Unit of Study ENVR5007 Building Resilience in a Changing Climate: Through Drought, Fire and Flood (2024)

Unit description

Provides insight into what is needed to build resilience for our agricultural systems and communities, on local and global scales. Students will gain knowledge of the science of climate change, how we know our climate is changing; how this impacts natural cycles; why we are seeing an increasing number of disasters; and how we can predict what might happen next. Students will learn about some of the barriers to change, including neoliberalism and climate denialist behaviour. Resilience theory, and a range of regenerative solutions and mitigation approaches will be explored, including transformative research approaches – such as what Indigenous knowledge can teach us about understanding complex problems. There is an emphasis on building skills in developing an understanding of our role in mitigating complex global challenges, while working on practical solutions for building resilience in our rural landscapes and communities.

Unit content

1. The impacts of climate change – for farms, fires, forests, families and finance
2. The science of climate change – natural cycles, the evidence base and opportunities for change in agriculture
3. Food production in a changing climate – why we need to regenerate our agricultural systems
4. Resilience, mitigation and regeneration – Indigenous knowledge and living solutions
5. Building community resilience - disasters, vulnerability and strategies
6. Drivers of climate change acceptance – social and political opportunities for change