Aims

The Module aims to provide information and skills allowing students to:
* assess land management options so as to utilise site resources (economic, social, physical) to their maximum potential and to optimise impacts with regard to economic, social land environmental outcomes
* consider sustainable development principles in decision-making with regard to the use and management of land in rural areas.

Outline Of Syllabus

The Module challenges students to apply the concepts of sustainability rigorously in consideration of land management drawing on examples from multi-objective land use in the rural environment and land reclamation associated with industrial use or mineral extraction. Lectures and field visits are integrated to deliver a range of knowledge and skills outcomes - external speakers or experts from the School may be used to make input through field visits and in classroom seminars. Assessment is through the presentation of a report (targetted at non-technical users) evaluation of proposals for land management on a given site and an unseen examination.

Concepts of sustainability in relation to land use and embedding within UK land use planning systems.
Constraints for land use; land capability and land suitability assessment; consideration of social and economic factors as constraints and opportunities for land use.
Sustainable land management
Social issues for agricultural holdings - e.g. succession, gender, tenancy, and patterns of land ownership and impacts on efficiency
Restoration, reclamation, sustainable land management - setting and monitoring appropriate objectives.
Restoration of land following industrial use or mineral extraction - working from a blank canvas Remediation and development of brownfield sites. Processes, procedures, options - including field visit
Integrating multiple objectives in rural environments. Processes, procedures, options - including upland , tropical systems; Aims and opportunities within UK agricultural systems, role of Environmental Stewardship. Field visit integrating range of land use objectives in Co Durham / Northumberland (e.g. Wallington Estate).

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Lectures introduce concepts and approaches, give examples of sustainable and unsustainable land management practices and provide links and direction to further reading materials. Small group teaching from visiting speakers introduce practical viewpoints and provide an opportunity for students to gain information through question and answer sessions on the skills and approaches needed in practice to assess the sustainability of land management practice and to design more sustainable alternatives. Field trips, preceded by scoping/preparation classes in the compuster clusters require students to examine real world examples, collect data about their impacts and make judgements about the sustainability of land use practice.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The purpose of the examination is to test use of knowledge in an isolated situation. The questions involve manipulation of knowledge, rather than regurgitation of facts and tests the knowledge outcomes.

The technical report extends the scope of the lecture material and gives the candidate the opportunity to use creativity alongside critical analysis to produce a well-presented technical report which assesses a number of land use options for a defined site. This tests students' achievement of the skills outcomes. The report is to be produced to a professional standard and should be accessible to a non-technical reader.