Engaging with Environmental Management

Abstract

There is an inherent antithesis between environmental management as professional practice and as concept or philosophy. Not only does this antithesis pose a problem in teaching environmental management, but also learners often have difficulty with the broad-based, multi-disciplinary nature of the subject and the value-laden nature of many environmental management decisions. Furthermore, field experience is an inherent part of environmental management and fieldwork is thus a necessary component of most environmental management modules. E-learning offers a mechanism through which to address these potential problems, through virtual practical experience and by serving as a virtual management laboratory. In this chapter, the undergraduate focus of a module on Upland Catchment Management and on environmental management is compared with e-learning for postgraduate delivery (a module on GIS for Environmental Management). The differing styles of delivery highlight the flexibility of e-learning as a vehicle for acquiring skills and knowledge, and underpin the claim that the result is an enhanced engagement with the practice of informed management.