Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POL2101: Public Environmental Politics

This module descriptor refers to the 2018/9 academic year.

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:

- Histories of environmental politics and green political thought.

- Roles of the public sphere, mass media and environmental communication

- Campaigning: environmental social movements and NGOs

- Environmental publics, participatory governance and science-policy interfaces

- Policy frameworks: sustainable development?

- Policy instruments: regulation, markets & values

- Environmental governance in the UK and EU

- Global environmental politics

Throughout the course, these conceptual lenses will be used to help students investigate and understand topical issues in environmental politics such as air pollution, water, waste, land management; biodiversity, energy and climate change.

Learning and Teaching

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
21	129	0

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	11	11 x 1 hour lectures
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	10	10 x 1 hour seminars
Guided Independent Study	60	Reading
Guided independent study	39	Assignment preparation: conducting research, critical analysis of literature & media content, and writing the case study
Guided independent study	30	Groupwork; preparation of video and writeup

Online Resources

This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).

House of Commons EAC: http://www.parliament.uk/eacom

United Nations Environment Programme: http://www.unep.org/

European Union: http://europa.eu/index_en.htm

For media sources, check the Library resources at http://libguides.exeter.ac.uk/az.php?t=24641 Box of Broadcasts, Gale News Vault and Nexis are particularly useful.

Web of Science allows you to conduct searches of all the major academic journals. You can find details of the Web of Science at: http://www.library.ex.ac.uk/guides/essentials/wos.pdf

Also google scholar is useful, particularly for finding OA copies of material not available through the library: http://scholar.google.co.uk

If you have any further questions please consult the Library staff.

Indicative Reading List

This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.

Core Texts:

Anderson, A (2016) Media, environment and the network society. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan

Connelly, J., Smith, G., Benson, D. & Saunders, C. (2012) Politics and the Environment. Routledge, Oxford.

Hansen, A. (2010). Environment, media and communication. Routledge.

Hilton, M., McKay, J., Crowson, N., &; Mouhot, J.(2013). The Politics of Expertise: How NGOs Shaped Modern Britain. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Roberts, J. (2010). Environmental Policy. Routledge.

All are available as ebook editions from the library

Suggested readings will be listed for each seminar topic. Ideally, you should be aiming to read at least three items for each seminar (including the main reading). For your essays, you should be consulting a minimum of eight pieces.

Please keep in mind that module reading lists are only indicators of some relevant reading materials and you should browse the library shelves to find alternative sources that may give you a different perspective.

Much of the material we cover in this module can be accessed through journals. Journals can be accessed and read online at: http://lib.ex.ac.uk

Some of the main journals relevant to this module are: Global Environmental Change, Environmental Politics, Environment and Planning A/C, , Climate Policy; Environmental Communication; Public Understanding of Science

ELE – College to provide hyperlink to appropriate pages