University of St Andrews

Having considered in Level 1 why the concept of sustainable development (SD) is important and key concerns and areas of debate in understanding meanings of SD, this Level 2 course introduces aspects of how SD might be encouraged and facilitated. This course considers broad conceptual approaches to implementing SD. It includes more traditional frameworks based on governance and regulation ("command and control") as well as examining the role and importance of other approaches, including human security, environmental justice and management as well as community-based solutions and partnerships and conservation science. The course also addresses the extent to which these different approaches are interdependent, and how they can be used together to bring about change for SD.

This course explores some of the most dynamic literary and artistic achievements of archaic and classical Greek culture. Using a twin focus on myth and on ideas of community, the course ranges across Homeric epic, Athenian tragedy, Aristophanic comedy, and the writings of intellectuals; it studies the relationship between texts and images in the expression of cultural values; and it examines a series of major themes in Greek views of identity, morality, politics and religion. 

In this course, students learn to read early forms of English language and literature, using specially edited texts from Old English, Middle English and Older Scots. They also encounter and gain a critical understanding of Renaissance verse, via the study of John Donne's poems and Milton's Paradise Lost.

Access to clean water, fertile soil, critical metals, and cheap energy is crucial for modern society. However, the unsustainable use of these natural resources is changing the face of our planet at an unprecedented rate. This course builds on the understanding of planet Earth gained in ES1001, and it highlights the work done by earth scientists to solve 21st century resource and environmental challenges. The course investigates the geological processes that generate Earth's "traditional" resources, such as metals and hydrocarbons, and their environmental impact. Equally, students study "new" alternative energies such as geothermal and hydro power, and discuss resource requirements of a "Green New Deal" and potential environmental solutions, such as carbon capture and pollution remediation strategies. There is a fully-funded six-day residential field excursion to the Highlands of Scotland.