2019/20 Taught Postgraduate Module Catalogue

SOEE5226M Managing and Delivering Sustainability through Projects and Organisations

30 creditsClass Size: 50

Module manager: Rory Padfield
Email: R.W.Padfield@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable

Year running 2019/20

This module is mutually exclusive with

SOEE5223M

Delivering Sustainability Through Projects

Module replaces

15 credits replaces SOEE5042M. Students on MSc SuS&Bus can take either this module or SOEE5223M

This module is not approved as an Elective

Module summary

The module aims to respond students' desire to know how to be effective change agents and operate in a variety of organisational contexts, making a contribution to sustainability. The module introduces students to some core elements of sustainability and also to some of the essential processes for delivering sustainability. Students will choose a particular theme / case study to explore in depth throughout the module, allowing them to tailor the module to a specific area of interest. Students will work in groups on a case study project and present their project ideas, including sustainability assessments, as a group. Based on that group work, students will then work individually to prepare detailed project plans including critical project path items, risk registers and mitigation strategies, the kind of document that a senior project director would like to see from their project manager.Students reflect on how their project case studies will need to be changed when placed in different organisational contexts and whether business/enterprise can achieve the desired outcomes.The practical organisational knowledge of management systems, and how such systems affect sustainable outcomes features in the later part of the module.

Objectives

To equip students with the tools and techniques to be able to apply their theoretical knowledge in practical contexts and deliver sustainable outcomes.
To equip students to recognise, value and be able to work with different disciplines in delivering sustainability
To allow students to evaluate the potential of different organisational forms – both profit and non-profit – for delivering sustainable outcomes
To introduce students to the role of innovation in sustainable development

Learning outcomes
- Analyse a project aiming to deliver some aspect of sustainability and select appropriate techniques to deliver that project,
- Analyse and evaluate the role of different stakeholders in project development and delivery
- Synthesise knowledge from multiple disciplines in order to analyse the system that surrounds the project.
- Understand the full project life cycle and the potential contribution to sustainable development – from project concept to evaluation.
- Analyse an organisational context in order to position and deliver a project for sustainable outcomes
- Evaluate the role of business/enterprise as a form for delivering sustainable outcomes
- Understand and be able to apply organisational and management systems and frameworks to deliver sustainable outcomes

Skills outcomes
Environmental management systems, including audit

Syllabus

Key concepts and ideas in Sustainable Development
• Stakeholder theory: analysis, management, engagement
• Systems thinking and design
• Regulation and governance issues shaping sustainability
• The project life cycle
• Project management ( including resource planning and budgeting)
• Evaluation techniques
• Resilience and adaptation
• Organisational design and development
• Team working, design and development
- Theories of change and innovation for sustainability
- Opportunities and constraints of business/enterprise as a way of delivering sustainability
- Quality management frameworks (including environmental management)
- Management system audits as a tool for change
- Communicating / selling / advocating for sustainability in different organisational contexts
These topics, introduced through lectures, are applied by the students, working in groups, to explore a specific case study, with these case studies providing the basis for seminar discussions. Case studies could include:
• Planning a renewable energy installation / investment
• Developing an eco-tourism lodge
• Reducing landfilled waste in a local authority area (potentially through energy generation)
• Developing a community-supported agriculture scheme
• Creating a new social housing co-operative
• Developing a new consumer product (cleaning product)
• Implementing a resource efficiency programme in a public sector organisation (e.g. health sector or education sector)
• Designing and implementing cycling infrastructure in a city
• Establishing a new commodity supply chain for a food product / catering offer.
• Resource permitting (energy, waste, water) for a new settlement

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Lectures	15	2.00	30.00
seminars	10	1.00	10.00
Class tests, exams and assessment	1	2.00	2.00
Fieldwork	8	2.00	8.00
Private study hours			250.00
Total Contact hours			50.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			300.00

Private study

There are two main components of private study
- Private study associated with the group work on the student-selected case study. Between seminar sessions, groups will need to work on their case study in order to prepare for the assessed presentation half way through the module.

- Private study associated with reading around the lecture topics, and developing a critical analysis which can be deployed in the individual essay assignment at the end of the module.
Both grey literature and academic literature will be important for effective student learning.

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Student progress will be principally monitored through the seminars.
Students will be split into groups of approximately 6 people, each group taking a different case study to work on in depth. Students will express preferences for the case studies they wish to work on. The seminars allowing for progress monitoring and formative feedback.
The feedback from the group assessed presentation is also formative, in that it helps the students reflect on what they want to put in their individual report, delivered several weeks later.

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Essay	4000 words - An individual reflective essay developed from their groupwork project case study experience.	85.00
Oral Presentation	undertaken in groups	10.00
Poster Presentation	Presentation handouts (prepared by group)	5.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		100.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 21/08/2019

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