Computer facilities for accessing Blackboard and Staffordshire University¿s e-resources, and appropriate software packages.

Kane, G (2011) The Green Executive Corporate Leadership in a Low Carbon Economy. Earthscan : London
World Business Council for Sustainable Development (2010) Vision 2050. The New Agenda for Business
http://www.wbcsd.org/web/vision2050.htm

The module will be delivered through a virtual learning environment:
(a) it is expected that the students allocate a minimum of 30 hours to engage and interact with their tutors and fellow peers.

The module will run over 16 weeks, and will normally include 4 weeks for you to complete the assessments to be graded. Over this period, you will work through self-instructional course material in a virtual learning environment that structures your learning by outlining a programme of specific activities and tasks. To complete these you will be reading and critically engaging with key texts, papers and other documentary resources. This work will be undertaken on an individual basis, but at various points you will be expected to interact and share material with other students in a designated learning group.

Independent Study Hours

(b) independent learning (150 hours) through guided reading from core texts and the use of web-based materials to develop a detailed knowledge of selected contemporary environmental issues at UK, European and global scales.
(c) Assessment Preparation (120 hours) for planning, researching / drafting / writing /editing / producing assignments (36 hours each for assignments 1 and 2 and 48 hours for assignment 3).

(1) a virtual SEMINAR PRESENTATION (1800 words equivalent) 30% (LO 1,2,5)

(2) an ESSAY (1800 words) 30% (LO 1,3,5)

(3) a REPORT (2400 words) 40% LO 1,4,5)

Additional Assessment Details (including formative feedback / assessment:
(1) the virtual seminar presentation will require you to show your advanced understanding a specific environmental issue, identify the `drivers' and specific actions leading to environmental change, the impacts of these changes and to explain in general and specific terms, how these issues may be addressed. You will draw on a wide literature illustrating your examination with reference to specific case studies.
(2) the essay will focus on reviewing the range of strategies, tools and techniques that form part of the sustainability agenda with special reference to developing a sustainable economy and society, as addressed in the third block of the module;
(3) the report will focus on the development of a communication and learning strategy in relation to a specific organisation and its wider stakeholders in the community with the aim of both promoting and stimulating a transformative sustainability agenda.

Formative feedback opportunities are provided throughout the module, requiring the submission of summaries, commentaries and observation to the tutors and fellow peers through discussion boards. In addition, for the three summative assignments specific provision is made for formative feedback of draft plans.

The module provides an introduction to the concepts underpinning sustainability, and the challenges of understanding the importance of the inter-relationships between the different dimensions of sustainability - the environmental, the economic, the political, the social and the ethical amongst others - and how they may contribute to effective environmental management. Particular emphasis is given to the consideration of how visions of sustainable progress may be embedded in enterprises, organisations and communities in support of environmental management. The recognition of the contested nature of the sustainability agenda introduces the critical analysis of understanding sustainability, and is the introduction to the module. The debates over `weak versus. strong' ecological modernisation provide one way of articulating the diverse roles that new technologies, enterprises, governments and civil society may play in delivering a vision of sustainable progress. The second block of the module deals with environmental sustainability. A key foundation of sustainability is to understand the function of `critical natural capital' and the role of the earth's natural systems both as sources for resources and sinks for pollution. A review is undertaken of the impacts of pollution and resource development on environmental ecosystems and human habitats resulting from the production, distribution, consumption and disposal of materials and products. These processes form the basis of the key sustainability challenges facing contemporary society. Developing the responses - the third block - requires a recognition of the multi-scale nature of these challenges. Governance for sustainability introduces the `global to local' perspective needed to develop new ways in which markets and enterprises need to be re-shaped to embrace sustainability. Central to sustainable development is the development of new strategies and tools for environmental management so that it embraces the notion of a sustainable economy. Parallel to this is a new vision and expectation of what constitute sustainable lifestyles and communities. The module concludes with a block on communication and learning for sustainability. Changing mindsets is a critical lynchpin: hence communication and lifelong learning are key elements that need embedding in the sustainable society. The need for leadership in organisations is analysed. As an example of the importance of communication, the role of environmental and sustainable reporting is critically reviewed. However the transformative change that progress to a sustainable society requires necessitates complementary 'bottom-up' approaches: the module concludes with a critical analysis of the prospects of education for sustainable lifestyles.