Content and teaching | Assessment | Availability

Module content and teaching

Principal aims

The requirement to provide food and other land-based products for an expanding global population, while protecting the resources (land, water, air) that underpin its production, has forced governments and policymakers to address the environmental impact of land use. The conflicting need to provide food, fibre and fuel can result in unintended consequences in terms of resource use, greenhouse gas emissions and pollution. These problems, and possible solutions, are best understood by quantifying the environmental impact of production. The module examines existing methods of environmental accounting, for example, life cycle assessment, ecological footprinting and carbon footprinting and demonstrates how they can be used to quantify, differentiate and interpret the environmental impacts of agricultural and other land based systems. The module examines possible solutions and the role of sustainability in the agri-food system.

Principal learning outcomes

• To understand the context in which environmental accounting operates, i.e. the requirement to reduce resource use and negative environmental impacts • To appreciate the complexity and trade-offs that exist between societal requirements, resource use, environmental impact and sustainable development • To describe, produce and evaluate different forms of environmental accounts • To develop the skills to critically interpret the accounts of others • To develop, analyse and communicate solutions to limit society’s resource use and environmental burden

Timetabled teaching activities

Module duration (weeks): 2 Lectures: 13 Tutorials: 6 Practical Class/Workshops: 6

Departmental link

https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/lifesci/study/pgt/taught/efsmodules/envaccount/

Module assessment

Assessment group	Assessment name	Percentage
10 CATS (Module code: HR919-10)
A1 (Assessed work only)	Short Answer In-Module Test	100%

Module availability

This module is available on the following courses:

Core

• Postgraduate Taught Environmental Bioscience in a Changing Climate (D4A1) - Year 1
• Postgraduate Taught Food Security (D4A3) - Year 1

Optional Core

N/A

Optional

N/A