Dates and Mechanisms for Assessment Submission and Feedback
Date of hand out to students: Semester 1 Week 1
Mechanism to be used to disseminate to students: in lecture/seminar and via eLP

Mechanism for Submission of Work by Student: Blackboard Turnitin submission link
Date by which Work, Feedback and Marks will be returned to Students: 20 working days after
submission
Mechanism(s) for return of assignment work, feedback and marks to students: via email
Further Information
Learning Outcomes assessed in this assessment: in the module handbook
Assessment Criteria/Mark Scheme: in the module handbook
Referencing Style: APA
Expected size of the submission: 2500 words (including tables and footnotes but not references)
Assignment weighting: 70% of the module mark
Detailed Assignment Brief

The assignment addresses MLOs 1, 2 and 5. This will give students an opportunity to iron
out any problems with writing skills, developing an argument and comprehension of key
theories and concepts as well as critical reading of scholarly literature and policy
documents. Please feel free to contact me to schedule a time to discuss relevant resources
you might want to use and your ideas on how you might want to approach the topic.
The essay should address ONE of the following questions:
1. For an environmental or development issue of your choice adopt one of the
following analytical frameworks/lenses to present an in-depth analysis of the issue:
political ecology, environmental governance, One Health, or sustainable livelihoods
framework.
2. As a zoonotic disease, COVID-19 has re-invigorated discussions about a One Health
approach to sustainable development and human-environment relations. The issue,
however, is a complex one bringing together a host of proximate causes and drivers
as well as broader structural ones that shape human-environment relations and risks
for zoonotic disease spillover. Using zoonoses (or other public health issue) as a case
study, how can a political ecology approach help us understand challenges and
solutions to One Health and the connections between environmental change and
public health?
3. The drivers and effects of climate change and how to address it highlight global and
regional inequalities in the Anthropocene (such inequalities include things like
uneven impacts, vulnerabilities, contributions to these impacts/climate change and
contributions to solutions). Paying special attention to power and politics across
different scales, critically analyse how these inequalities provide a key challenge to
sustainable development and what might be done to address them and promote
more equitable sustainable development.
The aims of this assignment are:
• To encourage you to consider the contested and conflicting ideological and
intellectual interpretations of sustainable development.
• To make you familiar with a range of source material centring on the theme of
sustainable development.
• To develop your capacity to critically review major sustainable development themes
and issues.
• To provide opportunity for you to relate underlying themes frameworks and
concepts in sustainable development to individual topics of concern.
A good answer will exhibit the following characteristics:
• A sound grasp of theoretical explanations.
• Appropriately detailed case study information.
• Strong organisation and evidence of planning.
• Evidence of detailed reading and awareness of the relevant literature.
• Well written, clearly structured and appropriately referenced.
• Progress towards logical conclusions.
Please see Essay Grading Criteria on Blackboard for detailed grading criteria.
Academic Integrity Statement: You must adhere to the university regulations on academic
conduct. Formal inquiry proceedings will be instigated if there is any suspicion of plagiarism
or any other form of misconduct in your work. Refer to the University’s Assessment
Regulations for Taught Awards if you are unclear as to the meaning of these terms. The latest
copy is available on the University website.