copernicus institute sustainable development and innovation environmental assessment and management...

Copernicus InstituteSustainable Development and Innovation

Environmental assessment and management in Dutch Master

programmes

A SWOT analysis

dr. Hens Runhaar

Environmental Studies and PolicyFaculty of Geosciences /

Copernicus Institute for Sustainable Development and InnovationUniversiteit Utrecht


Outline

• Environmental Master programmes in the Netherlands

• After graduation• Environmental assessment in Dutch Master

programmes• Master Sustainable Development at Utrecht

University• A SWOT analysis• Conclusions


Environmental Master programmes in the Netherlands

• VU University Amsterdam – Environment and Resource Management (1 year; natural and social sciences) & Global Environmental Governance (1 year; social sciences)

• Groningen University – Energy and Environmental Sciences (2 years; natural sciences)

• Radboud University Nijmegen – European Spatial and Environmental Planning (1 year; social sciences) & Environmental Sciences (2 years; natural sciences)

• Open University – Environmental Sciences (in Dutch; 1 year; natural sciences)

• Wageningen University – Environmental Sciences (2 years; natural sciences) & Urban Environmental Management (2 years; natural and social sciences)

• Utrecht University – Sustainable Development (2 years)


After graduation

UU-SD graduates:• 91% has a regular job, of which 78% in the

environmental domain• Main employers: consultancy firms and universities;

others include governments, NGOs, companies and educational institutes

• 43% has a function as an advisor, 25% as a researcher, 13% as a project leader or policy maker


After graduation

Environmental labour market:• 109,000 fte jobs, turnover 11.1 billion €• 1.6% total employment, almost 2% GNP• 25% growth between 1995-2007 (in particular

recycling and consultancy)

Data 2007; source: CBS


Figures 2007


Environmental assessment in Dutch Environmental Master programmes

• Nowhere specific modules on EA• However, aspects of EA frequently taught• Particularly in environmental sciences

Masters• In line with findings Gazzola (2008):

“EA is rarely taught as a full postgraduate programme and seldom as a subject in its own right. Normally more than one discipline or specialisation is included in the EA-related degree title”



VUA: module environmental and energy policy tools:• Systems analysis and simulation: use of simulation software; • Spatial analysis and spatial evaluation; use of Geographic

Information Systems; • Scenario Analysis; • Multi criteria analysis; use of evaluation software; • Life cycle analysis; • Valuation and cost-benefit analysis; use of evaluation software



WU: major in environmental systems analysis:• Systems analysis and simulation: use of simulation software; • (Participatory) integrated assessment;• Pollution management;• Environmental modelling;• Integrated cost-benefit analysis of multifunctional land and water

use;• Decision support systems and ecological-economic modelling;• Environmental function analysis and conflict analysis; • The behaviour of large-scale models;• Methods for uncertainty analysis



RU: module Integrated environmental assessment of water systems:

• Working in multidisciplinaty teams• Collect, interpret and integrate data on the structure and functioning of water

systems in order to analyse environmental problems in water management• Assess implications of policy documents and legal instruments (e.g. function

assignment and environmental quality standards) for the design, use and management of water systems

• Apply a selected number of scientific methods and (predictive) models for effect assessment of alternatives or scenarios for management of water systems

• Formulate recommendations for sustainable design, use and management of water systems


Environmental assessment in other higher education programmes

UU: bachelor environmental (social) sciences:• Specific module on EIA• Legal frameworks, analytical tools and assessment

techniques, procedures, specific aspects• Role of EIA in decision-making• Review of EISs• ‘EIA game’

Most SD Master students that previously completedour bachelor programme (20%) have taken this course


EA in a broader perspective: UU Master Sustainable Development

• Mission: “To educate academics who will be able to make a substantial contribution to the transition to a sustainable society through their scientific research and their skills in the area of societal intervention”

• Four ‘tracks’:–Energy and Resources–Land Use, Environment and Biodiversity–Environmental Policy and Management–International Development

• Also as joint degree program with Graz, Venice, Leipzig, Basel and Hiroshima (aim: Erasmus Mundus)


Master SD: general programmePeriod Course Course

1 Sustainability Science

Track Module

2 The Sustainability Challenge A

Track Module

Optional Module

3 Track Module Track Module

Optional Module

4 Track Module Track Module


Master SD: general programmePeriod Course Course

1 The Sustainability Integration

Optional Module

2

Master Thesis Choice: 30 or 45 ECTS

30 ECTS: - extra options - thesis scientific article

3

4


Master SD track EPM

• Key challenge: The scientific analysis of the complex changes accompanying the pursuit of a sustainable society

• Approach: social sciences


Master SD track EPM

Key concepts:• Environmental policy

• Shifts in environmental governance

• Governance by non-governmental actors

• Evaluation research

• Conditions for effective governance


Master SD track EPMYear 1 Course Course

Period 1

Sustainability Science: An Introduction Development Theories

Period 2 Sustainability Challenge A Sustainability Challenge B

Period 3

International Environmental Governance Policy Analysis

Period 4 Research Methodology EPM

Interactive Planning of Sustainability

Year 2 Course Course

Period 1 The Sustainability Integration Elective

Period 2

Master's ThesisPeriod 3

Period 4 Extension Thesis

Publishing your research

Extra optional courses

SD joint course

EPM track course

Elective


EA in SD track EPM

• Sustainability science: environmental modelling

• Policy analysis: – Impact assessment – EA (guest lecture Thomas Fischer)– Role of policy analysis in decision-making

• Various modules: – Environmental decision-making– Role of stakeholders– Role, authority and subjectiveness of knowledge


EA in SD track EPM• Master thesis (four with an internship at NCEA):

–The contribution of SEA to the greening of public decision-making: the relevance of the decision-making context

–Capacity development for EIA in Yemen

–Environmental policy integration and spatial planning: an evaluation of the MILO and LOGO planning tools

–Assessing the impacts and success factors of integrated methods centred on urban environmental quality: Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands

–Guiding Georgia: lessons from 21 years of Dutch EIA experience in waste management

–Promoting environmentally sustainable transport through public participation and SEA. Lessons from Dutch transportation planning for Japan

–Appropriate assessment versus environmental assessment

–EA system development in developing countries


A SWOT analysis

Review accreditation committee (2007):• Programme meets the needs and demands of the

domain of sustainable development• Level is adequate, ambitious• Programme is coherent• Adequate didactical concept• Well embedded in research (Copernicus)• Contacts with labour market can be improved


A SWOT analysis

A sample of UU-SD students:• Did you come across EA during your bachelor or Master

programme?

• Same after your graduation?

• Do you feel you are well-prepared to work with EA (and in the environmental domain in general)?

• What three aspects of your Master programme were most useful?

• What have you missed in your Master programme ?


1. EA during your studies

• During bachelors: EIA, environmental law

• During Masters: environmental modelling, GIS, environmental policy, thesis


2. EA in your current job

• 2 not (yet)

• 4 often (as EIA consultants conducting EAsor advising on EA systems in new EU Member States, or as consultants in spatial plans of which EA is an element)


3. Master prepared you sufficiently for working with EA

• Yes:– Specific EIA courses– Policy analysis methods– (Role of knowledge and the environment in) decision-making– Working in multidisciplinary teams/environments

• No:– Technical aspects of EA– Legal aspects of EA


4. Three key elements in Master SD

• Policy analytical methods and skills• Environmental assessment techniques• (International) governance of environmental issues• Analytical skills, research skills• Communicative skills• Knowledge of environmental themes• Working in multidisciplinary teams


5. What did you miss

• Management and commercial skills• Political sciences• Public administration (SD more general about ‘governance’)• Dutch environmental law• Environmental governance in non-Western countries


Conclusions

• Put EA in a wide perspective– Decision-making and governance– Multidisciplinarity– Role of science in society

• Provide elements that are relevant but not unique to EA

– Environmental modelling– Impact assessment methodology

• They will learn the specifics in practice!


Sources

• www.mastersportal.eu

• www.uu.nl/NL/Informatie/master/susdev

• Gazzola, P. (2008), Trends in education in environmental assessment: a comparative analysis of European EA-related Master programmes, Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal, 26 (2): 148-158.

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Documents

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environmental planning

environmental problems

environmental sciences

sustainable design

sustainable society

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