Instructions for Report
2000 words

Investigation into the use of science by an environmental advocacy body

TOPIC: Choose one organisation (from the list below) that has made a significant contribution to debate on the issue of climate change and critically assess the connection between its values and interests, its advocacy positions and its use of science. To what extent do you support its views and why?
Make sure you draw on the appropriate academic literature, including unit readings, follow essay style writing, use consistent and clear formatting, have a coherent structure for your argument and follow proper academic referencing, including in-text referencing and a bibliography at the end.
Please submit your assignment as an electronic copy, through Turnitin.

List of organisations to choose from:

Beyond Zero Emissions http://bze.org.au/
350.org http://350.org/
Idle No More http://www.idlenomore.ca/
Greenpeace Australia Pacific http://www.greenpeace.org/australia/en/

More instruction very important !!
highlight and discuss the role of science and scientific data / research in the organisation and the issue
The first thing I suggest is opening all or most of the websites provided as suggested organisations. There are some clear similarities in the content, but also differences. This is because the organisations have different target audiences (some address government policy makers, others their own members, some the public), different levels of funding, different goals and aims, and divergent political outlooks.
This is a good starting point to think about why the one you pick does the things it does, looks the way it does, says the things it says, pursues the campaign tactics it does etc. The essence of your report is your own explanation of why the organisation does what it does, how it does it. Your critical assessment needs to be based on academic ideas from the course and your own research. But it is your own argument, your own assessment, not something that you can find out from the organisation’s website or from readings.
In terms of the structure of the essay, it’s probably a good idea to start by clearly establishing where the organisation is coming from and who it represents and what it does, before going on to critically evaluate how its methods and use of science flow from these.
But the body of the essay should be the critical assessment, not a description of the organisation.
Use as many headings as you need to make the essay readable and clear, but you could visualise the whole structure into something like:
1. What is the organisation?
Which might cover – who are the members? Who funds it? What is its political outlook? How big is it? How well funded is it? What are its driving values (this requires a little more thought and analysis), how much does the organisation rely on science to make its case for climate action? Is its campaigning more directed to governments, to shifting public opinion, or to changing corporate practices?
2. Why the work of the organisation flows from the answers to 1.
If you open the websites of the different organisations you will start to pick up the differences between them (and the similarities). Sociological analysis can explain why this is. You need to apply the readings in the course and your own research to making a CASE, or an ARGUMENT about why the organisation does what it does.
– If the organisation relies heavily on scientific data, you can explain the weight of scientific discourse. If the organisation is proposing marketisation of the climate (carbon pricing etc) you can use the analysis about REDD discussed in the Week XX readings. If the organisation promotes Indigenous land management practices, you can use the readings from week XX.
(the readings could be found in another attachment)