Bachelor of Sustainability

The Bachelor of Sustainability at UNE provides a unique opportunity to develop skills and an understanding of sustainability in a holistic manner, integrating the social sciences and humanities with the environmental sciences and natural resource management.

Course Aims

The Bachelor of Sustainability is about understanding social and community sustainability as well as ecologically sustainable development. It provides a unique opportunity to develop skills and an understanding of sustainability in a holistic and multidisciplinary manner, integrating social science with environmental science.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to: demonstrate multidisciplinary knowledge of sustainability including its biophysical and socio-economic aspects, and the interrelationships between environmental and social issues; locate, evaluate, analyse, synthesise and critically apply knowledge and information about sustainability from a wide range of sources in an appropriate and professional manner; exercise critical thinking and judgement to appreciate the causes of sustainability problems and demonstrate the capacity to develop effective, ethical and socially responsible solutions; adapt and apply knowledge and skills in sustainability in a wide range of contexts, whether working as part of a team or independently; communicate a current and critical knowledge of sustainability to a wide range of audiences in an appropriate and professional manner; and demonstrate an enduring curiosity and high capacity for continuing engagement and professional activity in the field of sustainability.

Graduate Attributes

Knowledge of a Discipline Sustainability is an important issue globally and a global perspective and knowledge of sustainability, the biophysical environment, environmental problems, human behaviour and behavioural change and mechanisms to address environmental harms, in this multidisciplinary area, will be taught in lectures, unit materials and online activities supported by a range of learning materials, practised in interactive media (such as tutorials and online) and assessed in various assessment tasks throughout the course. Communication Skills Communication skills will be taught and practised in lectures, tutorials and online activities supported by a range of learning materials and assessed in all assessment tasks throughout the course. These skills will include oral, graphical, online and written communication appropriate for a range of different audiences and purposes and involve a variety of media. Problem Solving The degree is designed to produce graduates with the skills required to understand the complexities of the environmental and social problems which beset our society and with the problem-solving abilities needed to build a sustainable future. Through undertaking the activities taught, practised and assessed throughout the course graduates will develop technical ability in the utilisation of multidisciplinary approaches and methods to problem-solving and be able to draw together and be able to apply multidisciplinary knowledge/s to design effective solutions to complex sustainability problems. Graduates will develop professional skills in critical thinking, evaluation and reflection. Information Literacy The ability to locate, evaluate and apply information from a variety of sources, including the researching and interpretation of primary data, in an appropriate manner will be taught in lectures, unit materials and online activities supported by a range of learning materials, practised in interactive media (tutorials and online) and assessed in all assessment tasks throughout the course. Ethical Conduct and Social Responsibility Sustainability and sustainable development are integral to ethical conduct and social responsibility, and these aspects will be taught in lectures, unit materials and online activities supported by a range of learning materials, practised in interactive media (tutorials and online) and assessed in various assessment tasks throughout the course. Lifelong Learning Sustainability as addressed in the degree will provide graduates with skills that are essential for lifelong learning. Through undertaking the activities taught, practised and assessed throughout the course graduates will develop an enduring curiosity and capacity for continuing engagement in the field. Independence and Collaboration Through undertaking the activities taught, practised and assessed throughout the course, graduates will develop interpersonal and group participation skills and be able to adapt and apply their knowledge and skills in sustainability in a wide range of contexts, whether collaborating as part of a team or working independently.