This syllabus is centred around the concept of: sustainable development. This may be defined as

“Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

Two concerns are fundamentally tied to the process of sustainable development of the Earth’s resources:

• The basic needs of humanity – for food, clothing, shelter and jobs – must be met.
• The limits to development are not absolute but are imposed by present states of technology and social organisation and by their impacts upon environmental resources and upon the biosphere’s ability to absorb the effect of human activities. But technology and social organisation can be both managed and improved to make way for a new era of economic growth.

Underlying questions

Whatever particular issue is being studied, candidates should consider the following central questions:

• Can the resources involved – whether they are non-living, living or human – be defined as renewable or non-renewable in relation to the pace, scale and character of development?
• To what extent, and why, do people use and value the same natural resource in different ways?
• What dilemmas face individuals, communities and countries in their use and management of natural resources?
• How compatible and how viable are different economic approaches in tackling an environmental issue?
• What are the relative costs, advantages and disadvantages of different strategies for managing the environment?
• What are the factors influencing dispute and co-operation over the use of natural resources?
• What are the current and potential roles of the following: international organisations, national and local governments, environmental organizations, aid agencies, industry and commerce, community groups, individuals?

These questions should be presented in an open-ended way. This syllabus does not prescribe solutions as to how environments should be managed. The relationship between environment and development is dynamic. Strategies have to be altered, adjusted and changed as new problems arise. The same solutions may not be applicable in all regions or cases. Candidates should be encouraged to look for and evaluate alternative solutions, rather than to expect or reproduce the ‘right answer’. Candidates need to understand the role played by value judgements and be able to accept that other people in their own society and elsewhere may hold values different from their own. Candidates should be able to show a basic knowledge and understanding of the processes listed under Resources and Development and give examples to illustrate their understanding. In discussing Impact and Management, they should be able to analyse, discuss and draw conclusions based on reasoned evidence.

Teaching methods should encourage enquiry and discussion as much as possible and this should be based as far as possible on case studies, at an appropriate level. The emphasis should be on applying knowledge and understanding to international, national and local environmental problems to enable candidates to become involved in both current and future environmental management issues.

The syllabus is designed to emphasise that:

• life on Earth as we know it is an integrated and interdependent whole;
• its future is endangered by the impact of human development on natural resources;
• its survival for future generations will depend on concerted action to conserve and manage the environment as a self-sustaining resource base.

For each of the four spheres of the Earth’s environment (lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere), the following aspects are considered.

• Resources: How does the natural system work?
• Development: How do people use natural resources?
• Impact: How does development change the environment?
• Management: How can the environment be developed sustainably?

The divisions between the four spheres should not be seen as rigid or exclusive. Many environmental issues, e.g. water pollution, soils/agriculture, etc., involve more than one sphere. Teachers should be aware of the links between different parts of the matrix and by using suitable cross references they should emphasise environmental interdependence. The syllabus does not prescribe a particular sequence of study.

About 35% of the teaching time should be devoted to the curriculum objectives on resources and development. These can be dealt with in a largely descriptive way to give students a basic knowledge and understanding of processes. This will provide the foundation for the analysis and discussion of impact and management, to which the remaining 65% of teaching time should be allocated. The curriculum objectives should be covered by investigating specific examples and case studies from both the ‘Developed’ and the ‘Developing World’.

More detail on each aspect of the curriculum and the topics covered can be found on the Cambridge website: 2011 Syllabus on Environmental Management