This course explores the tangled, at times uneasy, interactions between environment and development in the region of Oceania. We will consider how diverse Oceanian environments provide important development opportunities for local communities and economies, reflect on the environmental (and social) impacts wrought by development, and problematise what ‘development’ means in an age of climate crisis and enduring colonial legacies. Each week you will learn from ANU Pacific experts and discuss development case studies from the region in conversation with one popular development concept. This will demonstrate the power of conceptual frameworks in shaping our understanding of environment and development, and highlight the strengths and limitations of working with concepts in scholarly analysis. The course examines the contemporary relationships between environment, development and conflict in the cultural area known as “Melanesia”, with a particular focus on the independent nations of Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. Teaching and learning are organised around three case applied studies in which groups of students take the lead in directing the enquiry. The broad topics of the case studies are land and development, conflict, and Australia's ongoing engagements with the Pacific. This transdisciplinary course will modern Pacific society, at the same time learning from indigenous and traditional knowledge to build resilient communities.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

1. Demonstrate an awareness of the diversity and complexity of perspectives on natural resource exploitation in developing country settings, particularly the Pacific Islands
2. Describe and critique key theoretical perspectives on sustainable development and environmental revival and conservation in developing country settings
3. Describe and critique key policy approaches to managing and mitigating environmental degradation in Pacific Island context
4. Apply some of the methodological and conceptual tools of social sciences to the analysis of natural resource conflicts and questions of sustainable development
5. Be engaged with critical issues of development that foster an appreciation of the power of conceptual frameworks