GEOG 205 Environment and Society
The Complete Study & Assessment Guide · S2 2026GEOG 205 Overview
- University of Auckland
- Semester 2, 2026
- Level 2 course
- 15 point course
- Coursework assessed
GEOG 205 Environment and Society is a Level 2 University of Auckland course about the connected formation of environmental and social worlds.
- Assessed by Five coursework components with published weights totaling 100%.
- Central skill Explain environmental relations through theory, evidence, place and power.
- Final task Notes-free whole-course synthesis in a one-hour lecture session.
- Best preparation Practise causal diagrams, comparative paragraphs and conditional judgements.
How GEOG 205 is assessed
| Component | Weight | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Photo Narrative Essay | 20% | Four original photographs with a 1000-word reflection. Updated Canvas due date: 21 August 2026 at 23:59. |
| 1500-word Essay | 25% | Critical comparison of two peer-reviewed articles within one theoretical framing. Due 21 September 2026 at 23:59. |
| LEGO Map & Reflection | 25% | Group spatial mapping followed by an individual explanation. Due 12 October 2026 at 23:59. |
| Summative Assessment | 20% | One-hour individual exercise without notes or materials in Week 12. Due 20 October 2026 at 15:00. |
| Tutorial Participation | 10% | Participation recorded across the semester. Canvas summary date: 31 October 2026 at 23:59. |
Weights come from the official Semester 2, 2026 course outline. The Photo Narrative Essay date follows the later Canvas update from 17 August to 21 August 2026. The five numeric weights total 100%. The published pass condition is an overall course mark of 50% or more; below 50% does not pass. Tutorial Participation is a 10% component, and the reviewed sources do not state a separate attendance hurdle. Check Canvas for later pass-condition updates.
Current GEOG 205 dates
| Date | Item | Control |
|---|---|---|
| 21 August 2026 at 23:59 | Photo Narrative Essay | Updated date on Canvas. |
| 21 September 2026 at 23:59 | 1500-word Essay | Current Canvas date. |
| 12 October 2026 at 23:59 | LEGO Map & Reflection | Current Canvas date. |
| 20 October 2026 at 15:00 | Summative Assessment | No-notes lecture-session task. |
| 31 October 2026 at 23:59 | Tutorial Participation | Canvas summary date. |
Dates are as published in the Dates follow the Semester 2, 2026 Canvas syllabus summary and current assignment pages. Confirm exact deadlines and submission settings in the live LMS.
What GEOG 205 covers
Move from competing ideas of nature through political ecology, more-than-human relations, Indigenous knowledge, environmental degradation, adaptation and participation, then practise whole-course synthesis for the notes-free summative assessment.
Nature, Society and Socio-Natures
Environmental determinism, possibilism, binaries and relational urban environmentsThis chapter opens the course by questioning the assumption that nature and society are separate domains.
- Environmental determinism and its colonial implications
- Possibilism and the surviving nature-society binary
- Cities and forests as socio-natural systems
- Material processes, institutions and cultural expectations
- Causal verbs for relational analysis
- Photo sequences that establish one argument
Political Economy and Political Ecology
Commodification, unequal trade, power, environmental degradation and multi-scalar explanationPolitical economy studies the relationship between economic and political processes, while political ecology connects ecological change to power, governance, justice and inequality.
- Economic and political processes in environmental change
- Commodification of biophysical entities and information
- Environmental degradation as a production output
- Unequal access to livelihood resources
- Global trade and asymmetric power
- Theory-to-case comparison in the essay
More-Than-Human Geographies
Agency, relationality, multispecies encounters and the decolonial critiqueMore-than-human geography decentres the assumption that only people act while nature remains passive. Agency is treated as the capacity to make a difference within relations among organisms, materials, technologies, institutions and people.
- Agency as capacity within a relation
- Relational outcomes rather than isolated causes
- Human and non-human knowledge and power
- Personification as an analytical error
- Colonial authority within more-than-human theory
- Relational interventions in urban environments
Environmental Degradation and Fisheries
Marine feedbacks, governance, livelihood pressure and environmental justiceThe fisheries case treats environmental degradation as a feedback problem linking extraction, habitat, heat, governance, livelihood pressure and historical power. Declining catch is a symptom, not a complete causal explanation.
- Human-caused environmental degradation
- Fishing pressure and habitat change
- Marine heat as an ecological modifier
- Colonial histories of marine governance
- Livelihood feedbacks and short-term pressure
- Equity in closures, quotas and monitoring
Indigenous Geographies and Ecological Knowledge
Relational ethics, place, authority and adaptive ecological knowledgeIndigenous geographies challenge nature-society binaries through place-based relations, kinship, reciprocity and responsibility.
- Indigenous knowledge as plural and place-specific
- Relational ethics and kinship
- Cumulative and adaptive ecological knowledge
- Colonial suppression and political recognition
- Knowledge extraction versus shared governance
- Authority, consent and self-determination
Coexistence and Climate Adaptation
Vulnerability, wildlife relations, adaptation pathways, equity and displaced harmCoexistence is more than the absence of reported conflict. It is a changing social and ecological condition that includes power, equity and justice.
- Coexistence beyond the absence of conflict
- Ecological and social complexity in wildlife relations
- Climate adaptation in human and natural systems
- Produced vulnerability and unequal capacity
- Asset protection versus relational protection
- Displacement of risk across people and places
Environmental Futures and Colonial Pollution
PFAS pathways, persistence, thresholds, Land relations and responsibilityThe PFAS lecture uses persistent synthetic compounds to connect material properties, diffuse exposure, regulation and colonial relations.
- Persistent and mobile synthetic compounds
- Useful properties and diffuse release pathways
- Contamination, pollution and harm thresholds
- Assimilative capacity as a regulatory model
- Land as relation rather than disposable space
- Long-term responsibility and disproportionate burden
Soil Futures and Invasion Ecologies
Agroecological futures, contested species belonging, pest politics and restorationThe Week 8 schedule joins agroecological soil futures with invasion ecologies and biosecurity.
- Soil futures and agroecological relations
- Colonial introduction and instrumental belonging
- Pest and weed categories as contested judgements
- Scale and context in species effects
- Gorse as threat and nurse canopy
- Restoration goals, evidence and containment
Participation and Environmental Governance
Decision power, representation, facilitation, accountability and collaborative managementParticipation is a voluntary process through which people influence or control decisions that affect them. This definition makes decision power, not attendance, the central measure.
- Participation as influence or control
- Information, consultation, partnership and community control
- Local knowledge and environmental stakes
- Representation within diverse communities
- Facilitation versus manipulation
- Downward accountability after decisions
Communication, Activism and Course Synthesis
Environmental advocacy, causal diagrams, cultural change and notes-free synthesisThe final teaching sequence turns to science communication, arts-based environmental advocacy, climate activism and whole-course review.
- Medium, audience and purpose
- Causal meaning in arrows, scale and boundaries
- Arts-based advocacy and emotional engagement
- Scientific uncertainty and responsible urgency
- Activism as narrative, organisation and institutional pressure
- Notes-free whole-course synthesis
It begins by questioning the familiar division between nature and society, then develops political economy, political ecology and more-than-human geography as ways to explain why environmental conditions emerge.
Place-based cases from Aotearoa New Zealand and beyond connect those lenses to marine degradation, Indigenous geographies, traditional ecological knowledge, human-wildlife coexistence, climate adaptation, persistent pollution, soil futures, invasion ecologies, participation and environmental advocacy. The course is assessed entirely through coursework, so success depends on using theory rather than merely defining it.
Students must build a photo narrative from original images, compare peer-reviewed arguments in a focused essay, spatialise degradation through a collaborative LEGO mapping exercise, participate in tutorials and complete a notes-free whole-course summative task. The strongest work traces a relationship through materials, institutions, knowledge and power, then explains how that diagnosis changes a response.
This guide follows the Semester 2, 2026 teaching sequence and provides original cases, diagram methods and practice answers. It keeps current assessment facts separate from an earlier assessment script: the 2025 script helps reveal a diagram-plus-explanation question type, while the 2026 Canvas page controls the current one-hour, individual and no-materials-permitted conditions.
The published pass condition is an overall course mark of 50% or more; a result below 50% does not pass the course. Tutorial attendance and participation remain part of the 10% Tutorial Participation component rather than a separately stated pass hurdle. Check Canvas for any later change to that condition.
Use the chapter maps to rebuild concepts from memory, then use the worked examples to connect each concept to an environmental decision.
Worked example · free
Turn a flood scene into a socio-natural argument
- 1Reject the binary and name rainfall, drainage and planning as interacting causes.
- 1Trace how wetland removal and hard surfaces changed water storage and runoff.
- 1Identify the planning values and authority that stabilised the engineered system.
- 1Explain how water exceeds that system and redistributes exposure.
- 1Recommend a response that changes both material flow and decision relations.
Key terms
- Socio-nature
- A relationship in which environmental and social processes continually produce one another.
- Political economy
- The study of how economic and political processes shape one another.
- Political ecology
- A framework connecting ecological change with power, governance, justice and inequality.
- Commodification
- The process of making biophysical entities or information exchangeable for profit.
- Relationality
- The idea that capacities and identities emerge through connections rather than isolated entities.
- Agency
- The capacity of a human or non-human participant to make a difference in a relation.
- Relational ethics
- Responsibilities grounded in kinship, reciprocity and ongoing relations with place and beings.
- Ecological knowledge
- Situated, cumulative and adaptive understanding formed through environmental practice and transmission.
- Vulnerability
- The socially and materially produced conditions shaping exposure, sensitivity and capacity to respond.
- Coexistence
- A dynamic condition for living with wildlife that includes ecological complexity, power, equity and justice.
- Assimilative capacity
- A threshold model that treats an environment as able to absorb a limited amount of unwanted matter.
- Participation
- A voluntary process through which people influence or control decisions that affect them.
GEOG 205 FAQ
How is the course assessed?
The course is assessed through five components: 20% Photo Narrative Essay, 25% 1500-word Essay, 25% LEGO Map & Reflection, 20% Summative Assessment and 10% Tutorial Participation. The official syllabus states there is no end-of-semester exam, while the summative task is completed individually without notes or materials in a Week 12 lecture.
Is the course hard?
The sources do not publish difficulty ratings or pass rates. The observable challenge is synthesis across different formats: photographs must support one argument, an essay must compare peer-reviewed theory, a map must show causes spatially and the summative task requires whole-course retrieval without supporting materials. Regular concept-to-case practice reduces that integration load.
What makes a strong photo narrative?
A strong narrative uses four original photographs as stages in one argument about urban socio-natures. Each image should connect to a clear theoretical claim, captions should identify the figure, place and time, and the comparison among images should reveal a relationship that no single photograph could establish. Photography technique itself is not the assessed focus.
How should I structure the theory essay?
Choose one theoretical framing and make the two peer-reviewed articles debate the same environmental problem. Compare their causal assumptions, evidence, treatment of power or knowledge and the solutions each implies. Use further academic literature to define and test the debate. Two separate article summaries do not yet satisfy the critical comparison required by the question.
What should a LEGO map explain?
The map should spatialise two forms of environmental degradation and make their causes legible. Show sources, pathways, affected places, institutions and feedbacks rather than scattering symbols. The individual reflection should explain why the selected relationships matter. The current task page does not publish a detailed topic-specific rubric, so do not invent marks for particular map elements.
What is known about the summative assessment?
The current 2026 page states that it is a one-hour, individually assessed exercise without notes or materials in Week 12, drawing on all lectured course content for a creative discussion of society and environment. A 2025 assessment in the course materials uses a diagram and one-page explanation, but that earlier format should not be presented as the current script.
What is the overall pass condition?
The published pass condition is an overall course mark of 50% or more; an overall result below 50% does not pass. Tutorial Participation is worth 10%, but the reviewed sources do not state a separate attendance hurdle. Check Canvas for any later change to the pass condition.
How do I apply theory rather than name it?
Start with the relation the theory makes visible, trace a mechanism through the case and identify the power, knowledge or material process that stabilises it. Then show how the diagnosis changes a response. A useful paragraph ends with a conditional judgement: what would follow if the mechanism is evidenced, and what evidence could change that conclusion?
Questions students ask in each GEOG 205 chapter
- Why is environmental determinism problematic?
- It treats environmental conditions as fixing social character, exaggerates difference and has historically supported colonial hierarchies. The course asks students to reject that one-way causal story and investigate how material conditions, institutions, culture and power interact. Critiquing determinism does not mean environments are irrelevant; it means their effects are mediated through relations. Chapter 01 · Nature, Society and Socio-Natures
- How do political economy and political ecology differ?
- Political economy focuses on relationships between economic and political processes, including how production requires resources and generates environmental effects. Political ecology retains those questions but places ecological processes, governance, justice and unequal power in the same explanation. Used together, they connect a material chain to who benefits, who bears harm and who can decide. Chapter 02 · Political Economy and Political Ecology
- Does more-than-human agency mean objects have intentions?
- No. Agency refers to the capacity to change a relation, which can arise through material properties, movement or interaction. Intention belongs to particular subjects and should not be assumed. A pipe can channel water and alter risk without wanting to do so. Explain the capacity and effect rather than using human motives. Chapter 03 · More-Than-Human Geographies
- Why is lower catch not a complete explanation?
- Lower catch can reflect biomass decline, changed effort, altered distribution, habitat damage or management rules. It is an indicator requiring interpretation. A complete account traces the ecological mechanism and the institutional conditions that shape harvesting and reporting, then distinguishes a symptom from upstream causes. Chapter 04 · Environmental Degradation and Fisheries
- Why should Indigenous knowledge not be treated as one worldview?
- Indigenous peoples, places and knowledge traditions are diverse. Treating them as one view erases specific histories, authorities and obligations. The course instead describes knowledge as local, contextual and adaptive. Good writing identifies the community and source, then explains the particular relation rather than generalising across all Indigenous worlds. Chapter 05 · Indigenous Geographies and Ecological Knowledge
- Is coexistence simply less wildlife conflict?
- No. Reported incidents can fall because people lose access, stop reporting or absorb new costs. Coexistence requires attention to ecological and social relations, including power, equity and justice. Evaluate who changed behaviour, how wildlife movement changed and whether the arrangement remains acceptable to differently affected groups. Chapter 06 · Coexistence and Climate Adaptation
- Why are persistent chemicals a geographical problem?
- Their material properties allow them to travel through products, waste, water, soil and bodies, crossing property and jurisdictional boundaries. Geography adds questions of scale, pathway, responsibility and uneven exposure. A site reading cannot automatically represent the full relation through which a persistent compound moves. Chapter 07 · Environmental Futures and Colonial Pollution
- Why can a useful species become a pest?
- The species may spread beyond its intended role, threaten a valued land use or enter new ecological relations. At the same time, economic interests and regulation change. Pest status therefore combines behaviour and a social judgement about harm. Historical context explains the shift without denying ecological effects. Chapter 08 · Soil Futures and Invasion Ecologies
- Why is attendance not enough to prove participation?
- People can attend, speak or complete activities without influencing the decision. Evaluate whether they could frame the problem, propose options, share authority and receive reasons after the decision. Attendance is evidence of presence; participation requires a demonstrable pathway from involvement to influence or control. Chapter 09 · Participation and Environmental Governance
- What makes an environmental diagram analytical?
- An analytical diagram has a claim, selected actors and causal verbs on connections. Scale and boundaries are deliberate, and the accompanying explanation follows the arrows. A page of labelled boxes may display memory but does not yet explain how a society-environment relation unfolds or why a response follows. Chapter 10 · Communication, Activism and Course Synthesis
How to prepare for the assessments
Build revision around relationships, not isolated definitions. After each lecture pair, draw a six-node map from memory and label every arrow with a causal verb. Add one question about power, one about knowledge and one about scale. For the Photo Narrative Essay, select photographs by argumentative function and compare them explicitly.
For the 1500-word Essay, use a matrix that records each article's causal unit, treatment of power, evidence and implied response before drafting a thesis. For the LEGO reflection, practise turning pathways and feedbacks into a clear spatial key. Before the Summative Assessment, rehearse original diagram-plus-explanation tasks under timed, no-materials conditions, but keep the 2025 assessment separate from current conditions.
Retrieval should focus on a small set of flexible lenses: socio-nature, political ecology, relationality, Indigenous knowledge, vulnerability, participation and environmental justice. In every answer, move from theory to mechanism, from mechanism to evidence and from evidence to a response whose scale and distribution you can defend. Confirm any late assessment instructions on Canvas.