DATBLYGIAD CYNALIADWYA WELSH BA/BSc SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

John FarrarInstitute of Environmental ScienceUniversity of Wales, Bangor

the natural environment for learning

Undergraduate degree:

started Sept 2002planning started 1999

Not just a degree - research and institutional policy

Reasons - NAW policy - market niche - it matters

UW Bangor’s advantages:

Medium sizeStrengths in environmental scienceEconomics and social science expertiseHistory of research in sustainabilityInstitute of Environmental Science for inter-departmental collaboration

UW Bangor’s advantages: Strengths in environmental science –4 departments, 90 staff, NERC funded researchLots of supporting degrees eg Rural Resource Management, Coastal Water ResourcesEnvironmental Science as inter-departmental degree 350 environmental students per yearOur local environment

Problems, and UW Bangor’s disadvantages:

Working across departments and facultiesDepartment-based resource allocation modelConcern that a new degree will ‘steal’ students from existing degrees

What should a degree in sustainable development contain?

SD is understood by individuals as- eat organic food- recycle wine bottles- feel good

even if the organic food was produced with greater greenhouse gas emissions than non-organic

and the wine bottle transported 650 ml of water from Australia

SD is understood by politicians as– defined by Rio and Jo’burg, LA21- so biodiversity is more important than ecosystem services- and population growth doesn’t exist- and if it does it’s not a problem

- so hold conferences- place onus for change on others- feel good

SD as understood by academics

An enormously complex set of issuesImperfectly understood and changingMajor problems with integration between disciplines

Thus we don’t want a university-level education to have Rio or LA21 as its syllabus.

Need to give the grounding in each component discipline (environment, sociology, economics)

SD training should produce…

-people who can think with ease across disciplines-who can talk economy with economists and businesses-society with sociologists-environment with scientists-and all three with decision makers

Give students the language, assumptions and dogma of each discipline

SD training should produce…

Professionals who understand that

- policy should be evidence-based- it’s relatively easy to be rational about environment OR economy OR society- but very hard to integrate any two of these three - indicators - policy drivers - major intellectual difficulties

Use to employer – trained broadly, able to interact with a range of other professionals

The degree: subjects and structureSome bilingual coursesUse of local contactsUse of local environmentUse of local issues

The degree: Year 1 common to BA and BScSustainability and world environmentGlobal environmental issuesBiodiversity and ecologyEarth and atmospheric processesUnderstanding communityEnvironment and communityDivided BritainEnvironmental managementIntroduction to economics

The degree: Year 2

BA and BSc specialisation Core:Principles of conservationEnvironmental economicsEcosystems and communitiesRural sociologyPlanningPlus 4 modules of science+management (BSc)or community+management+economics (BA)plus any 2 others

The degree: Year 3 BA and BSc specialisation Core:Project or dissertationSustainable developmentEnergyChoice and welfarePlus 4 modules of science+management (BSc)or community+management+economics (BA)plus any 2 othersTenerife field course

Why should the rest of the University take SD seriously?

- serious numbers of students- research income

- moral grounds [?]

- pressure from NAW

Sustainable Development research

- long history in agriculture, forestry, arid zones- more recently in fisheries, land use, remediation (£0.75M)- new: footprinting, sustainability audit tool (TASK), climate change impacts and indicators (>£0.5M)

An institutional Sustainability Policyfor Bangor- approved by Council- very broad- commits us to actions

PRIFYSGOL CYMRU BANGORUNIVERSITY OF WALES, BANGOR

SUSTAINABILITY POLICY1. STATEMENT

The University of Wales, Bangor acknowledges the implications of its activities for the environment and for broader issues of sustainability, at a local, national

and global level.

….and next, how about anall-Wales MA/MSc in SD?