CPT826: Environmental Management

School Cardiff School of Geography and Planning
Department Code GEOPL
Module Code CPT826
External Subject Code 100197
Number of Credits 20
Level L7
Language of Delivery English
Module Leader Dr Andrew Flynn
Semester Spring Semester
Academic Year 2023/4

Outline Description of Module

This module will provide a critical examination of the key issues and ideas that currently characterise environmental management, such as the interaction between voluntary and public forms of regulation. It will place these ideas within the context of drivers for change on industry, technological changes and responses by the business community through initiatives to promote more integrated environmental management. The module engages with debates on: the potential and limitations for organisations to become more environmentally conscious in their activities; the green and sharing economy, the interactions between the environmental or broader sustainability performance of organisations and their economic performance; and the constraints facing commercial, public and community organisations, regulators and environmental policy makers in their efforts to improve environmental and social sustainability.

On completion of the module a student should be able to

Students will gain both theoretical and practical knowledge of:

  1. Key social science theories of environmental management and change
  2. drivers for environmental management
  3. the nature of environmental regulations and how they relate to organisational practices
  4. the variable way in which processes of environmental improvement can be linked to firms and regulatory styles
  5. An understanding of the responses of individuals and organisations to the demands of environmental legislation
  6. A business perspective of the economic and environmental benefits of environmental management

How the module will be delivered

The module will be delivered through lectures and seminars, in-person and on campus unless mitigating circumstances arise. Seminars will enable small group discussion about key issues relevant to the module. Students are expected to engage with additional module content on Learning Central e.g. readings or other material, to prepare for lectures and seminars, and to supplement and deepen taught components.

Skills that will be practised and developed

Academic/subject-specific skills

Students will be expected to demonstrate skills of critical analysis through an ability to:

  • identify key issues and relationships;
  • critically evaluate various approaches—environmental management systems, voluntary agreements, regulation, economic incentives—to corporate environmental management
  • application of environmental and sustainability thinking to a range of organisational contexts

Transferable/employability skills

Students will practice and develop the following:

  1. Data collection skills – including qualitative data and statistical analysis, data collection and synthesis using databases, web and other sources
  2. Use language accurately and communicate information efficiently and effectively
  3. Process large quantities of information rapidly

 

How the module will be assessed

THE OPPORTUNITY FOR REASSESSMENT IN THIS MODULE:

Re-assessment

Students are permitted to be reassessed in a module which they have failed, in line with University regulations. You will only be reassessed on the components of the module in which you have failed. The format of the reassessment will be the same as the original assessment and will take place in the Summer re-sit period.

Data collection and Ethical Approval

For some assessments, students may be required to collect their own data. In such assessments ethical approval from the School Research Ethics Committee must be obtained before data collection can begin. The module leader will discuss the process for obtaining ethical approval if it is needed in this module. Ethical approval is not needed for students using existing, open data sets (e.g. anonymised secondary data). This does not include social media data (e.g., Twitter or Facebook posts), where ethical approval must be obtained. The ethical approval process will take time and you are strongly recommended to adhere to the timetable outlined by the module leader to ensure you are not delayed in your assessment

Assessment Breakdown

Type % Title Duration(hrs)
Written Assessment 70 Environmental Management Essay N/A
Presentation 30 Individual Presentation N/A

Syllabus content

  • Changing styles of regulation and environmental policy
  • Ecological modernisation
  • Technology and innovation
  • System transition
  • Corporate social responsibility
  • Compliance with environmental regulation
  • Introduction to environmental management
  • EMS: issues and questions
  • Environment and economy
  • Industrial ecology
  • Sector, size and sustainability

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