GEO8000 : Global Sustainable Futures: Solutions, Concepts, and Skills
- Offered for Year: 2025/26
- Module Leader(s): Dr Gareth Powells
- Owning School: Geography, Politics & Sociology
- Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters
Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.
| Semester 1 Credit Value: | 20 |
| ECTS Credits: | 10.0 |
| European Credit Transfer System | |
Aims
What are global sustainable futures and how might we achieve them? What does a sustainable environment and vibrant humanity mean to you? What are some of the obstacles to sustainable futures and how might we work toward removing them? And most importantly, what global issues are most important to you, and how can this module provide you with the concepts and skills you need to understand and address them – not just as a student, but in your professional life, and as a global citizen?
This module introduces students to key themes and issues in global sustainable futures and has the following aims:
1. To foster critical thinking about sustainable futures and the interconnectedness of key challenges and solutions such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
2. To equip students with the conceptual tools required for understanding, researching, critically engaging with, and proposing solutions for global sustainable futures.
Outline Of Syllabus
The module introduces students to the complex and interrelated challenges of sustainability. The core of the module encourages and enables students to think relationally and systematically about environmental, social, economic and political sustainability. Students are taken through three areas of focus, each of which is shown to be distinctive but also deeply connected to the others and to the complex and ‘wicked problems’ of global sustainable futures. Each section offers critical engagement with several UN Sustainable Development Goals, and focuses on cutting-edge research and innovation. These areas of focus are:
1) People and Society
2) Economy and Policy
3) Politics and Security
In working through each of these areas students will be challenged to think about::
• What are the most pressing future sustainability challenges for people and society, economy and policy, and politics and security?
• What concepts can best help us understand future sustainability challenges for each area of focus? And how do our concepts shape the solutions we can envisage?
• What knowledge and skills are needed for global sustainable futures, and what can be learned from research and best practice in each area of focus?
In and across each area of focus, students will be encouraged to think about the interlinked nature of global sustainable futures’ challenges and potential solutions. Seemingly discrete issues – climate and environmental change, war and conflict, poverty, inequality, housing, cities and economies – are studies as interwoven not isolated problems.
Teaching Methods
Teaching Activities
| Category | Activity | Number | Length | Student Hours | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 4:00 | 4:00 | Guided Independent Local Field Work |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 10 | 2:00 | 20:00 | Present in Person |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Drop-in/surgery | 2 | 2:00 | 4:00 | Present in person |
| Guided Independent Study | Independent study | 1 | 172:00 | 172:00 | N/A |
| Total | 200:00 |
Teaching Rationale And Relationship
10x2hr classes. In each session, the first hour will be devoted to lecture-style teaching, with the second hour reserved for discussion and other interactive activities. These might include, for example, modelling and mapping, field trips, debates, depending on the topics covered.
The themes of the seminars will relate to the conceptual, methodological, and empirical issues outlined in the module aims. The module will begin with an introduction and module-wide framing of global sustainable futures before leading students through the three themes as outlined above.
The small group teaching and learning methods will enable students to develop employment related skills such as interpersonal communication, oral presentation, teamwork, planning and organising, information literacy, and problem solving.
Assessment-focused workshops will be held in addition to these classes, providing students with an opportunity to discuss the assessment tasks with the module leader.
Assessment Methods
The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners
Exams
| Description | Length | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oral Presentation | 15 | 1 | A | 25 | 1x 15-min presentation. 15-min presentation of a specific sustainability challenge that students have chosen to study. |
Other Assessment
| Description | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | 1 | M | 75 | 1x 3,000-word report. 3,000-word analytic case study report on a specific example of a real-world sustainability challenge. |
Assessment Rationale And Relationship
As well as assessing the depth of learning developed in the module relating to the current state of the research literature, the assessmnts develop and assess student's skills in relation to Newcastle University's Graduate Framework. Specifically,
- The oral assessment develops confidence, creativity, self-awareness, digital capability, engagement with real work challenges.
- The report will deepen written communication skills, curiosity, critical thinking and analysis skills.
Reading Lists
Timetable
- Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
- GEO8000's Timetable