PEP40880 Governing Nature

Academic Year 2017/2018

'Nature' is a difficult to define, yet central concept in environmental policy. This combination of ambiguity and centrality has generated a variety of challenges for environmental policy when seeking to address the demands of governing nature in an increasingly complex world. In response to such challenges, this module furnishes students with theoretical and conceptual knowledge of a range of key 'nature' related governance issues that can be critically employed in the practice of policy formulation and advocacy. Specific approaches addressed include: communicating the value of nature; ecosystems services approaches to nature conservation; collaborative management and policy frameworks stipulating how nature should be governed. The module operates via a 'problem-based learning' format where students engage with a series of complex governance issues surrounding nature conservation.