Faculty of Health, Engineering and Science
School: Natural Sciences
This unit information may be updated and amended immediately prior to semester. To ensure you have the correct outline, please check it again at the beginning of semester.
Unit Title
Catchment HealthUnit Code
SCI5105Year
2015Enrolment Period
1Version
1Credit Points
20Full Year Unit
N
Mode of Delivery
Online
Description
This unit presents an integrated approach to the health of the catchment as a geographical, ecological, political and social unit. It is based on the principles of ecosystem health, the ecological footprint, integrated catchment management, and ecologically sustainable development. Accordingly, it deals with the management of natural resources in order to maximise benefits to the health of its occupants, the ecosystems biophysical components, and the well-being of communities.
Equivalent Rule
Unit was previously coded SCI4132
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this unit students should be able to:
- Apply concepts of health and sustainability to the catchment and its components.
- Evaluate the degree to which local and regional communities participate in, or are consulted in, governmental natural resource management processes.
- Prepare a catchment health report.
- Synthesize the ecological, social, and political characteristics of an area to appropriately define the catchment and its boundaries.
- Use integrative models that present the inter-relationships between the health of a catchments human populations and the condition of its natural resources.
Unit Content
- Concepts of health (including its metaphorical use), condition, state, care and well-being as they apply to individuals, populations, ecosystems.
- Definitions of catchments in regional Australia; natural resources and catchment management; the applicability of catchments as governance units.
- Ecological integrity, ecological resilience, systems theory, adaptive capacity and management as they apply to socio-ecological systems.
- Forms of participation in natural resource management in regional Australia (landcare, bushcare, catchment councils, recovery catchments etc.); community participation in catchment management and assessment of catchment health
- Metaphorical underpinnings for models of resource management.
- Models of integrated management and governance; integrated/total catchment management; catchment health; local and regional governance.
- Models of integration: ecosystem services and human well-being; state of environment reporting; triple bottom line reporting and accounting; ecosystem health; sustainable communities, sustainability.
- The spatial nature of human health; patterns of diseases in space and time; relationships between environmental quality and human health.
Additional Learning Experience Information
Case studies as assignments; on-line tutorials; on-line focus groups, bulletin boards and other discussions; local field excursions.
Assessment
GS1 GRADING SCHEMA 1 Used for standard coursework units
Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant Board of Examiners.
ONLINE| Type | Description | Value |
|---|
| Case Study ^ | Catchment Group project | 40% |
| Essay ^ | Ecosystem Services analysis | 25% |
| Report ^ | Catchment Model | 35% |
^ Mandatory to Pass
Text References
- Berry, W. (1981). The gift of good land: further essays cultural and agricultural. San Francisco: North Point Press.
- Blackmore, C (Ed.). (2010). Social learning systems and communities of practice. London: Springer.
- Brown, V A, Harris, J A, & Russell, J Y (Eds.). (2010). Tackling wicked problems through the transdisciplinary imagination. London: Earthscan.
- Chapin III, F C, Kofinas, G P, & Folke, C. (2009). Principles of ecosystem stewardship: resilience-based natural resource management in a changing world. New York: Springer.
- Charron, D F (Ed.). (2012). Ecohealth research in practice: innovative applications of an ecosystem approach to health. Ottawa: International Development Research Centre: New York: Springer
- Waltner-Toews, D. (2004). Ecosystem sustainability and health: a practical approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Gadamer, H -G. (1996). The enigma of health. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
- Honari, M, & Boleyn, T (Eds.). (1999). Health ecology: health, culture and human-environment interaction. London; New York: Routledge.
- J?rgensen, S. E., Xu, F-L and Costanza, R. (eds). (2010). Handbook of Ecological Indicators for Assessment of Ecosystem Health, 2nd Edition Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press/Taylor and Francis Group,
- Wals, E J (Ed.). (2007). Social learning towards a sustainable world. Wageningen, NLD: Wageningen Academic Publishers.
- Kay, B.H. (1999). Water resources: health, environment and development. London: E & FN Spon
- Dakubo, C. (2010). Ecosystems and human health: a critical approach to ecohealth research and practice. New York: Springer.
Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005)
For the purposes of considering a request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005), inherent requirements for this subject are articulated in the Unit Description, Learning Outcomes and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the support for students with disabilities or medical conditions can be found at the Access and Inclusion website.
Academic Misconduct
Edith Cowan University has firm rules governing academic misconduct and there are substantial penalties that can be applied to students who are found in breach of these rules. Academic misconduct includes, but is not limited to:
- plagiarism;
- unauthorised collaboration;
- cheating in examinations;
- theft of other students' work;
Additionally, any material submitted for assessment purposes must be work that has not been submitted previously, by any person, for any other unit at ECU or elsewhere.
The ECU rules and policies governing all academic activities, including misconduct, can be accessed through the ECU website.
SCI5105|1|1
Faculty of Health, Engineering and Science
School: Natural Sciences
This unit information may be updated and amended immediately prior to semester. To ensure you have the correct outline, please check it again at the beginning of semester.
Unit Title
Catchment HealthUnit Code
SCI5105Year
2015Enrolment Period
2Version
1Credit Points
20Full Year Unit
N
Mode of Delivery
Online
Description
This unit presents an integrated approach to the health of the catchment as a geographical, ecological, political and social unit. It is based on the principles of ecosystem health, the ecological footprint, integrated catchment management, and ecologically sustainable development. Accordingly, it deals with the management of natural resources in order to maximise benefits to the health of its occupants, the ecosystems biophysical components, and the well-being of communities.
Equivalent Rule
Unit was previously coded SCI4132
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this unit students should be able to:
- Apply concepts of health and sustainability to the catchment and its components.
- Evaluate the degree to which local and regional communities participate in, or are consulted in, governmental natural resource management processes.
- Prepare a catchment health report.
- Synthesize the ecological, social, and political characteristics of an area to appropriately define the catchment and its boundaries.
- Use integrative models that present the inter-relationships between the health of a catchments human populations and the condition of its natural resources.
Unit Content
- Concepts of health (including its metaphorical use), condition, state, care and well-being as they apply to individuals, populations, ecosystems.
- Definitions of catchments in regional Australia; natural resources and catchment management; the applicability of catchments as governance units.
- Ecological integrity, ecological resilience, systems theory, adaptive capacity and management as they apply to socio-ecological systems.
- Forms of participation in natural resource management in regional Australia (landcare, bushcare, catchment councils, recovery catchments etc.); community participation in catchment management and assessment of catchment health
- Metaphorical underpinnings for models of resource management.
- Models of integrated management and governance; integrated/total catchment management; catchment health; local and regional governance.
- Models of integration: ecosystem services and human well-being; state of environment reporting; triple bottom line reporting and accounting; ecosystem health; sustainable communities, sustainability.
- The spatial nature of human health; patterns of diseases in space and time; relationships between environmental quality and human health.
Additional Learning Experience Information
Case studies as assignments; on-line tutorials; on-line focus groups, bulletin boards and other discussions; local field excursions.
Assessment
GS1 GRADING SCHEMA 1 Used for standard coursework units
Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant Board of Examiners.
ONLINE| Type | Description | Value |
|---|
| Case Study ^ | Catchment Group project | 40% |
| Essay ^ | Ecosystem Services analysis | 25% |
| Report ^ | Catchment Model | 35% |
^ Mandatory to Pass
Text References
- Berry, W. (1981). The gift of good land: further essays cultural and agricultural. San Francisco: North Point Press.
- Blackmore, C (Ed.). (2010). Social learning systems and communities of practice. London: Springer.
- Brown, V A, Harris, J A, & Russell, J Y (Eds.). (2010). Tackling wicked problems through the transdisciplinary imagination. London: Earthscan.
- Chapin III, F C, Kofinas, G P, & Folke, C. (2009). Principles of ecosystem stewardship: resilience-based natural resource management in a changing world. New York: Springer.
- Charron, D F (Ed.). (2012). Ecohealth research in practice: innovative applications of an ecosystem approach to health. Ottawa: International Development Research Centre: New York: Springer
- Waltner-Toews, D. (2004). Ecosystem sustainability and health: a practical approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Gadamer, H -G. (1996). The enigma of health. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
- Honari, M, & Boleyn, T (Eds.). (1999). Health ecology: health, culture and human-environment interaction. London; New York: Routledge.
- J?rgensen, S. E., Xu, F-L and Costanza, R. (eds). (2010). Handbook of Ecological Indicators for Assessment of Ecosystem Health, 2nd Edition Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press/Taylor and Francis Group,
- Wals, E J (Ed.). (2007). Social learning towards a sustainable world. Wageningen, NLD: Wageningen Academic Publishers.
- Kay, B.H. (1999). Water resources: health, environment and development. London: E & FN Spon
- Dakubo, C. (2010). Ecosystems and human health: a critical approach to ecohealth research and practice. New York: Springer.
Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005)
For the purposes of considering a request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005), inherent requirements for this subject are articulated in the Unit Description, Learning Outcomes and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the support for students with disabilities or medical conditions can be found at the Access and Inclusion website.
Academic Misconduct
Edith Cowan University has firm rules governing academic misconduct and there are substantial penalties that can be applied to students who are found in breach of these rules. Academic misconduct includes, but is not limited to:
- plagiarism;
- unauthorised collaboration;
- cheating in examinations;
- theft of other students' work;
Additionally, any material submitted for assessment purposes must be work that has not been submitted previously, by any person, for any other unit at ECU or elsewhere.
The ECU rules and policies governing all academic activities, including misconduct, can be accessed through the ECU website.
SCI5105|1|2
