Sustainable Landscapes

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2008:

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

• rural and urban land use and land use change, clearing, fragmentation and modification of native vegetation, and the influences of these on biodiversity, and ecosystem services and processes;
• utilisation, degradation and management of rural and urban biophysical resources, especially in regard to the soil and water;
• climate change and sustainable rural futures;
• population - the regional, the service town, the rural, urban fringe;
• agriculture - agro-ecology, trends in modern agricultural production, and the sustainability of production, food sovereignty, post-production landscapes;
• industrialisation - intensification and pollution;
• the commons - public and private good;
• environmental security and institutions;
• governance - deliberative democracy, empowerment;
• environmental economics.

Students will analyse the meaning of landscape through landscape sciences (ecology, resource management, extension, etc) and policy frameworks.

This subject uses a combination of Australian and overseas case studies to provide a framework for student analysis.

At the completion of this subject, students should:

• be able to discuss the implications in landscape changes for urban and rural or regional populations;
• be able to map agro-ecological and social community interrelations;
• be familiar with policy and planning tools that influence biodiversity, community and ecological resilience and governance;
• be familiar with methodologies and methods to analyse and process issues of uncertainty and risk in landscape decision making and landscape management practice.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

Students in this unit should:

• enhance their discipline skills in the area of landscape policy and planning;
• further develop their critical thinking through readings, lectures, assessment and group work; and
• further develop their ability to think through issues of complexity by developing methodological approaches and methods to assist decision processes and practice.