Pre-requisites

None

Co-requisites

None

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, the student will be able to:

Unit Description

The purpose of this unit is to help learners to develop a theological rationale for Christian commitment to care for the earth, and to develop a detailed understanding of why climate change is inseparably linked to issues of justice. Careful consideration will be given to the impact of climate change upon vulnerable communities, and the application of climate adaptation and climate mitigation measures in such communities.

During the learning process, learners will be introduced to a theoretical framework for care for the earth with particular focus on relevant Biblical teaching. A case will be made that action on climate change must be an integral, if not central, dimension of the church’s work in dealing with poverty and injustice. Case studies of work on climate change by NGDOs will be used to ensure that study is grounded in practical realities. The unit will also explore the role and responsibility of Christian NGDOs in the task of engaging the wider Christian community in the links between Sustainability, Climate Change and Justice. Careful attention will be given to the impact of climate change on the world’s poorest nations of the economic policies of the world’s richest nations.

A major shift in the priorities and activities of many NGDOs over the last 5 years has seen an increasing awareness of the role of climate change in increasing poverty and marginalisation of the poorest communities around the world. Employing both primary and secondary sources, the learner will analyse the reasons for this shift, develop a theological rationale for biblically-based concern for the environment, and develop an awareness of its impact on NGDO priorities and practice.

Increasing levels of NGDO’s commitment to and action on climate change has led to substantial questions regarding the links between our lifestyles in the West and the resultant impacts on the poor. The effects of climate change have been seen to become a moral issue for those of us in the West in our efforts to arrest the impacts of climate change on the poor. Christian Aid released a statement in 2006 to the effect that not dealing with climate change will set the achievements of sustainable development back 50 years. Learners will be required to demonstrate the reasons for the importance of dealing with climate change in a justice context, and will be able to present a well-argued personal viewpoint as to why climate change is a poverty issue.

NGDOs have also only recently begun to develop a framework for how to deal with the economics of climate change. One of the reasons for this late development has included an attitude that NGDOs are “not environment organisations”. Learners will be required to research the reasons for this, and provide a framework for dealing with the economic issues related to climate change. This will focus on how the West can make major changes in terms of lifestyle, investment and infrastructure and how these will impact on the poor.

In addition to NGDOs, recent decades have seen churches undergoing a major shift in their understanding of justice in relation to its importance to the Gospel. However environmental concern has generally played a minimal part in this understanding. Much of this has been due to an understanding of the Bible that sees care for the earth as a minor issue and, at one level, has seen that the earth’s resources have been provided to be exploited and used as much as possible. Other factors have included a theological and eschatological understanding of the Gospel that has spawned an attitude that, either the earth will be destroyed when Jesus returns anyway, or that God will fix it all in the end. Learners will be required to explain the reasons for these attitudes, and then explain the theological underpinnings for God’s concern for the environment. This will include an explanation of whether or not climate change/justice is an integral part of the church’s mission, both theologically and in practice.

Community and church education, as well as engagement, is critical to developing an understanding of the links between Sustainability, Climate Change and Justice. Learners will analyse current Christian NGDOs’ strategies for developing community awareness of these links, including the role of advocacy, and will be able to outline methods of interacting with the community on how to engage with the issue of Sustainability, Climate Change and Justice. This will involve an outline of how to engage with government about its priorities in dealing with climate change in relation to the aid budget.

Teaching Strategies

The learning process consists of three phases: Reading, Residential, and Research. Each phase has a blend of individual and group learning, and subsequent phases build upon the learning of those that come before.

The first phase is a Reading phase, and lasts for 12 weeks. The learner, as part of a small cohort study group (3 to 5 members), is guided through a reading program to explore the current scholarship on the practice of ‘Sustainability, Climate Change and Justice’.

Reading assignments are compiled with the help of the librarian, the educational technologist, and administrative support staff. Required weekly readings are posted to the unit website once a week for downloading, utilising Tabor Victoria’s Moodle platform.

Students are also required to read the prescribed textbooks in this phase.

During this first phase learners in cohort groups embark on a guided social inquiry, resulting in a research project. Hands-on research conducted in context by each participant allows him/her to gain an understanding of specific, emerging ministry concerns/questions encountered by Aid and Development agencies.

Second phase is a residential phase: Equipped with the reading and research, learners then undertake a Residential phase of 40 hours worth (one week, full-time) of residential study. During the residency, all cohort groups gather in a Aid and Development agency setting chosen because of a leader who is known as a thoughtful practitioner, and because the agency has a proven track record in ‘Sustainability, Climate Change and Justice’.

In the third Phase students complete a personal theology in which issues related to ‘Sustainability, Climate Change and Justice’ are explored. Cohorts also plan and implement an intervention at the Aid and Development agency. The intervention is a professional presentation that summarises findings and proposes a number of ways the agency might go about addressing the emerging questions. The intervention invites agency leaders into theological reflection and constructive thinking about the concern and what might be done to begin addressing it. Following the intervention, the small cohort study group reflects upon and assesses their collaborative work.

Unit offerings

Face to face: (Every 3rd Year, Semester 1)
Face to face: (Every 3rd Year, Semester 1)

Please note

The Unit Offerings listed above are a guide only and the timetable for any year is the final authority. The College may vary offerings based on demand, regulatory requirements, continual improvement processes or other conditions.

This unit may be available in different modes of delivery i.e. online and face-to-face as listed above. The unit content will not differ between these modes of delivery. There will possibly be a difference in the schedule and/or the prescribed assessment tasks, however both will cover and assess the same content.