| CODE | EER1022 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | Local and Global Sustainable Development Issues | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Centre for Environmental Education and Research | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit introduces students to the concept of sustainable development as well as to the local and global challenges related to sustainability. This unit will help students understand why moving towards sustainability has so far been rather limited, and why sustainable development is so urgent. It explores what is being done (e.g. through the SDGs) and what can be done to scale up efforts to achieve sustainable development. The following interlinked crises are explored: - Climate change and global warming; - Energy; - Food security, food sovereignty, and access to clean, healthy and fair food; - Poverty: - Gender; and - Social injustice. These are tackled at all levels: the local, community, national, regional and global. The links between poverty and the environment are also explored. Sustainable development is framed both as a way of understanding the world and as a way of solving local and global problems. Thus students are introduced to the above interlinked crises in view of identifying solutions and opportunities for positive change. Study-Unit Aims: This unit aims to introduce students to sustainable development (SD), as well as to explore alternatives to a business-as-usual scenario, that is at the core of current SD challenges. It invites students to critically reflect on the coordinated local and global efforts required to move towards a sustainable development trajectory. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Describe major SD challenges such as climate change, energy, food security, poverty, gender inequality and social injustice; - Summarise the Sustainable Development Goals; - Explain Malta’s Sustainable Development Vision for 2050; - Discuss the links between poverty and the environment; - Explain the different Sustainable Development pillars; - Describe the role of education for sustainable development in dealing with sustainability challenges; 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Review local and global SD problems in view of proposing positive solutions; - Design effective strategies at local, community, national, regional and global levels to respond to SD challenges; - Recommend actions within the framework of Malta’s Sustainable Development Vision for 2050; - Recommend actions with the framework of the SDGs; - Propose the need for educational responses that can effectively deal with sustainable development challenges. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Darmanin, J. (2018). Poverty, social exclusion and living conditions in Malta: An analysis using SILC in the Quarterly Review 2018:2, pp. 61-70. - Holthaus, E. (2020). The future Earth : a radical vision for what's possible in the age of warming. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN: 9780062883162 Supplementary Readings: - Laurie,D. & Reisman, H. (2021). Imagine It!: A Handbook for a Happier Planet. Rodale. - Ministry for the Environment and Sustainable Development and Climate Change. (n.d.). Malta’s sustainable development vision for 2050. https://sustainabledevelopmentcms.gov.mt/en/Documents/Sustainable-Development/Malta-Sustainable-Development-Vision-2050.pdf - Robinson, M., & Palmer, C. (2018). Climate justice: Hope, resilience, and the fight for a sustainable future. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Fieldwork | ||||||||||||
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| LECTURER/S | Vincent Caruana |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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