RE1ESD: Ethics and Sustainable Development

Module code: RE1ESD

Module provider: Real Estate and Planning; Henley Business School

Credits: 20

Level: 4

When you'll be taught: Semester 2

Module convenor: Dr Claudia Beatriz Murray, email: c.b.murray@henley.reading.ac.uk

Additional teaching staff 1: Miss Jane Batchelor, email: j.m.batchelor@reading.ac.uk

Additional teaching staff 2: Dr Ji Hei Lee, email: j.h.lee@henley.edu.my

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s): IN THE SAME YEAR AS TAKING THIS MODULE YOU MUST TAKE RE1ISS AND TAKE RE1PLRI (Compulsory)

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: No

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 19 November 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

This module focuses on the adoption of ESG-related considerations for responsible business practices throughout real estate life cycle stages, including urban and architectural design, development, construction, operation, refurbishment, retrofitting and regeneration. 

It provides students with an opportunity to identify and debate academic, policy and practice challenges surrounding sustainability transitions to fairer transformative outcomes for real estate and planning practice. Students will develop a systematic understanding and critical awareness of sustainability and resilience concepts. They will identify and debate the drivers and barriers to policy and practice actions relevant to a range of stakeholders in the built environment, as well as its ethical implications.

The module lead at the University of Reading Malaysia is Dr Ji Hei Lee. 

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Identify and debate how the evolving concepts of sustainability and resilience, their principles of sustainable development goals, and their impact assessment tools, and performance measures relate to fairer transformative outcomes. 
2. Engage in evidence-based debate on the substance, competing motives or standpoints, roles, and relevance of sustainability and resilience strategies, as an area of real estate and planning practice and research. 
3. Explain both the causes of concern behind sustainability and resilience strategies, and the appropriateness of methods and mechanisms put forward to address them in practice. 
4. Describe the significant barriers and challenges related to sustainability transitions for real estate markets and planning practice. 

Module content

• Concepts of sustainability and resilience 
• Global sustainable development goals, policy frameworks and regulation 
• Sustainable Development and risk governance
• Sustainability and Environmental Social Governance (ESG)
• Values, Ethics and Business Responsibility
• Leadership, Reputation and Corruption 

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

The module comprises lectures and practitioner-led seminars, including career management skills and a field trip. The overall objective of the assessment is to provide insights into sustainability and resilience practices, and business responsibility. The coursework consists of group oral assessment and reflective diary. 

For students studying at our campus in Malaysia: This module may be taught in a different semester and the breakdown of study hours may differ to those set out in the Study Hours table (please refer to the Module Handbook for the correct breakdown). In addition, you will be required to complete an additional 40 hours of study, taking the total number of study hours to 240 for this module. This is to comply with the Malaysian Quality Agency (MQA). 

The in-person teaching hours include Career Management Skills (CMS) sessions (14 hours).

Study hours

At least 30 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Each week students will have the opportunity to reflect on the previous week’s session; structured in-class debates will accompany the reflective journal.

Reassessment

Additional costs