Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics, College of Social and Applied Human Sciences

Environmental change is one of the most pressing challenges of our time. Although governments are often presumed to be the most important players in addressing environmental change, citizens, non-government organizations and businesses all around the world are also taking on significant roles and making positive impact.

‘Environmental governance’ – the wide range of collaborative, and cross-institutional approaches used to address environmental change – is crucial to the planet and our shared future on it.

The Environmental Governance Major introduces students to opportunities and applications of environmental governance in Canada and beyond. Students will gain core competencies from geography and political science and build additional insight through courses from a range of social science and humanities disciplines.  Students in the program will receive: a solid foundation in the processes and mechanisms of environmental change and governance; an understanding of geographical, political and economic factors that shape environmental governance around the world;  exposure to innovative approaches and case studies; and the opportunity to tailor restricted elective selections towards one or more of Indigenous peoples and governance, environmental campaigns and communications, and environmental politics.  Graduates of the program will be well-suited for careers in the public sector, environmental non-government organizations and other non-profits, and the private sector.

Completion of required courses, and careful selection of electives will facilitate students completing a minor in Geography or Political Science, and/or completing the certificate in Indigenous Environmental Governance. Minors in other programs also may complement the Major in Environmental Governance.

Major Requirements (Honours)

This is a major within the degree: Bachelor of Arts. 

A minimum of 10.00 credits, consisting of 6.50 credits from the core required courses specified and 3.50 credits from the restricted electives listed:

Core Courses

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
ECON*1050	Introductory Microeconomics	0.50
GEOG*1220	Explaining Environmental Change	0.50
GEOG*1350	Earth: Hazards and Global Change	0.50
GEOG*2030	Environment, Justice and Society	0.50
GEOG*2110	Climate and the Biophysical Environment	0.50
GEOG*2230	Commodity Chains and Cultures of Consumption	0.50
GEOG*3210	Indigenous-Settler Relationships in Environmental Governance	0.50
GEOG*4210	Environmental Governance	0.50
INDG*1000	Indigenous-Settler Relations	0.50
MGMT*3020	Principles of Responsible Organizations	0.50
POLS*2230	Public Policy	0.50
POLS*3340	Indigenous Politics in Canada	0.50
POLS*3370	Environmental Politics and Governance	0.50

Restricted Electives

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Select 0.50 credits from the following:
ECON*2100	Economic Growth and Environmental Quality	0.50
FARE*2700	Survey of Natural Resource Economics	0.50
IDEV*2200	Policy, Economy and Society	0.50
Select 0.50 credits from the following:
GEOG*2460	Analysis in Geography	0.50
STAT*2080	Introductory Applied Statistics I	0.50
Select 0.50 credits from the following:
ENGL*2200	Postcolonial Literatures, Film, and Other Media	0.50
HIST*2250	Environment and History	0.50
PHIL*2070	Philosophy of the Environment	0.50
Select 0.50 credits from the following:
GEOG*3020	Global Environmental Change	0.50
POLS*3470	Business-Government Relations in Canada	0.50
SOAN*3130	Protest, Resistance, and Collective Action	0.50
Select 0.50 credits from the following:
FARE*3170	Cost-Benefit Analysis	0.50
GEOG*3030	Media, Digital Technology and Environment	0.50
POLS*3790	International Political Economy	0.50
Select 1.00 credits from the following:
GEOG*4220	Local Environmental Management	0.50
GEOG*4230	Environmental Impact Assessment	0.50
POLS*4170	Global Environmental Politics	1.00

Co-op Requirements (Honours)

This is a major within the degree: Bachelor of Arts. 

The Environmental Governance Co-op program is a five year program, including three required work terms. Students must complete a Fall, Winter and Summer work term and must follow the academic work schedule as outline below (also found on the Cooperative Education website https://www.recruitguelph.ca/cecs/). Prefer refer to the Co-operative Education program policy with respect to adjusting this schedule. 

Academic and Co-op Work Term Schedule

Co-op Information

Year	Fall	Winter	Summer
1	Academic Semester 1	Academic Semester 2	Off
2	Academic Semester 3, COOP*1100	Academic Semester 4	COOP*1000 Work Term I
3	Academic Term 5	COOP*2000 Work Term II	Academic Semester 6
4	COOP*3000 Work Term III	COOP*4000 Work Term IV	Off
5	Academic Semester 7	Academic Semester 8	N/A

Please refer to the Co-operative Education program policy with respect to work term performance grading, work term report grading and program completion requirements.

For additional program information students should consult with their Co-op Co-ordinator and Co-op Faculty Advisor, listed on the Co-operative Education web site.

Credit Summary

(21.50 Total Credits)¹

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Required Core Courses		10.00
Electives		10.00
Co-op Work Terms		1.50
Total Credits		21.5

¹

A fourth Co-op work term is optional and if completed, the total number of credits will equal 22.00.

Note: The 10.00 required core courses include 6.50 required credits and 3.50 credits in restricted electives. A minimum of three Co-op work terms including a Summer, Fall and Winter are necessary to complete the Co-op requirement.

Students are encouraged to speak with an Faculty Advisor in the Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics when considering restricted electives, especially in semesters 4, 7 & 8.

Recommended Program Sequence

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Semester 1 - Fall
ECON*1050	Introductory Microeconomics	0.50
GEOG*1350	Earth: Hazards and Global Change	0.50
1.50 electives		1.50
Semester 2 - Winter
GEOG*1220	Explaining Environmental Change	0.50
INDG*1000	Indigenous-Settler Relations	0.50
1.50 electives		1.50
Summer Semester
No academic semester or work term
Semester 3 - Fall
COOP*1100	Introduction to Co-operative Education	0.00
GEOG*2030	Environment, Justice and Society	0.50
GEOG*2230	Commodity Chains and Cultures of Consumption	0.50
POLS*2230	Public Policy	0.50
GEOG*2460	Analysis in Geography	0.50
or STAT*2080	Introductory Applied Statistics I
Select 0.50 credits from the following:
ECON*2100	Economic Growth and Environmental Quality	0.50
FARE*2700	Survey of Natural Resource Economics	0.50
IDEV*2200	Policy, Economy and Society	0.50
Semester 4 - Winter
GEOG*2110	Climate and the Biophysical Environment	0.50
1.50 electives		1.50
Select 0.50 credits from the following:
ENGL*2200	Postcolonial Literatures, Film, and Other Media 2	0.50
HIST*2250	Environment and History	0.50
PHIL*2070	Philosophy of the Environment	0.50
Summer Semester
COOP*1000	Co-op Work Term I	0.50
Semester 5 - Fall
MGMT*3020	Principles of Responsible Organizations	0.50
POLS*3340	Indigenous Politics in Canada	0.50
1.50 electives		1.50
Winter Semester
COOP*2000	Co-op Work Term II 3	0.50
Semester 6 - Summer
GEOG*3210	Indigenous-Settler Relationships in Environmental Governance	0.50
POLS*3370	Environmental Politics and Governance	0.50
1.50 electives		1.50
Fall Semester
COOP*3000	Co-op Work Term III	0.50
Winter Semester
COOP*4000	Co-op Work Term IV 3	0.50
Summer Semester
No academic semester or work term
Semester 7 - Fall 4
GEOG*4210	Environmental Governance	0.50
2.00 electives or restricted electives 5		2.00
Semester 8 Winter 4
2.50 electives or restricted electives 5		2.50

²

Offered in Fall semesters, odd years, students interested in this course should plan accordingly

³

Students must complete a minimum of one Co-op work term in a Winter semester. The second Winter work term is optional.

⁴

Students are encouraged to meet with a Faculty Advisor to review Semester 7 & 8 restricted elective choices.

⁵

Students are required to take a minimum of 2.00 credits from the restricted elective list.  These 2.00 credits should normally be taken within Semester 7 and Semester 8.  Students are encouraged to speak with a Faculty Advisor to review Semester 7 and Semester 8 restricted elective choices.

Restricted Electives

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Select 0.50 credits from the following:
GEOG*3020	Global Environmental Change	0.50
POLS*3470	Business-Government Relations in Canada	0.50
SOAN*3130	Protest, Resistance, and Collective Action	0.50
Select 0.50 credits from the following:
FARE*3170	Cost-Benefit Analysis	0.50
GEOG*3030	Media, Digital Technology and Environment	0.50
POLS*3790	International Political Economy	0.50
Select 1.00 credits from the following:
GEOG*4220	Local Environmental Management	0.50
GEOG*4230	Environmental Impact Assessment	0.50
POLS*4170	Global Environmental Politics	1.00