An Introduction to the Management of Environmental Resources
This sections aims to get students to start looking at how we should manage our environment and resources. It is a more general topic helping students to think about legal concepts and particularly about property. It may be particularly helpful before diving into some of other topics like climate change and the law. Start …
The Environment & Resource Management
In 1968, an environmental scientist named Garret Hardin, wrote an essay called “The Tragedy of the Commons”- which sparked a decades long discussion about the environment and our property rights. This was a discussion of an economic theory that contemplated the use and/or overuse of what is otherwise known as common or public property. Specifically, …
The Tragedy of the Commons
One way to understand the theory of the Tragedy of the Commons is to think about the ocean. The ocean covers more than 70% of the Earth’s surface. [1] It touches all of the continents and dozens of countries, which means that it is not, and cannot, be entirely controlled by anyone. On the other …
How should we manage our environmental resources?
In Alberta, we strive to prevent the outcome espoused in the tragedy of the commons in two main ways: the first is through government intervention and the second is through private property rights. The following section will take a closer look at both and will highlight a third way that, while less common, may help …
Section Review
Now that you have finished this section on Managing our Environmental Resources, you should be comfortable: Defining the theory known as the Tragedy of the Commons and describing an example of how a Tragedy of the Commons problem may occur Identifying some of the ways that we have attempted to better manage our resources Defining …
Managing our Environmental Resources: A modern take on the Tragedy of the Commons
- An Introduction to the Management of Environmental Resources
- The Environment & Resource Management
- The Tragedy of the Commons
- How should we manage our environmental resources?
- Section Review
Curriculum Connections
Newsletter
Join our new Alberta Environmental Laws 101 Facebook group to ask questions, participate in discussions and keep up to date on environmental news. Please share this widely so that the high school teachers and students in your circles hear about this great new resource for supplemental online learning. Alberta Environmental Laws 101 Facebook Group
