CPT878: Planning for Sustainability

School Cardiff School of Geography and Planning
Department Code GEOPL
Module Code CPT878
External Subject Code 100197
Number of Credits 20
Level L7
Language of Delivery English
Module Leader Dr Abid Mehmood
Semester Spring Semester
Academic Year 2023/4

Outline Description of Module

How can we use the planning system to promote sustainable development? That is the question this module seeks to answer. Students will be introduced to key features of land-use planning and spatial planning systems. There is a particular emphasis on the UK, but the module also draws on relevant international experience. From this platform, students will examine how far we can expect planning to help guide society towards more sustainable futures. A vital thread that runs through the module is the complex relationship between knowledge and decision-making, and debates surrounding the belief that we can achieve ‘more sustainable’ decisions with ‘better information’. This is counter-posed with ideas about the importance of public engagement and political context in shaping how planning for sustainability turns out in practice. The second half of the module picks up these threads and introduces students to two key tools for applying environmental knowledge to decision-making: Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). Students will learn about these procedures whilst gaining a critical understanding of the extent to which these tools help to create more sustainable forms of development.

On completion of the module a student should be able to

  1. Engage in theoretical, practical and ethical debates at the forefront of sustainability and planning
  2. Evaluate planning strategies and policies, in terms of their contribution to sustainable development
  3. Demonstrate skills in policy analysis and evaluation, with particular attention to the critical reading of texts
  4. Appreciate the ways in which planning is influenced by wider societal ideas about environment, nature, the economy and the public sphere.
  5. Explain the different theories by which knowledge is believed to influence decision-making, and identify evidence from planning practice to assess these theories
  6. Understand the ways in which EIAs and SEAs are undertaken, interpreted and evaluated

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

Students will familiarise themselves with EIA and SEA processes, the methods used, and their value as environmental planning and policy-making tools. Students will also practise and develop the following:

  1. Ability to critically analyse planning and policy processes
  2. Skills in group collaboration and oral presentation
  3. Written communication skills

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)
Presentation 15 Group Presentation N/A
Written Assessment 85 Report N/A

Syllabus content

This module does not assume that all students will have a clear idea of what planning is. Consequently, it starts with an explanation of the basic elements of planning – in particular land use planning – and outlines theories by which planning might steer society towards sustainability: linear rational models; models based on collaboration; and models which see planning as important arenas for contestation and debate. These models are then mapped on to theories of how knowledge relates to decision-making. The ideas developed in the first half of the module are then applied in the second half to two specific decision-making tools: Environmental Impact Assessment (for projects) and Strategic Environmental Assessment (for plans, programmes and policies). Students are introduced to the basic steps and principles of these tools, before critically appraising their effects on decision-making. All sessions are mandatory.


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