AF7027 - Contemporary issues in Sustainability

The module is taught through a combination of interactive lectures, seminars and self -study and reflection.

The module has a one-hour weekly lecture: Some of these lectures will be provided by guest lecturers/practitioners. These provide you will a good understanding of how topic dealt with in class to relate to the real world and understanding of the knowledge and skills required to be effective practitioners in sustainability. Before and after the lecture you will be given readings based on a teaching and learning plan, which you will be able to access through an online reading list on the module’s Blackboard site and through the Library website. There will also be multimedia support available through the teaching and learning plan, where you will be directed to access a range of videos and case studies.

There will be a one-hour seminar and a one-hour workshop per week:

Seminars: These will be facilitated by team working and group tasks such as group presentations. The seminars will draw heavily on yours and your peers’ discussions and debates of case studies, news stories and events, which have prominent relating to sustainable business management and investments. You will be asked to prepare work prior to the seminar, which will be directed in the teaching and learning plan and found through the modules Blackboard site. You will also be encouraged by your tutor to use research skills developed in other modules to consider additional material, such as relevant news articles from FT.com and other news outlets, academic and practitioner literature for further discussion.

Workshops: Students will get an opportunity to learn specialist programming languages necessary to analyse the complexities of the inter-disciplinary nature of sustainable finance

Self-study and reflection: This module will require you to engage in self-study and independent learning. This may be in the form of readings that are assigned to you as part of the lecture/seminar sessions. Team working and group tasks will enable you to develop critical transferable skills of effective communication and interpersonal interactions and will also provide opportunities for self-reflection on effective personal strategies for engaging with and learning from group activities, identifying and working own areas of personal development in relation to communication and interpersonal interactions and in assessing one’s own progress in learning.

The directed activities you undertake on the module are designed to ensure that you and the lecturing staff are the co-creators of knowledge. They will encourage you to create an active and self-directed learning experience, which will allow you to take responsibility for your own learning, whilst still having a high level of support. Support will be provided to you by the member of academic staff leading the module and providing the lectures and seminars. You will also have the support of the programme leader and support staff at the University.

Your module is supported by an e-learning portal (Blackboard), which houses the teaching and learning plan, lecture materials and recordings, and details of additional resources such as online recordings and videos. You will also be able to access key parts of lectures which will be recorded on Panopto throughout the module.

The modules online reading list can be reached through the Blackboard site. This list provides you with a comprehensive list of links from which to access all of the modules eBooks, news resources, and directed learning academic articles. The module’s Blackboard site also has a discussion board, where the module tutor and lecturers will post important information about the module throughout the semester.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

Knowledge & Understanding:
Demonstrate competency in understanding and analysing complex business issues to determine a range of solutions and then choose the most appropriate solutions.

To understand the concepts of business ethics, social responsibility and sustainability and hence, display a developing ability to analyse business problems and come to reasonable resolutions given a scenario [MLO1]

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
To work effectively within a multi-cultural group to communicate business ideas in an effective manner to a range of people within an organisation.

To display developing reflection skills through exploring business practice and real world business decisions.[MLO2]

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):
To understand the impact of personal and business ethical dimensions and social responsibilities when making decisions and effectively use a range of ethical models to determine appropriate solutions to complex issues.[MLO3]

Formative Assessment

You will receive weekly formative feedback during the seminars on each of the topics covered.

Summative Assessment

You will be assessed via a group presentation on a contemporary issue in corporate governance/sustainability. This part of the assessment accounts for 40% of the summative assessment.

Your group presentation will be supported via a briefing paper which will need to engage the intended audience to in a succinct manner to ensure the presentation fulfils it’s objective. Students will be assessed based on the format, content and ability to engage the audience. This part of the assessment accounts for 40% of the summative assessment. (1500 words max)

You will be required to produce an individual reflective commentary which reflects on your own personal development and positioning in terms of readiness for professional practice. This part of the assessment accounts for 20% of the summative assessment. (500 words max)

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There is a consensus that economic development that does not take into account the impact on the society is not sustainable in the long run. The module provides you with the key knowledge and skills to be effective practitioners of sustainable business management by providing a comprehensive coverage of the issues, trends and innovations in sustainability including aspects of effective corporate governance mechanisms. The module encompasses a research rich learning experience that involves discussions off academic and practitioner research as well as real word examples, case scenarios and contemporary news reports that will help you develop your knowledge and critical evaluation skills, The module with its emphasis on interactive learning will provide you with opportunities to develop your communication and presentations skills and opportunities to improve these skills through extensive formative feedback. This together with module workshops on data analysis using specialist software will give you a suite of skills that are transferable to the workplace.