Environmental Studies (ENVS) 435

Overview

ENVS 435 is a senior-level, 3-credit social science course. It’s an individualized-study version of an international field course in participatory education with an emphasis upon community-based environmental issues. Designed by adult educators and community workers in Canada and Asia, the course was field tested in Alberta and Newfoundland. A key to the design of the course is the contribution by groups involved in the environmental controversies and community development issues in Canada. Their issues form the basis for case studies on parks and tourism, consumerism, pulp mills, and river diversion.

Each case study has three sections: local issues; practical skills and popular education techniques; and global connections. Students are expected to conduct a series of workshops and interviews through which they will learn how to analyze the methods others use to address local environmental issues. This will help them to identify their own and other people’s worldviews, issues in their communities, and possible solutions to achieving sustainability.

Objectives

Upon completion of ENVS 435, students should be able to achieve the following course learning objectives:

• Describe the environmental issues presented in each community study, their relationship to development issues, and their ecological impacts on the community.
• Carry out small group workshops relating to environmental themes.
• Explain how different ways of knowing and different worldviews influence people's perceptions of their relationship to nature and the environment.
• Apply basic ecological principles and give examples of how our understanding of these principles can be shaped by culture and, in some cases, by gender.
• Assess critically various kinds of local or traditional knowledge and their relationship to expert knowledge.
• Identify how participatory development and participatory research methods prove effective or ineffective as strategies for facilitating community-based environmental education, analysis, and social change.
• Evaluate critically a local program designed to improve public participation and community development around an environmental issue.
• Develop a cross-cultural critique of environmental impact assessment and compare and contrast North American versus Asian strategies for altering the assessment process for the benefit of communities.
• Develop workshop facilitation skills.
• Understand alternative strategies for the creation of sustainable communities, and analyse the sustainability of your own community using the ecological footprint and sustainability indicators.
• Take action towards a more sustainable lifestyle personally, and for your community.

Outline

• Unit 1: Popular Education, Environment, and Community Development
• Unit 2: Notions About Ecology
• Unit 3: Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Nature
• Unit 4: Environmental Impact Assessment and Community Participation
• Unit 5: Strategies and Tactics for Community Environmental Protection
• Unit 6: The Dilemma of Tourism and Parks and Protected Areas
• Unit 7: Consumerism

Evaluation

To receive credit for this course, you must complete seven written assignments and achieve a minimum grade of “60” percent on Assignment 7, the major essay. In addition, you must achieve a minimum composite course grade of “D” (50 percent). The chart below summarizes the course activities and the credit weight associated with each assignment.

To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.