MSc Climate Change: Science, Society and Solutions

Satellites, Earth observation systems, and new technologies developed through space exploration provide invaluable insights and tools to observe and protect against climate change impacts and to enable nation states to meet the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Yet, the exponential growth of a global space industry presents a complex tension between its potential to help us to address climate change and its own rapidly growing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This optional unit introduces students to the principles of, and debates surrounding, environmental and geographic research related to sustainability and outer space through a series of research seminars and supporting seminar discussions. Students will participate in and experience academic research seminars on cutting-edge environmental and geographical research projects on live policy issues being undertaken across myriad empirical and theoretical contexts, supported by seminar discussions led by an interdisciplinary team from Geography, Aerospace Engineering and Material Sciences.

Supporting seminars will entail short group discussions on key papers or wicked problem workshops to unpack key aspects of the week’s lecture. On the occasion that there is no research seminar, an online alternative research seminar will be provided, or students can attend a seminar of their choosing from elsewhere across the University. The research seminar programme will be circulated at the beginning of each semester.  

Students will develop a working understanding of the concepts, theories, methods and debates that cross-cut geographical research on space and sustainability. In providing a foundation in, and critical appreciation of, active geographic research, this module will assist students undertaking dissertation research pursuing PhD study. The unit will be of particular interest to students on Master’s courses in the School of Environment, Education and Development and the School of Social Sciences. It will also have appeal to students in the department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering (Aerospace engineering MSc; Renewable Energy and Clean Technology MSc) and the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (Pollution and Environmental Control MSc).
 

• To introduce students to the multifaceted relationship between space and sustainability, encompassing research from geography and other relevant disciplines.
• To identify key sustainability concerns associated with human and robotic use of outer space
• To question established approaches to regulating human and robotic use of outer space in relation to the environment, from market based to non-market based approaches
• To analyse some of the key environmental governance and practical challenges of space activities and the constraints encountered by relevant stakeholders as they operate across a range of sectors and outer space locations
• To learn from real-world practitioners and liaise with external organisations on live environmental policy issues relevant to outer space governance of earth’s orbits, the moon, planets and other bodies throughout our solar system
• To reflect on disciplinary methods and concepts used in the study of outer space and to develop grounded critiques of their appropriate usage
   

Week 1: Introduction: Sustainability from space, in space and for space (Dr. Craig Thomas)

Week 2: Green space: How off-world construction technologies could promote sustainable development on Earth (Dr. Aled Roberts) 
Week 3: Extra-global governance (Dr. Craig Thomas) 
Week 4: Sustainable mission design (Dr Ciara McGrath, Dr Nicholas Crisp) 
Week 5: Planetary environmentalism (Dr. Craig Thomas) 
Week 6: The Environmental Geopolitics of outer space (Dr. Craig. Thomas) 
Week 7: Indigenous Astronomy (Ali Browne) Asynchronous material to be released in week 2
Easter break 
Week 8: Study week 
Week 9: Earth Observation: challenges, opportunities and the role of the worldwide space agencies, including guest Dr. Dominik Rains, Earth Observation specialist at Airbus (Dr Polyanna da Conceição Bispo) 
Week 10: Planetary landscapes: a limitless frontier (Dr. Abi Stone)
Week 11: Space-based geoengineering (Rob Bellamy)
Week 12: Why are we exploring outer space? Imagining and realising sustainable outer space exploration and exploitation
 

The course is delivered through a mixture of academic lectures and staff-led seminars.

This module is designed to encourage students to engage with the principles of governance, applying environmental and geographical frameworks to analysis of key debates and issues. Students will attend one two-hour lecture each week and one, one-hour long seminar run by the course leader every second week. In the first week we will discuss the overarching aims of the course, along with detail on expectations and assignment deadlines, academic support and the course program. The second half of the session will focus on the importance of outer space in addressing the sustainable development goals and international climate change commitments, which introduces the module and considers the potential for space-based technologies to monitor and mitigate environmental issues. It will be ventured that outer space governance has shifted from being largely state-led to one that places emphasis on international collaboration and, more recently, competition, through horizontal networks of stakeholder governance that combine states and civil society actors. Key frameworks for understanding this paradigm shift will be introduced, leading into a broader discussion of how we might conceive of the associated challenges of formulating, implementing and evaluating outer space treaties and laws. This will provide an ideal platform for subsequent sessions that will apply geographical frameworks to key debates and issues through focus on particular policies, sectors and issues in respect to a range of empirical case studies. There will be no research seminar in week 1.

In each subsequent week students will discuss: key theories and concepts, a particular policy / issue, and the geographical significance of empirical research in this field.  Using outer space technologies to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) is a ‘real world’ concern that connects STEM departments with the Humanities, across perspectives and expertise, and this module builds on this shared interest to offer interdisciplinary teaching, with guest lectures from Aerospace Engineering and Material Sciences

In seminars, each student is required to lead two elements (such as discussing the methodology for the speaker in week 3, and the biography of the speaker in week 7) over the course of the semester. Completion of these tasks is compulsory.  These tasks will involve individual research and/or evaluation of the seminars. Formative feedback will be given in the weekly small group discussion and presentation tasks.

Students will be expected to read around core geographic concepts and the policies discussed in the seminars each week.

A discussion space will be available on Blackboard for students to share reflections and questions on weekly seminars.
 

• Identify the core concepts applied in research on the environmental governance and geographies of outer space across the breadth of the discipline
• Articulate key debates on outer space governance using geographic concepts to academic and lay audiences
• Understand multi-stakeholder and partnership approaches to urban governance

• Critically assess the theories, methods, outcomes and wider significance of contemporary geographic research on outer space
• Apply environmental geographical frameworks to debates and issues in outer space governance
• To critically evaluate the role of states, international institutions and civil society in achieving or constraining effective outer space governance

• Develop and articulate clear, structured and reasoned arguments in written context
• Disseminate academic ideas to non-academic audiences through updating Wikipedia pages on a geographic concept used in research on outer space or applying a geographical perspective to an outer space policy or treaty 
• To evaluate the efficacy of governance structures and formulate considered proposals for reform
   

• To facilitate the development of transferable academic skills including the ability to conduct independent research, the ability to communicate ideas effectively, both verbally and in writing, and the ability to present planned research to an audience of peers
• Communicate inter-personally
• Motivate and self-direct their learning

1. Wikipedia Contribution (33%; 1000 words) — Feedback via VLE within 15 working days:

Contribution to a new /updated Wikipedia page on a geographic concept used in research on outer space, or applying a geographical perspective to an outer space policy or treaty.

2. Report (67%; 1800 words) — Feedback via VLE within 15 working days:

A fully developed final term report using a chosen geographical framework and secondary data to constructively critique an issue of outer space governance.

Formative Assessment Task:

Students will have the opportunity to submit a 100-word formative proposal for their Wikipedia coursework in week 4, to assess the suitability of their topic and where they are submitting it on Wikipedia.
Length: 200
Feedback: Written feedback via VLE within 15 working days.

- Beery, J. (2012) State, capital and spaceships: A terrestrial geography of space tourism. Geoforum 43(1): 25–34.
- Beery, J. (2016) Unearthing global natures: Outer space and scalar politics. Political Geography 55: 92–101.
- Brown, T.F.M., Bannister, M.T. and Revell, L.E. (2024). Envisioning a sustainable future for space launches: a review of current research and policy. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 54(3), pp.273–289.
- Cosgrove, D. (1994) Contested Global Visions: One-World, Whole-Earth, and the Apollo Space Photographs. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 84(2): 270–294.
- Craddock, R. A. (2011) Aeolian processes on the terrestrial planets: Recent observations and future focus. Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment 36(1): 110–124.
- Dittmer, J. N. (2007) Colonialism and Place Creation in Mars Pathfinder Media Coverage. Geographical Review 97(1): 112–130.
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- Lawrence, A. et al. (2022). The case for space environmentalism. Nature Astronomy, 6(4), pp.428–435.
- MacDonald, F. (2007) Anti-Astropolitik — outer space and the orbit of geography. Progress in Human Geography 31(5): 592–615.
- Messeri, L. (2016) Placing Outer Space: An Earthly Ethnography of Other Worlds. (Illustrated edition.). Durham: Duke University Press Books.
- Sammler, K. G., and Lynch, C. R. (2021) Spaceport America: Contested Offworld Access and the Everyman Astronaut. Geopolitics 26(3): 704–728.
- United Nations (1967) Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies
- United Nations (1984) Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies
- Varughese, C. et al. (2023). The intersection of space and sustainability: The need for a transdisciplinary and bi-cultural approach. Acta Astronautica, 211, pp.684–701.
-  Wilson, A.R. and Vasile, M. (2023). The space sustainability paradox. Journal of Cleaner Production, 423, p.138869.