Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
(Tanaka
2014
) project of the Graduate School of Environmental Sciences
(GSES
2014
) was outlined in Chap. 1 and has been designed to be flexible and allow
students who are conducting research across a wide range of different disciplines
(science, engineering and humanities) to participate in the same program. The ELTP
comprises lectures to provide knowledge of sustainability and specific environmen-
tal problems and solutions, active learning to encourage personal skills development,
fieldwork for practical experience and internships to provide intensive training op-
portunities- all built on the foundation of the student's basic scientific or engineering
research. The ELTP was introduced in 2011 and over 110 students have already com-
pleted the various types of courses (Basic, Regular, Masters and Doctorate courses).
The ELTP teaching curriculum was shown in Table 1.3 and allows students to
access teaching on international aspects, sustainability and environmental prob-
lems, problem solution identification and in leadership training. Features of Tohoku
University ELP are that we have a foundation of global environmental issues, the
energy/resources/water. One course, as outlined in Chap. 1, is a series of lectures
related to strategy for energy and resources, and is provided by professors in the
GSES on various aspects of energy and resources in their own research fields. In
this chapter, I set out some general background considerations which are provided
to course students to help them put each of the specialised lectures into the broader
framework of sustainability's multiple dimensions. I also hope this can be a useful
background to readers of this topic.
2.2
Background Issues
2.2.1
Environmental Issues
The ELTP is motivated by our wish to help solve key global environmental prob-
lems. First of all, we must consider what are these problems? The following can be
listed:
• Global warming.
• Deforestation.
• Depletion of the ozone layer (both North and South Poles).
• Acid rain (now including ocean acidification).
• Desertification.
• Artificial hazardous chemicals (also including diffusion and trans-border move-
ments of hazardous chemicals and wastes).
• Exposure of the public to pollution in developing countries.
• Decreases in biodiversity.
• Marine pollution.
• Two historically local forms of pollution (referred in Japan to as KOGAI because
of their effects on the public) have also spread to become important global envi-
ronmental issues; air pollution, and water pollution/shortage.
• Increase in quantity and complexity of waste from human society.
