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NSW Curriculum
NSW Education Standards Authority

11–12Geography 11–12 Syllabus

Record of changes
Implementation from 2024
Expand for detailed implementation advice

Content

Year 12

Global sustainability
Sustainability in the contemporary world
  • Sustainability and sustainable development, including pillars of sustainability – social, economic, environmental and cultural

  • Principles of ecologically sustainable development – precautionary principle, intergenerational equity, conservation of biological diversity and ecological integrity

  • Opportunities and challenges in planning for and achieving global sustainability

    Including:
    • the role of global forums, agreements and cooperation
    • levels of action at a range of scales, from the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to practices in local communities, including actions by governments, intergovernmental organisations (IGOs), non-government organisations (NGOs), corporations, community organisations and individuals
    • Indigenous Peoples’ practices and benefit sharing 
    • political, economic, technological, social, cultural and environmental influences
Evaluating sustainability
  • The reasons for evaluating and monitoring global sustainability

  • A range of criteria for evaluating the sustainability of economic activities

Investigation of a global economic activity

Students study ONE global economic activity, for example:

  • agriculture
  • energy production
  • fishing
  • forestry
  • manufacturing
  • mining
  • tourism.

For the global economic activity studied, students:

  • evaluate the sustainability of the activity, using one or more criteria
  • examine a range of strategies for sustainability
  • critically analyse ONE strategy.

Students investigate:

  • The nature and spatial patterns of the global economic activity

  • Influences on the global economic activity

    Including:
    • biophysical
    • economic
    • technological
    • political/organisational
  • Current trends and future directions

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