Course finder

<< return to browsing

Semester 2

Nature, Greenspace and Health (SHSS10010)

Subject

Health in Social Science

College

CAHSS

Credits

20

Normal Year Taken

3

Delivery Session Year

2023/2024

Pre-requisites

Although this course does not have any pre-requisites, it is designed for students who have studied two full years of Health, Psychology, Social Sciences or other directly related subject areas beforehand. If you have not studied a relevant subject area to that level, it is your responsibility to ensure the course is an appropriate level for you during the first week of teaching, and you must drop this course (before the Course Change Deadline) if you do not have the required background knowledge/skills. **Please see Additional Restrictions below**

Course Summary

How does access to nature and to greenspaces impact on human health? This course will take a living labs approach to studying the ways in which gardens, parks, flora, fauna, and biodiversity more generally may impact on the health of humans and human communities. We will use a social justice lens in our study, examining how access and engagement with nature and the outdoors is unequally distributed within communities and how environmental injustice may contribute to the observed correlation between social inequality and health inequality.

Course Description

Each year, students on the course will be presented with a real-world problem to work on in the local area. In 2018-2019, the topic explored was be how biodiversity impacts on human health in relation to University of Edinburgh greenspaces. The course will meet twice a week over the ten weeks of teaching. The first meeting of the week will be delivered seminar-style in a classroom. The second meeting will be longer (2 hours) and will involve a range of activities from group work to site visits and fieldwork. Any costs involved in fieldtrips, such as public transit fares, will need to be covered by students. During the first week of class, you will be briefed on the issue to be addressed. You will be supported in developing a learning plan for yourself and a collective learning plan with your classmates, which will provide the roadmap for the work that you undertake to prepare yourselves for and implement a strategy for investigating the problem and proposing potential ways to address it. During the last week of class, you will present your findings and your proposed interventions to relevant community members. The final report will be due during the exam period. **The course will be student-led, meaning that you will collectively set the direction of study and research, with the course organiser and associated staff providing support and acting as resources for learning. Group work will play a significant part in your learning and assessment. Two of the learning outcomes concern your ability to work in a group context. Support and resources will be provided throughout the course to enable you to develop and hone your group-work skills. **You will be assessed both individually and as a group. Individually, your attendance, participation and awareness and evidence of how you worked in and contributed to the group and to group assessments will be assessed. Collectively, as a group you will be assessed on your ability to identify, define, conceptualise and analyse a real world problem and execute a defined project of research to address that problem. You will also be assessed collectively on your abilities to present your findings to an informed audience. This course will provide you with the opportunity to further your academic learning, your critical thinking skills and your employability, it will also enable you to make a positive difference in your local community and in the world right now.

Assessment Information

Written Exam 0%, Coursework 100%, Practical Exam 0%

Special Arrangements

Visiting students are only permitted to enrol in one 3rd year Health course each, per semester, before the start of the relevant semester’s welcome period – and spaces on each course are limited so cannot be guaranteed for any student. Enrolment in a second course from this group will depend on whether there are still spaces available in the January Welcome Period, and cannot be guaranteed. It is NOT appropriate for students to contact staff within this subject area to ask for an exception to be made; all enquiries to enrol in these courses must be made through the CAHSS Visiting Student Office. This is due to the limited number of spaces available in this very popular subject area.

view the timetable and further details for this course