Halatoa Fua, Tekura Moeka’a, Matthew Rima, and Terena Koteka-Wiki, have been accepted to complete a Postgraduate Certificate in Environmental Management and Sustainability with the University of Newcastle, Australia. These four staff are the second NES cohort to undertake this programme in 2024, following three NES staff enrolled in 2023.
The University of Newcastle (UoN) has many accolades and is a renowned institution for sustainability studies. UoN is one of the Top 200 Universities in the world, Top 5 in the world for partnering for a sustainable future and the number #1 University in Australia for indigenous enrolments and industry collaboration.
The investment by NES is to strengthen the team’s technical capacity, ensuring they are equipped with the right skills to take on complex projects in coastal development, marine ecosystems, biodiversity and environment management. Improving capacity and staff capabilities within NES is critical to ensure the organisation meets its mandate and role to manage the environment effectively.
The Postgraduate Certificate in Environmental Management and Sustainability is made up of 40 units. Each course is worth 10 units and there are two compulsory courses; Sustainability and Ecosystem Health and Environmental Management. The other two courses can be chosen from two course lists that include Environmental Legislation & Policy, Impact Assessment and Climate Change Policy, Organisational Behaviour and Design, Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, Marine Ecology and Management, Environmental Justice, Biodiversity, Conservation Science and Management, Applied Natural Resource Management, and other courses here.
Each staff is expected to allocate a minimum of ten hours per week to study the online course materials. The program is part of the University of Newcastle’s distant education platform which is all conducted online, including group presentations and discussion forums.
