Environmental Policy

Grounded in the discipline of public environmental policy, the course considers the complexities around public policy-making for the environment and sustainability. The course considers how policy is made and the institutional settings within which it is made, how problems and policies are framed, implemented and evaluated, and the inherent challenges in choosing appropriate policy instruments to meet an objective. The course focuses particularly on Australia’s public environmental policy and institutional settings. Comparisons with international case studies will be made. Interactive lectures and seminars provide students with opportunities to analyse specific environmental policy issues in theoretical frameworks and over different time scales. Once a general overview of how environmental policy is created we apply a structured analytical tool to assess whether existing environmental policies in Australia are adequate to meet the challenges of environmental management in a changing climate. Topics explored include water, forestry, biodiversity and climate policy, sustainability in business and industry, public and civil society participation in policy-making, and comparisons will be made with overseas environmental policy examples. Note: Graduate students attend joint classes with undergraduates but are assessed separately.