Integrating Scientific Knowledge for Professional Education in Environmental Management

A major challenge in developing programmes for professional education in environmental management is presented by the need to determine how the vast amount of scientific and professional knowledge required for effective environmental management can be efficiently transmitted to prospective or practising ‘environmental coordinators' in the private and public sectors of society. This paper describes the work conducted at M.I.T., in collaboration with C.E.I., to provide a conceptual and substantive base for such programmes. The conceptual framework is based on a simplified model of the decision-making steps in environmental management processes. Such a model can be used for isolating certain types of decisions and roles in different social, cultural, administrative, or political, contexts. When once this has been done, the responsibilities and the educational needs of specific classes of ‘environmental managers' can be identified through studies and interviews. The substantive base for new educational programmes requires the development of outlines and the identification of reference material for the major bodies of knowledge that comprise the ‘field' of environmental management. This paper briefly describes the major subject-areas treated in this study: values and perceptions, ecology, environmental effects, environmental indicators, environmental impact assessment methodology, modelling, monitoring, growth and its implications for the future, economics of externalities, environmental law, and administrative processes. The approach and materials described in this paper are now being used at C.E.I, in the development of educational programmes for practising professionals, and at M.I.T. for graduate and undergraduate students in a variety of disciplines. Thus far, these efforts have been well received and have provided additional information with which to continue designing additional programme

Determination of the Priorities of ‘Actors' in the Framework of Environmental Management

One major source of uncertainty in industrial planning is due to the conflicting uses of environmental components by the proponent of an action and the various ‘actors' who share the proponent's environment. These actors may be government agencies, health authorities, conservancy organizations, or individual citizens. As they all share the environment with the proponent of the action, there should also be a sharing of the decision-making process. Difficulties of identifying potential actors at the non-governmental level can be reduced by undertaking a rigorous analysis of the environmental components, of the uses which they serve, of the way in which the uses may be impaired by proposed activities, and hence of which users are most likely to be concerned. The result of such an approach, which constitutes a new style of management ‘from the outside-in' rather than ‘from the inside-out', is that industry must involve itself in a broader-based and more imaginative planning process than hitherto. Failure by industry to do this will result in either a progressive erosion of the freedom of decision-making (by increased government interference) or in progressive blocking of industry's plans and consequently a reduction in its ability to achieve its corporate objectives of profit-growth-security in the face of conflict over its operations, its siting proposals, and its products. Suitable realization by managements of the interdependence of their actions with those of others should lead to the addition of a truly environmental dimension to their traditional function—even without the governmental intervention and pressure-group counteractivity which have become increasingly evident with the growth of the environmental movement in recent year

Managing the Risks of Carbon Sequestration: Liability Concerns and Alternatives

Business managers involved in the production of greenhouse gases have several critical concerns. In parallel with efforts to improve performance, reduce deployment schedules, and increase cost-effectiveness, those responsible for carbon sequestration solutions must address their responsibility for long-term liability. Existing regulations for subsurface storage of petroleum and natural gases provides some guidance for carbon dioxide (CO2) storage projects. Also, collective industry experience both on similar projects and on incipient sequestration efforts can give us guidance on the range of procedures that need to be managed. However, at present we lack a comprehensive regulatory framework to enable the effective management of long-term sequestration project operations