GEG-30037 - Module Specification
School of Geography, Geology and the Environment
Faculty of Natural Sciences

Programme/Approved Electives for 2024/25

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2024/25

Can development aid - Overseas Development Assistance - address the climate crisis? Do carbon offsets or debt-for-nature swaps really help communities in the global South? Which communities should be the priority for delivery of green technologies? And why might they resist them? This module helps students find their own answers to some of these pressing questions by introducing them to development geography. Students explore key ideas from this subdiscipline including political ecology - the study of environments as products of social action - and community economy - the practices that sustain people outside the formal market. The coursework involves using in-depth case studies of development programmes and projects to evaluate the effectiveness of development to deliver climate crisis adaptation and mitigation.

This module aims to provide students with an understanding of development and its role in addressing the climate crisis, exploring current debates. It introduces students to key issues within the sub-discipline of Development Geography as well as allied debates in Political and Economic Geography and related fields. The module aims to familiarize students with geographical understandings of the climate crisis in the global South. It introduces the sectoral, area-based, and conceptual approaches through empirical case-studies. By assessing case-study material, students develop the skills to evaluate and critique proposals for Overseas Development Assistance actions on climate adaptation, mitigation and loss and damage.

Intended Learning Outcomes

systematically evaluate conceptual approaches to development in detailed case studies to generate a consultancy report: 2
select and interpret relevant literature to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of theoretical approaches and research methodologies in development geography: 2
describe and then critique the empirical basis on which differing theories of climate-responsive development are formulated, placing their interpretations in the context of wider debates on climate crisis responses: 1,2
identify and critically assess different theories of economic development and climate crisis adaptation, especially in relation to the ways these theories explain spatial inequalities among and within nation states and global regions: 2

Study hours

12 x 2 hours in situ lecture-seminar activities
36 hours active learning online via Talis-Aspire comments on set readings and engaging asynchronous resources on Teams
80 hours individual consultancy report preparation
10 hours group infographic preparation

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment