Learning programmes for environmental sustainability: A different approach to curriculum design

Abstract

Environmental management in South Africa is constrained by a lack of capacity for
effective stakeholder engagement and environmental decision-making. The
country\'s excellent environmental legislation demands that environmental professionals
be appropriately trained at the higher education level. To this end, a
Bachelors level learning programme in environmental management (the EM
programme) was developed by the University of South Africa (UNISA). The
approach used to design a curriculum for the EM programme is explained in this
article. It is also argued that the EM programme should be extended to cater for the
management of special environments and individual resources. The EM
programme could also serve as a model for the development of a similar
programme aimed at building the professional and technical capacity required for
biodiversity management.

South African Journal of Higher Education Vol. 20 (5) 2006: pp. 691-702