The assessment for this module comprises a single piece of coursework. You are required to submit an individual report of 3000 words which covers the following areas:

A. Critically appraise the development of a specific piece of legislation or public policy instrument within the environmental management sector in the UK or elsewhere.

B. Evaluate the effectiveness of your selected instrument in contributing to wider sustainable development goals. (30% of the final mark)
In order to prepare for this submission, you will be working in small groups of two of three people to prepare a 15 minute presentation on the first part of the above question. This presentation will be given to the whole class (dates to be confirmed). Questions and discussion following your presentation will provide feedback to assist in the development of your final individual submission (however the presentation itself will not be formally assessed).Topics and groups should be agreed in advance with Lynn Crowe or Luke Bennett.

The presentation should include:

The historical background and development of your selected legislation or public policy instrument;
An evaluation of the factors which have influenced the development of the legislation or policy (for example: lobbying groups or campaigns; environmental crises, perceived problems or management conflicts; developing government or political agendas);
An assessment of the effectiveness of the legislation or policy instrument and recommendations for improvements in achieving its specific aims.

The final individual report should cover all of the above, plus the second question focusing on the effectiveness of your chosen law or policy instrument in contributing to wider sustainable development goals (such as broader environmental, social and economic goals within the theoretical context of sustainable development). This evaluation should be underpinned by an exploration of the various definitions of sustainable development; any inherent conflicts within the definition; and whether your specific policy instrument helps to achieve sustainable development or not.

Your report should draw on academic research and extensive use should be made of references to existing literature and policy statements. You should also use examples of good professional practice in the UK and/or overseas (through evaluation of selected case studies or contact with practitioners). All sources should be properly referenced using the Harvard conventions.

Your group presentation should include PowerPoint slides and a copy of these slides should be provided in the appendix of your individual written submission. The group presentation should also include a full reference list on the final slide.

It is anticipated you will wish to make a full contribution to the presentation element of this assignment, in order to benefit from the formative feedback from tutors and your colleagues. However, anyone who does not make such a contribution will automatically lose 10% from their final individual mark. We will also discuss with group members the particular circumstances of anyone who makes a reasonable contribution to the group effort, but then cannot attend the presentation for good reasons, or anyone who does not engage effectively with their group. We shall then share a decision on the deduction of marks up this maximum of 10%. To assist in this process, it would be helpful if group members keep a record of agreed meetings to discuss and prepare the presentation element of the assessment.

Clearly, as you will have been working as a group in preparing this report, there will be some similarities in terms of your research, your evidence base and final analysis, between group members. However, it is essential that the final submission is your own individual work, and you must not copy text between different group members. Any suspected plagiarism will be subject to the usual investigation and penalties.

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

· Use of extensive research within relevant academic literature and professional sources. All references should be cited using the required Harvard conventions.
· Discussion of relevant environmental concepts, policies and perspectives applied to a specific context.
· Ability to critically analyse and evaluate relevant material within a specific context, and produce appropriate conclusions or recommendations.
· Communicate findings logically and professionally, with clear and accurate use of English.

All submission dates should be checked on your on-line Assignment Diary.

You are required to submit your assignment in two formats by the deadline: a paper-based version to Helpdesk, and also an electronic version to Turnitin on the module Blackboard site. Failure to submit in BOTH formats by the deadline will result in you being referred for this assignment task.