GY475      Half Unit
Issues in Environmental Governance

This information is for the 2015/16 session.

Teacher responsible

Dr Richard Perkins S413, Dr Michael Mason S510 and Dr Carmen Marchiori KGS102

Availability

This course is available on the MPA in European Public and Economic Policy, MPA in International Development, MPA in Public Policy and Management, MPA in Public and Economic Policy, MPA in Public and Social Policy, MSc in Development Studies, MSc in Environment and Development, MSc in Environmental Economics and Climate Change, MSc in Human Geography and Urban Studies (Research), MSc in Local Economic Development, MSc in Management and Regulation of Risk, MSc in Regulation, MSc in Risk and Finance and MSc in Urban Policy (LSE and Sciences Po). This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

This course cannot be taken with GY465 Concepts in Environmental Regulation.

Course content

This Lent Term course is designed to highlight key themes impacting on environmental regulation across different scales of governance. While the emphasis is on global and transnational policy processes, attention is also paid to the implications of these processes at regional and local scales. The organising framework of 'multi-level governance' suggests new alignments and forms of regulation which require us to consider environmental decision-making within and beyond the territorial authority of a single state. The indicative themes chosen explore distinctive challenges for multi-level governance - collective action, international negotiations, governance beyond the state, and different rationalities of regulation (science, ethics and justice). These themes, which will be explored in student-led seminars, run explicitly or implicitly through many environmental policy debates.

Teaching

10 hours of lectures and 9 hours of seminars in the LT.

Formative coursework

All students are required to make one presentation on an agreed topic: this will be graded with feedback for individual students.

Indicative reading

While there is no one single text that covers all aspects of the course, students are advised to consult the following:

Core reading, S. Barrett (2005) Environment and Statecraft: The Strategy of Environmental Treaty-Making, Oxford: Oxford University Press; M. Humphreys (ed) (2010) Human Rights and Climate Change, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; M. Mason (2005) The New Accountability: Environmental Responsibility Across Borders, London: Earthscan; S. Piattoni (2010) The Theory of Multi-level Governance, Oxford: Oxford University Press; A. Randall (2011) Risk and Precaution, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; T. Sandler (2004) Global Collective Action, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Assessment

Exam (100%, duration: 2 hours) in the main exam period.

Student performance results

(2011/12 - 2013/14 combined)

Classification % of students
Distinction 13.2
Merit 57.9
Pass 28.9
Fail 0

Key facts

Department: Geography & Environment

Total students 2014/15: 5

Average class size 2014/15: 2

Controlled access 2014/15: Yes

Value: Half Unit

Guidelines for interpreting course guide information

Personal development skills

  • Self-management
  • Team working
  • Problem solving
  • Communication