perverted by opposing interests and processes?

It is also worth considering whether sustainable development might not be better thought of as an analytical framing: as a way of pulling apart problems or projects in order to better understand or assess their impact on ecological sustainability, development, or economics? Is sustainable development an analytical tool for making sense of ‘wicked’ problems?

In this subject we will review the history of sustainable development, which draws together literature from Geography, Sociology, Engineering, Psychology, Economics, and the Sciences. We will explore critiques of sustainable development, and force ourselves to consider whether it is possible, practical, or even useful in the ‘real world’. We will explore several key challenges, using sustainable development as a lens or framing. And finally and most creatively, we will attempt to reinterpret sustainable development in a world of growing inequality.

For more information see: http://briansresearch.wordpress.com/teaching/sustainable-development/

This subject examines the impacts of disasters in cities. It will explore why some groups are more vulnerable to particular hazards than others, while considering the role of social capital and adaptation for increasing the resilience of urban communities to disasters.This is important because the trend towards increasing urbanisation and larger cities is a major contributor to the rising toll of disaster losses globally. In addition, climate change predictions indicate that natural hazards such as bushfires, floods, storms and cyclones are likely to increase in intensity and possibly also frequency in many places, including cities. Contemporary cases will be used to highlight key issues and policy debates. Implications for urban planning and disaster planning and management in cities and at the rural-urban interface will be considered.

Cases and examples will be drawn from around the world, primarily from developed countries. Students will have the opportunity to examine case/s of their own choosing (with approval from the subject coordinator), and will undertake locally based research in preparation of the field report. There will be a local field trip associated with this subject.

This subject examines principles in the two disciplines of hydrology and ecology, emphasising the application of both to understand how to solve environmental management problems in river ecosystems. The subject examines water in terms of quantity and quality; and the physical channel and floodplain systems in which it is conveyed and stored, along with transported materials such as sediments and organic matter. The subject also examines population, community and ecosystem dynamics of riverine organisms and their geographical distributions and diversities. Through practicals and fieldwork, students should develop skills in acquiring, analysing and presenting hydrological and ecological data, and in the identification and proper field sampling of stream biota. Students should become aware of the multidisciplinary nature of environmental management and the need for critical examination of ideas in the literature.

This subject introduces students to the physical environment, history and development challenges facing contemporary Sub-Saharan Africa. Students will examine in detail intellectual and ethical debates surrounding the strategies undertaken by postcolonial African states and the overseas development “industry” to tackle poverty, inequality, environmental change and the colonial legacy. Students will consider how Africa’s problems are portrayed and understood by the rest of the world. Topics may include: the physical environment and competing understandings of environmental change; the history and governance of the continent; regional case studies (West Africa and the D.R. Congo); agrarian transformations and rural livelihoods; development projects and rise of the NGO; military conflict and mineral wealth; hunger, famine, and the controversies of the relief industry; forestry; wildlife conservation; and urban geographies.

This field class subject, combining on-campus classes with periodic off-campus field work in the Melbourne area, asks the question: in what ways are local sites globally connected? Sites selected for field study around Melbourne will vary year by year, as will the specific processes studied geographically at those sites. For example, study might be made of a selection of places and communities damaged by recent bushfire or flood, investigating how globally-sourced advice, personnel and equipment played a part in responding to those events, forging lasting links between those local places and the sources of their global assistance. Or, the global sources of contamination of local ocean sites might be studied. Or, the global worlds of social media might be mapped, by looking at a set of local social media users within particular urban populations. Or, the manner in which local environmental or urban policies may be drawn from overseas situations might be examined and critiqued, involving investigation of governance sites/settings in our local area and the ways they connect globally.

This is a field class subject, for which the field work will be conducted in Melbourne or its immediate environs. It is not an intensive subject.

Note this subject may be taken as the Capstone subject in the Geography major of the BA and BSc. All students, whether they are capstone students or not, will be required to complete online introductory learning materials that are common across all field classes.

The subject will help students understand human-environment relationships and key development issues using a political ecology perspective, with cases from developing and developed countries. Political ecologists use a variety of approaches to understand complex human-environment problems, and these are applied to concrete situations. We critically analyze a number of development initiatives that are reconstituting human-environment relationships and, in some cases, promoting new forms of ‘environmental governance’. The range of topics covered does change, and some indicative ones are; supporting rural livelihoods; water management; conservation policy; urban environmental governance; the environmental outcomes of corporate misdeeds; global land grabbing; and environmental movements. Through a seminar presentation, reading, and participation, students will learn how different institutions, and the politics surrounding them, impose constraints upon, and present opportunities for, the promotion of sustainable and equitable development.

This subject introduces and analyses critical concepts and terms central to debates over climate change, including risk and uncertainty, adaptation and mitigation, burden sharing, and problems and issues relating to regimes, strategies and policy instruments for addressing global warming. The subject considers the rise of climate change as a policy problem. It reviews and analyses the history of climate change policy as it has evolved nationally and internationally. It examines the interactions between national and regional climate policy, including in Australia, the United States, the European Union and China. It analyses debates and concerns that have led to the evolution of the Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol, and more recent arrangements. Students will consider a range of policy instruments, including carbon taxes and emissions trading, and technologies that have been proposed or deployed to address this issue. This subject enables students to understand the evolution of a critical global environmental issue. It offers insights into technical, political, ethical and ecological issues that have framed climate change policy, particularly since 1992, and enables students to think critically about and participate in developing policy in this domain.

This subject provides an introduction to critical concepts and issues related to environmental policy development and implementation, with specific reference to national and international policy domains. Students are introduced to relevant concepts, theoretical issues and practical tools for policy makers. They consider case studies relating to climate change, ozone depletion, water, land degradation, forest preservation, waste and 'sustainability planning'. These case studies include Australian, developing country and international dimensions and considerations. The subject is taught through a combination of lectures and seminars. Students will gain a practical understanding of issues confronting policymakers for a range of environment problems and solutions available to them.

This subject develops the skills to understand and assess the social impacts of development, including international development projects, resource management, and proposed infrastructure or new policies. We do this in two ways: by looking at how to assess the impacts of proposed projects, and through evaluation techniques for existing developments or projects. In each case we develop practical skills and interdisciplinary techniques to appraise and evaluate impacts. These techniques draw from anthropology, development studies, and the policy sciences, and move beyond simple summative assessments and financial accounting. We consider the social and environmental contexts in which any form of appraisal is embedded, and the capacities of different actors (from the state to NGOs and community groups) to avert or mitigate negative impacts through learning, negotiation, and citizen participation. Examples, some presented by guest speakers, are drawn from Australia, Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Asia. At the completion of the subject students will have developed the conceptual skills to understand the impacts of development; be familiar with the range of methodologies and techniques used in impact assessment; understand development evaluation; and will be able to apply this in critical evaluation of the impact of projects and programmes.

This subject prepares students for environmental management roles by providing them with the principles of how human impacts on the environment might be detected and managed. The principles will be placed within the legal and social contexts of environmental impact assessment. At the completion of the subject, students should understand three aspects: prediction of the kind of changes that might occur with human activities; the design and implementation of proper monitoring programs that can detect changes; and assessment of those changes. Additionally, a strong emphasis is placed on the practical implementation of principles.

Environmental Risk Assessment aims to provide you with the skills to undertake and critically evaluate environmental risk assessments. We outline the history and social context of risk and explore the psychology of risk perception. You will be introduced to quantitative and qualitative tools with the objective of giving you the ability to select, apply and assess technical and socially based risk assessment. The subject is structured to develop your skills in writing reports and participating in group exercises.

While the contact period is six intensive days, the learning period is longer. Reading materials are distributed in September and a small assessment task is set to encourage you to be fully prepared. You will be required to complete a take-home examination and a substantial practical report in the weeks following the course.

The subject is made up of lectures in the mornings and practical exercises in the afternoons. It assumes no formal background in quantitative methods. An understanding of basic statistical concepts (means, medians, standard deviations, confidence intervals, basic linear regression) is an advantage. If you have not been involved in an undergraduate statistics class before, contact the subject coordinator to discuss your options.

Formerly FOOD90026

This subject examines the politics of the global food system, and will focus on the policies, structures, power relations and political debates surrounding the production, distribution and consumption of food. The impacts of food production and consumption on food security, health, the environment, animal welfare, and the livelihoods of producers, will be critically explored. Key theoretical frameworks and concepts for understanding the dominant paradigms and dynamics of the food system will be discussed and evaluated. Integrated policies and strategies for creating more sustainable and equitable food systems, and alternative paradigms and practices of production, distribution and consumption, will also be critically examined. This subject will primarily draw on theories and methodologies from the sociology and politics of food and agriculture, food policy, and the political economy and political ecology of food.

The topics and debates covered include:

• Food policy and governance at the global, national and local levels
• Food security, food sovereignty and the Global Food Crisis
• Global trading relations, free trade and fair trade
• Environmental impacts and sustainable forms of food production and consumption
• Animal production, factory farms and animal welfare
• Supermarkets and alternative retailing and distribution networks
• Agricultural paradigms and technologies: chemical-industrial agriculture, genetically modified foods, organic agriculture and agroecology
• Corporate concentration within and across sectors of the food system
• Competition for food and land: animal feed, biofuels and land-grabbing
• Food processing, food marketing, dietary advice and health
• Local and urban food production and planning
• Alternative paradigms and networks of food production, distribution and consumption

Currently, there is more than sufficient food produced on a global scale to feed the population. This has been an upward trend throughout agricultural history, whereby humans have altered their cultivation habits to produce more. However, the continued rise in productivity is unlikely to continue under current systems within which resources are finite. The full impacts of this on a global scale are yet to be experienced by much of the population, largely in developed areas, although viability has dropped in many food producing systems due to increases in input costs of fuel, water, fertilizers and pest and disease control. Meanwhile, at the regional scale, food production systems are already found to be unsustainable with dropping productivity in previously fertile and highly productive areas. The reasons for the production declines are varied and complex, ranging from climate impacts to unsustainable cultivation methods leading to land degradation, reduced fertility and biodiversity required for healthy ecosystems. This subject will explore the biological issues contributing to the reduction of productivity we are currently observing in these fragile agricultural systems and explore the future issues that are likely to impact on systems thought to currently be more stable. We will thereby understand the components that contribute to sustainable food productivity and learn which of these are most unsustainable and will require future investment in systems change to maintain productivity.

Rivers are amongst the hardest of natural resources to manage. They are long and thin, and so maximise the impact of catchment changes; they also focus environmental, social and production pressures. Rivers are the archetypal example of the conflict between private and public goods. In most western countries we have done an effective job of degrading these resources. The last 20 years has seen a transformation in the way rivers have been managed. We are now less concerned with protecting people from rivers (via flood mitigation), and more focused on environmental rehabilitation and protection. This subject equips students to manage rivers more effectively by integrating catchment management activities. In reality, there are not many things that we do to manage rivers: change landuse, change flow, change water quality, change riparian vegetation, or make structural changes to the river. In this course we concentrate on (a) how much do you have to alter each of these management levers in order to produce the most cost effective improvements in river condition and sustainability; (b) how do we integrate the management of many levers at different scales; and (c) how do we evaluate whether we have had any effect. The subject has a strong emphasis on how to develop strong and successful policy for managing natural systems. The principles for managing rivers apply to managing most natural resources, so students can be confident of learning general management and policy principles.

This subject consists of a two-week field class in China in July with some pre-departure (in semester 1) and post-field-trip (in semester 2) workshops/seminars in Melbourne. The subject is designed to develop students' interests in Asia, in China in particular, and in the interactions between society, economy, government, and the environment. While in China, students will interact with local communities, academics and environmental managers who will inform them about issues and processes in China. These interactions will be supplemented by site visits and household interviews. The field trip will be under the supervision of the subject coordinator. Students are responsible for the cost of travel, accommodation and food.

This subject will provide students with the skills needed to examine, analyse, and report on risk management and public participation. The subject addresses the primary challenge of risk management, which involves determining what stakeholders want, analysing how they interpret risks, and understanding how their knowledge(s) shapes their behaviour. Added to this very complex topic is the question of how government can attempt to reshape that behaviour.

The subject will be available to social and physical scientists whose interests and/or research involve risk, vulnerability, adaptation, and resilience. It will be particularly appealing to students interested in how research can inform governance.

For further detail please see:

http://briansresearch.wordpress.com/teaching/risk-management-public-participation/

This subject provides students with advanced level analysis and interpretation of the range of issues associated with the conservation and management of cultural environments. The subject advances student knowledge of cross cultural issues as they relate to natural and cultural resource management in diverse socio-cultural environments and examines specific issues pertaining to the evaluation and management of cultural resources. The range of topics includes conservation trends; world heritage cultural landscapes; heritage and conservation management tensions; valuing nature through diverse knowledge interfaces; and the reclamation of ethnographic images and objects by indigenous and local peoples

International Internship in the Environment is an elective subject available to students in the Master of Geography, Master of Environment or Master of Ecosystem Management and Conservation. Eligible students gain subject credit for a placement with an organisation based in another country. It provides students with the opportunity to gain exposure to a different cultural setting and to think critically about the nature of the relationship between theory and practice.

The broad aim of the internship is to provide the opportunity for graduate students to gain invaluable practical experience and to build their networks with industry, government or NGOs in order to further enhance their knowledge and skills in their chosen area of study. Students will have the chance to make a positive contribution to the host organisation by applying their previous experience, skills and knowledge gained through study.

To enrol into this subject students will be in the final 100 points of their Masters’ degree in the semester they intend to enrol. Students will also seek coordinator permission one semester prior to enrolling into this subject.

Students will complete all necessary internship and travel paperwork PRIOR to enrolment in the subject.

Students will generally need to meet the cost of travel and subsistence in the destination country.

Completion of Internship Placement and Risk Assessment form and the on-line Student Travel Registration https://safety.unimelb.edu.au/management/implement

This subject provides a detailed understanding about the dynamics of coastal landforms, the processes driving change and the impact on human occupation of the coastal zone. The coast is one of the most intensively utilised landscapes worldwide and Australia is no exception. Population densities and development pressures are all rapidly rising providing ever increasing stress on the landscape. Intense human development is however a relatively recent phenomena. Coastal landforms operate over much longer timescales than people. Beaches and dunes have natural cycles of erosion and deposition of decadal to centennial scales while cliffs may have a history of several thousand years. It is therefore impossible to successfully manage, or simply enjoy this environment without knowledge of how it evolved and operates. During this course we will explore the operation and management of the key landforms found at the shore.

This subject examines the nature and causes of past changes in Earth’s climate during the Quaternary Period (the last 2.7 million years), with a particular emphasis on the last glacial-interglacial cycle. It aims to place modern climate and the projections of future global warming into a longer-term perspective, and will allow students to understand why human interference in the climate system may be a legitimate cause for concern. Emphasis is placed on how Earth materials (ice, rocks, sediments, biological materials) record past climate changes, the techniques used to extract this ‘palaeoenvironmental information’, and the principles that govern how this information is interpreted. A series of lectures covering the theoretical elements of the subject will immediately precede 10 days of field study (in either Tasmania, mainland SE Australia or New Zealand). The field component focuses on how particular environments (e.g. coastal, lake, fluvial, cave, and glacial) preserve evidence of past climate change. Additional lectures and practicals following completion of the field work will focus on the types of analytical methods employed in this field, the nature of the data that are produced and how these are processed and interpreted. By the end of the subject, students will not only appreciate the dynamics of Earth’s past climate and the mechanisms that have forced it, but also the way in which we practice this important and growing field of study.

Student numbers are subject to a quota. . The estimated cost of the field trip is in the vicinity of $900.

Fire is one of the most important controls over the distribution of vegetation on Earth. This subject examines the role of fire in natural systems, with a particular emphasis on the importance of fire in determining global vegetation patterns and dynamics over long periods of time. The aim is to understand how terrestrial systems have evolved to cope with and exploit fire, and to place the extreme flammability of Australia's vegetation within a global context. The subject will examine concepts such as resilience, positive feedback loops, hysteresis and alternative stable states. The use of fire by humans to manipulate environments will be examined, with a particular emphasis on the variety of approaches employed by people across a diversity of environments over long periods of time, allowing an exploration of the social and cultural dynamics of fire and environmental management. A March field excursion in Tasmania will visit a number of sites which will exemplify the subject themes. The practical exercises leading up to the field trip will focus on how to gather fire-related ecological data. The practical exercises following the field trip will be devoted to processing, analysing, interpreting and reporting on the field data. At the end of the subject, students will have gained an understanding of the way in which fire has shaped natural systems, as well as acquiring the skills necessary to formulate and test hypotheses.

More information about the subject and field trip can be seen at: http://michaelsresearch.wordpress.com/GEOG30025/

The estimated additional cost of the 7 day field trip to Cradle Mountain, Tasmania, is in the vicinity of $750.

AIMS

This is an introductory subject to Geograhpic Information Systems (GIS) and Geographic Information Science, both practically and theoretically, at postgraduate level. Spatial information is ubiquitous in decision making. Be it in urban planning, in traffic or disaster management, in way-finding, in issues of the environment, public health and sustainability, or in economic contexts: the question of 'where' is a fundamental one. Spatial information is also special in many respects, such as its dimensionality and autocorrelation, its volume, its links to the Internet of Things (things are always located somewhere), to social networks (which exist in space and time), to streaming data from sensors everywhere, or to intelligent (location-aware) systems. The subject provides the foundations for more specialized subjects on spatial data management, spatial data analysis and spatial data visualization, and is of particular relevance to people wishing to establish a career in the spatial information industry, the environmental or planning industry. It is also suited for every postgraduate student who is looking for solid GIS skills.

INDICATIVE CONTENT

We will discuss representations and analysis of this information in spatial information technologies, from location-based services to geographic information systems. Topics addressed are observing the environment; spatial and spatiotemporal data representations, spatial analysis and spatial communication. The practical part will introduce to GIS in a hands-on manner, starting in individual software training and then applying new skills in a team-designed GIS project.

Climate change is one of the most important issues of our time. This subject covers the basics of climate science - including climate change, natural variability, extremes, climate scenarios, and detection and attribution - and how this translates into impacts on society, ecosystems and economies. The subject focuses on the production of climate science and data and how its creation, analysis, and use informs decisions made from multiple perspectives and across multiple levels, including governments, industry and communities. The subject has a particular focus on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports. To develop practical skills, students are required to apply knowledge from the course to develop and justify various stakeholder positions, policies, or business cases. Students will build climate profiles for relevant stakeholders in order to assess and debate how national or other circumstances frame responses at the local, state and international level.

As Australian landscapes continue to degrade under current land management practices, land managers and stake-holders are looking toward alternative and more sustainable land management strategies, such as indigenous land management and traditional knowledge. This subject looks at how indigenous people in Australia manage their environment and how management practices vary across the Australian landscape. The subject will examine indigenous land management in Australia and abroad, and evaluate how traditional knowledge and beliefs guide approaches to land management. We will examine examples where indigenous land management has been reintroduced to landscapes in Australia and investigate the potential application of similar schemes across different parts of Australia. The subject will be taught as a 14-day intensive during the mid-semester break, comprising lectures and field observations in western Victoria and the Northern Territory. These two very different regions will be used to examine the relationship between environmental context, indigenous land management and post-colonial history. Lectures will provide the necessary conceptual framework with which to engage and understand the different environmental contexts and indigenous land management practices of these regions.

More information about this subject and the field trips can be seen at: http://michaelsresearch.wordpress.com/geog90019/

This subject will incur additional fees in the vicinity of $900 per student to cover travel.

This subject consists of a 12-day field trip to East Timor in mid-year break with a series of compulsory pre-departure information sessions in semester 1 and a post-trip workshop in early Semester two. The subject is designed to develop students’ understanding of the Asia-Pacific region and in particular of the complex geographies of sm. all island and post-conflict states. Students will gain an in situ appreciation of the historical and contemporary issues relevant to East Timor and develop their empirical and analytical research skills while carrying out small group research into the impacts of conflict, climate and culture on social and economic development and the environment. While in East Timor, students will participate in a number of rural, urban and remote site visits during which time they will interact with local communities, civil society leaders, academics, government and aid organizations. The field trip will be under the supervision of the subject coordinators. Students are responsible for the cost of airfares, internal travel, accommodation and food.

The East Timor field subject (GEOG30026/ GEOG90025) involves a full program of activities comprising travel to and around East Timor, including across remote and rough terrain using various modes of transportation (car, boat, foot). Students will be provided with privileged access to local Timorese communities and experiences, in both an urban, regional and rural setting.  The East Timor Field Course can be emotionally and physically demanding and will include a level of personal intensity and challenge, and students are expected to manage their own personal health and safety. 

This subject will introduce you to the challenging philosophical issues raised by climate change. We will cover some of the following questions: is climate change a Tragedy of the Commons? Do our individual GHG emissions do harm? If they do not, do we have any reason to restrain our emissions? What is the non-identity problem, and how seriously should we take it? Does climate change have differential impacts on women and people of colour, and if so, what implications does that have for climate responsibilities? How should the burden of reducing global emissions be shared among states? What is the precautionary principle, and what does it tell us to do about climate change? What is the relative importance of action against climate change compared against other morally important goals? What (if anything) is wrong with geoengineering? What psychological obstacles get in the way of individual action on climate change? In this subject you'll learn both how to defend and criticize arguments relating to climate ethics and environmental activism, and how to articulate what actions might be required of individuals, companies, and states to mitigate climate change.

Please note: this is a research seminar, not a lectured course. We'll read two papers a week and discuss them together, structured around brief student summaries & criticisms.

The Geography Minor Research Project allows students to develop advanced research skills by carrying out an independent research project in a field of Geography. The thesis will demonstrate a critical application of specialist knowledge and make an independent contribution to existing scholarship in the area of research.

The Geography Minor Research Project allows students to develop advanced research skills by carrying out an independent research project in a field of Geography. The thesis will demonstrate a critical application of specialist knowledge and make an independent contribution to existing scholarship in the area of research.

The Geography Minor Research Project allows students to develop advanced research skills by carrying out an independent research project in a field of Geography. The thesis will demonstrate a critical application of specialist knowledge and make an independent contribution to existing scholarship in the area of research.

The Geography Minor Research Project allows students to develop advanced research skills by carrying out an independent research project in a field of Geography. The thesis will demonstrate a critical application of specialist knowledge and make an independent contribution to existing scholarship in the area of research.

The Geography Research Project is designed for students to develop advanced skills in carrying out independent and sustained research in Geography. The thesis should demonstrate a critical application of specialist knowledge and make an independent contribution to existing scholarship in the area of research.

The Geography Research Project is designed for students to develop advanced skills in carrying out independent and sustained research in Geography. The thesis should demonstrate a critical application of specialist knowledge and make an independent contribution to existing scholarship in the area of research.

The Geography Research Project is designed for students to develop advanced skills in carrying out independent and sustained research in Geography. The thesis should demonstrate a critical application of specialist knowledge and make an independent contribution to existing scholarship in the area of research.

The Geography Research Project is designed for students to develop advanced skills in carrying out independent and sustained research in Geography. The thesis should demonstrate a critical application of specialist knowledge and make an independent contribution to existing scholarship in the area of research.

The Geography Research Project is designed for students to develop advanced skills in carrying out independent and sustained research in Geography. The thesis should demonstrate a critical application of specialist knowledge and make an independent contribution to existing scholarship in the area of research.

The Geography Research Project is designed for students to develop advanced skills in carrying out independent and sustained research in Geography. The thesis should demonstrate a critical application of specialist knowledge and make an independent contribution to existing scholarship in the area of research.