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The purpose of this module is to think critically and concretely about environmental practices. It is a compulsory module for students registered on the MSc Environment, Politics and Society programme and provides an opportunity to apply and build on theoretical and methodological insights developed in other modules to a range of places where environmental practices are taking shape. Through lectures, seminars and site visits, the module considers the ways in which environmental practices are enacted in particular contexts, as well as the ways they are always connected to a broader set of socio-ecological processes, materialities, imaginaries and policies. It aims to provide you with a better sense of the range of environmental practices taking shape around us and how you might engage with these practices in critical and creative ways.

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The module is centred around themes that invite critical reflection on environmental practices in a number of ways, including a close understanding of key stakeholders enacting different kinds of practice, the governing structures which shape practice in different ways, as well as the apparent tensions emerging between competing visions of best practice. Themes on this module might include conservation, water management, community energy, transportation, rewilding and sustainable construction. These are subject to change depending on relevance to staff research. Please note that this module includes site visits to places outside of the Â鶹´«Ã½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾ campus.

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Structure

The overall structure of the module includes lectures, seminars and site visits, which together provide the framework for better understanding and debating environmental practices. The first two themes are directed by staff and the final theme and site is chosen by individuals (you can visit sites in groups if you want to).

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Two core themes are directed by teaching staff, with each theme including two lectures, a seminar and a site visit. The first lecture introduces the specific sphere of environmental practice more broadly, e.g. sustainable construction, while the second lecture hones in on the research site, as a place where that environmental practice is enacted, e.g. aggregates recycling plant in Greenwich. Seminars will offer an opportunity to consider readings in greater depth and talk through an approach to the research site. The final dimension of each theme includes a group site visit. The third and final theme is self-directed according to your own interests.

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Each of the site visits offer an opportunity to engage with an environmental practitioner, as well as learn from your own observations. This primary research should be placed in conversation with further secondary research, including academic work, news items, reports and archives, in order to develop a critical reading of environmental practices embedded in and connected to that specific site.Ìý

Learning objectives

By the end of this module, you should:

1. Understand what we mean by environmental practices and how such practices are connected to a range of material, social and political processes.
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2. Be familiar with a range of different environmental practices and some of the key players enacting these practices.
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3. Be confident analysing, through primary and secondary research, the environmental practices evident in specific contexts, considering the key stakeholders, imaginaries, tensions and trade-offs as they pertain to that context.