The Climate Futures teaching team for the new unit Responding to Climate Change – Dr Bec Harris, Dr Nick Earl and Dr Gabi Mocatta – has wrapped up teaching of this new unit for Semester 1.
We were very excited to be able to teach Responding to Climate Change as a follow-on unit to KGA104 Introduction to the Science of Climate Change for the first time in 2021. Our wonderful cohort of students has been extremely engaged and has inspired us with their ideas and enthusiasm.
Responding to Climate Change examines human responses to the wicked problem of our changing climate. In the unit we ask why we have not acted quickly as a society on climate and how we must respond going forward. We explore policy responses and practical solutions that may help us reduce the most damaging changes to Earth’s climate and associated impacts on human and natural systems. We also look at international emissions reduction agreements, and other mitigation measures such as carbon sequestration and drawdown and alternative energy sources. The unit additionally examines social movement demands and communication of climate change. In this unit we look at climate change through the lens of ethics, justice and injustice, and also investigate how indigenous knowledges can instruct us in responding to climate change.
Thanks to our students and teaching team, as well as invited guest speakers, for making this a wonderful first running of this timely unit.