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F O R AN ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE FUTURE ', as the World Commis;ion on Environment and levelopment predicts, the world population of 5.4 iillion people doubles md economic output inaeases four- to F-.-c-'.' ;the next 40-50 years, I meeting human needs will q u i r e a major shift in the relationship of humans to the natural environment. Currently, 20% , of the population con- , sumes 80% of the world's I resources. By the time population growth stabilizes in the next century, a five- to sevenfold increase in consumption of enarev and eoods will be nee&d just-to raise the consumption level in the developing world to that i n the industrialized Clearly ecosystems as we know them cannot be maintained, nor will health or quality of life for the majority of humans improve.
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Developing human resources A major shift in the relationship of humans to the environment will
1108 Envimn. Sci. Technol.. Vol. 26, NO. 6, 1992
require a long-term societal ettort in environmental education. Society will need a continuing supply ofenvironmantal and population specialists to deal with population issues: to understand how human and economic values and activities depend on, are affected by, and affect the natural environment: and to
develop strategies, policies, and technologies to keep the environment clean, productive, and biologically diverse. Because virtually every human activity affects the environment, we A -, neveral kinds of well-trained interdisciplinary environmental professionals. Demographers are needed to understand the trends in population growth and to develop the strategies to stabilize the population at levels that are environmentally and economically sustainable. Attorneys a n d policy specialists are needed to develop government and industry policy and laws to protect the environment. scientists are needed to understand the natural world, the effects of human activity on the environment, the fate and transport of pollutants in the environment. and the efficacy of environmental improvement sbategies. Health specialists should help understand the effects of pollution on human health and advise
Wl3-9MWs~0926-llo8$m.w/O Q 1992 American Chemical Society
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policy makers, patients, and the public on strategies to reduce health hazards. Engineers are needed to develop technologies and products that will minimize the generation of pollution and waste and consumption of resources, as well as control pollution and waste and restore contaminated environments. Economists are needed to evaluate the costs to society of pollution and resource destruction and of strategies to prevent or reverse pollution and resource destruction, as well as to assist in the allocation of resources needed for environmental improvement. Geographers and planners are needed to develop socially, culturally, politically, and economically appropriate solutions to regional, U.S., and worldwide environmental problems. Current human resource availability and training. These environmental professionals must be prepared to help lead society toward environmental sustainability. Unfortunately, there is a great shortage of such professionals. It has been estimated that 100,000 environmental professionals will be needed in the United States alone to deal with hazardous waste problems by 1995. Internationally, there is a critical shortage of all types of environmental professionals, particularly in the developing countries of Eastern Europe and the Russian republics. The governmental infrastructures of most developing countries cannot cope with existing environmental problems, let alone plan for and deal with critically needed economic expansion. Moreover, working professionals need continuing education and training programs to keep up with the complexity of environmental problems and the technologies and strategies to reduce environmental risk, The current education of most environmental professionals is incomplete. Most are trained to deal with a subset of environmental problems, such as air pollution, water pollution, or hazardous waste, but not with environmental issues i n an integrated, comprehensive fashion. This exacerbates intermedia environmental problems that have emerged in the past two decades. For example, until 1980, pits, ponds, and lagoons were used for industrial waste disposal to prevent surface water pollution, with little regard for the serious groundwater pollution that resulted. Many recently recognized environmental problems such as indoor 1110 Environ. Sci. Technol., Vol. 26, No. 6, 1992
air pollution, wetlands protection, global climate change, stratospheric ozone depletion, deforestation, and loss of biodiversity are not systematically included in most academic degree programs for environmental professionals. Pollution specialists are rarely trained i n natural resources management, conservation, or preservation of biodiversity. Classes about public policy strategies for moving society toward environmentally responsible action are usually about government-mandated “command and control” regulation. However, the diverse and diffuse nature of human activities that are transforming the environment clearly requires that society use every possible tool to change the behavior of individuals and institutions. As articulated by the EPA Science Advisory Board in its recent report “Reducing Risk,” these tools should include market incentives, technology transfer, technical assistance, research and development; the provision of information to government, industry, and the public; and education and training (2). Finally, the current education and training programs stress controlling, remediating, or cleaning up environmental problems. We must change our philosophy to anticipating and preventing pollution and to maintaining the productivity of biologically diverse ecosystems as the strategy of choice. This new thrust is espoused by EPA Administrator William Reilly, the EPA Science Advisory Board, and the UN Commission on Environment and Development. Economic development and industrial, transportation, and agricultural strategies that reduce the consumption of resources, the use of toxic substances, and the production of wastes as well as preserve the productivity of ecosystems are essential if we are to meet the basic needs of current and future generations. Such strategies involve changing products and industrial processes; substituting less toxic materials and less polluting fuels; increasing energy, water, and materials efficiency; conserving natural resources (e.g., sustainable use of renewable energy and natural resources); reusing and recycling “waste” products; and maintaining natural parks and biological preserves. Pollution prevention and environmental sustainability are not central themes of most professional environmental education programs.
A recent survey by EPA’s National Advisory Council on Environmental Policy and Technology (NACEPT) found that only 10-15 of the nation’s nearly 400 engineering schools have significant coursework in pollution prevention ( 3 ) . Where it is taught, it is often one strategy of environmental management in a special course. Professionals, workers i n a l l fields, and the public don’t fully understand how their actions depend on and affect the quality of the environment and public health. Environmental education is not a central part of the mission of schools from kindergartens through universities and professional schools. Current education at all levels is based on developing knowledge and skills in specific disciplines. Understanding the natural environment and how human activities depend on and affect it are absent from the regular curriculum. This is due to an emphasis in part on developing the analytical and critical thinking skills that come from studying specific subjects and in part on developing the specialized knowledge necessary for the job market. Higher education Because colleges, universities, and professional schools educate most of the people who develop and manage society’s institutions as well as the teachers who educate children, they bear profound responsibilities to increase the awareness, knowledge, technologies, and tools to create an environmentally sustainable future. Universities have the expertise necessary to develop the intellectual and conceptual framework to achieve this goal, and must play a strong role in education, research, policy development, information exchange, and community outreach. Because colleges, universities, and professional schools have been organized into traditional disciplines ( e.g., biology, economics), it is often difficult to convene the necessary skills for the teaching and research on complex environmental issues. For example, earth science is approached as if the world were a collection of separate biological and physical systems instead of a fully integrated life system. Tenure and promotion of faculty and curriculum and degree requirements are largely controlled by disciplinary faculty in different schools of study. Administrators (presidents and deans) often have a broad perspec-
tive on global problems but have a limited say in academic direction. Quality scholarship is often synonymous with originality in a single discipline. For these reasons, academic programs to produce environmental specialists and to perform needed research usually are started and sustained with external funding (“soft” money). Because s u c h programs are multidisciplinary they are often considered academically less rigorous and inferior to traditional academic programs, and as “temporary” or “faddish” programs. In addition to these institutional factors, predominant societal beliefs contribute to the absence of environmental education as a central part of education at all levels. Most of us in the Western, industrialized world believe that the natural environment exists primarily for human use; that natural resources are free and inexhaustible; that the natural environment will adapt to and assimilate any changes and byproducts caused by humans; that technology can solve all environmental problems without any inconvenience; and that each person’s daily activities have a local and insignificant impact on the environment and other humans. This is reflected in the current status of environmental education in schools of management and business. It is estimated by the Management Institute of Environment and Business that about 25 of the 700 such schools in the United States have a course on business a n d the environment, and none requires the course for graduation (Matthew Arnold, personal communication, Management Institute of Environment and Business, Washington, DC, 1992). Future environmental education We need a concerted national and international strategy to ensure that there is an adequate and continuing supply of holistically trained environmental professionals. They must learn all the tools available to encourage environmentally sustainable action by individuals and institutions, not just government regulation. Although this strategy is necessary it is not sufficient. Because all members of society consume resources and produce pollution and waste, it is essential that all of us understand the importance of the environment to our existence and quality of life and that we have the knowledge, tools, and sense of re-
sponsibility to carry out our daily lives and professions in ways that minimize our impact on the environment. That is, we need an environmentally literate and responsible citizenry. Especially important for the education of professionals in business, engineering, science, medicine, architecture, economics, government, demography, and law is the integra-
In the end we will consewe onlg whut we love, we will love only what we understand, and we will onlg what we are taught.
99 --Baba Dioum, Senegalese
conservationist tion of environmental education at all levels. With such knowledge and understanding, these professionals will help industry and government more efficiently use natural resources and energy and reduce adverse impacts of their activities on society. Business and industry will be more competitive and community and government relations will improve. What would it mean for profes-
sionals to be environmentally literate and responsible? A focus on two professions-business management and engineering-provides some insight. Environmental degradation and pollution are among the most important concerns for business, industry, and government. Depletion and destruction of natural resources will constrain short- and long-term economic growth. Laws, taxes, and legal and financial liability for environmental damage and restoration will increasingly limit business decisions. Investors and consumers are demanding environmentally responsible economic products and activities. Pollution control and waste management costs are rising rapidly. Citizen opposition to industrial activities and waste management facilities is rapidly accelerating and may affect the ability of industry to operate in many locations. Moreover, job seekers (particularly graduating students) are increasingly questioning the environmental record and stewardship commitment of potential employers. The ability of the productive sector to remain competitive will increasingly depend on its response to environmental issues. Because most major business decisions affect the environment, engineering and business school students should be taught how the following affect environmental quality and human health: products sold and services rendered, production facility design and location, choice of technology and process for production of materials, management of unwanted byproducts such as pollution and wastes, mergers and acquisitions of businesses, real estate transactions, and investments. They should also be taught what the private sector’s legal and financial liability is for the pollution and waste, how governmental and judicial regulation will affect their business, and what they can do to reduce compliance costs. The value of business decisions, technologies, products, and services that encourage use of less energy and resources and less pollution and waste must be part of their education. Because the effects of pollution, waste, and depletion of natural resources on people and the environment are not part of conventional pricing of goods and services, business and engineering students must be taught the economic principles that properly account for these efEnviron. Sci. Technol., Vol. 26,No. 6,1992 1111
fects in the short and long term and how current methods of short-term economic analysis mitigate against environmental protection. Business school students should also be taught organizational strategies for management of environmental issues within corporations. Future business leaders should understand h o w consumer and investor pressure for environmentally responsible products, services, and manuf a c t u r i n g w i l l affect business competitiveness. And they should be taught the social responsibility of minimizing environmental impacts throughout the entire production cycle-from the extraction of resources through production, use, and final disposal. This will lead to more efficient ways of producing goods and services while preserving the natural bases upon which the entire production cycle depends.
The T a l l o h declaration How do we make environmental education M integral part of the nation's and the world's education? In October 1990, Tufts University president Jean Mayer convened 22 university presidents from 13 countries at the Tufts European Center in Talloires, France, to discuss the role of universities and, in particular, the role of university presidents in working toward an environmentally sustainable future. Assisted by internationally respected environmental leaders, the presidents discussed the role of universities in education, research, policy formulation, and information exchange in managing human impact on the environment. Because the majority of the presidents were from developing countries, concerns about population, resome depletion, poverty, and the need for substantial assistance from industrialized countries received equal attention with local, regional, and global pollution problems. M a n y o f the observations about the nature and structure of higher education brought up earlier were also discussed. The conference resulted in a declaration of actions to be taken by participants to make environmental education and research a central goal o f universities around the world ( 4 ) (see box). Since that time, 125 university presidents from 32 countries have signed the declaration. In addition, the Conference of European Rectors (representing 490 university heads) has endorsed the declaration's principles, which are also referenced in the preparatory 1112 Envimn. Sd. Technol., Vol. 26. No. B.lQQ.2
universily presiaenw mvironmentai Action Agreement The Tallolret3 Wlaratlon (excerpt) University heads must provide the leadership and support to mobilize int nal and external resources so that their institutions respond to this urgl challenge. We, therefore, agree to take the following actions: 1. Use every opportunity to raise public, government, industry, foundatil and university awareness by publicly addressing the urgent need move toward an environmentally sustainable future. 2. Encourage all Universities to engage in education, research, policy fi mation, and information exchange on population, environment, and c velopment to move toward a sustainable future. 3. Establish programs to produce expertise in environmental manac ment, sustainable economic development, Dooulation. and related fiei to ensure that all university graduates areenvironmentally literate a responsible citizens. 4. Create programs to develop the capability of university faculty to tea environmental literacy to all undergraduate, graduate, and Drofessioi school students. 5. Set an example of environmental responsibility by establishing pi grams of resource consewation. recycling, and waste reduction at t universities. 6. Encourage the involvement of government (at all levels). foundatioi and industry in supporting university research, education, policy form lion, and information exchange in environmentally sustainable develo ment. Expand work with nongovernmental organizations to assist finding solutions to environmental problems. 7. Convene school deans and environmental practitioners to develop r search, policy, information exchange programs, and curricula for an e vironmentally sustainable future. 8. Establish partnerships with primary and secondary schools to help d velop the capability of their faculty to leach a b u t population, enviro ment, and sustainable development issues. 9. Work with the U.N. Conference on Environment and Development, t U.N. Environment Programme, and other national and international c ganizations to promote a worldwide university effort toward a sustai able future. 10. Establish a steering committee and a secretariat to continue this m mentum and inform and support each other's efforts in carrying out tt declaration. Jean Mayer Tufts University, U.S.A. Pablo Arce 'Jniversidad Autdnoma de Centro America, Costa L. Ayo Banjo University of lbadan, Nigeria Boonrcd Binson Chulalongkorn University, Thailand Robert W. Charlton University of Witwatersrand, Union of South Africa :onstantine W. Curris Jniversity of Northern lowa, U.S.A. Michele Gendreau-Massaloux I'Acad6mie de Paris, France Adamu Nayaya Mohammed Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria
Mat6 Groso, Brazil
Mario Ojeda G6mez Colegio de Mexico, Mexico
Calvin H. Plimpton American University of 6eiwt, Lebanon Wesley Posvar UniVersifYof PimWh, U.S.A. T. Navaneeth Rao &mania University, lndia Moonis Raza Univemity of New Delhi. lndia D, Sarkisov
D. 1. Mendeleev institute of Chemical Technobgy, . . C.I.S. Stuart Saunders University of Cape Town, Union Of Africa Akilagpa Sa university o X L , Ghana Carlos Vogt Univmidade Estadual de Campinas, Brazil U.S.A.
Xide Xie Fudan University, People's Republic of China
documents for the UN Conference on Environment and Development to be held in Rio de Janeiro in June. The Tufts initiative Tufts has made a major commitment to ensuring that all students graduating from the schools of engineering, liberal arts, medicine, veterinary medicine, nutrition, and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy are environmentally literate and responsible citizens. This is being done through the Tufts Environmental Literacy Institute (TELI), which trains faculty in a wide variety of disciplines to incorporate environmental issues and perspectives in their teaching specialties. Established in 1990 with support from the Allied Signal Foundation and later with additional support from Union Carbide and EPA, TELI conducts two-week intensive workshops each spring on environmental science, engineering, policy, and management for faculty from a variety of disciplines. The program is conducted by environmental specialists from academia, government, industry, and environmental groups. With modest financial and technical support, faculty work during the summer on revising their regular curriculum to integrate environmental issues and perspectives. Revised curricula are reviewed by other faculty and, after evaluation, are made available to other universities as part of a strategy to extend the reach of TELI programs. TELI results have been very encouraging. In its first year, 25 Tufts faculty members incorporated the teaching of environmental issues into mechanical engineering, economics, history, international diplomacy, drama, sociology, and chemistry courses. In 1991, 45 faculty members from Tufts and 1 0 other universities, including universities in Brazil and Canada, participated in the program. A member of the Supreme Soviet, a Korean development economist, an Indian university president, and a Brazili a n university faculty member joined Tufts environmental specialists in conducting the program. As a result, between 5000 and 8000 students have been or will be exposed to environmental issues and perspectives i n nonenvironmental courses in 1991 and 1992. For example, an engineering professor has redesigned a freshman course in engineering design with an annual enrollment of 200. Using
the university itself as a case study, students identified ways to reduce the use of fuel, electricity, water, and solid materials as well as the production of pollution and wastes in three major Tufts buildings. An economics professor developed an environmental economics and policy course which involved a major project in cost-benefit and life cycle cost analysis of products used by Tufts dining services, water conservation, fertilizer use, transportation, and composting. A Spanish professor has revised all six courses required for a major in Spanish to include environmental readings from Spain and Latin America and to make environmental issues and controversies the subject of paper topics and debates. Two civil engineering professors have modified their courses in geotechnology, soil mechanics, and foundation engineering to use environmental problems such as landfills, sludge disposal, waste containment, a n d cleanup along with more traditional examples such as dam building. A direct result is a new M.S. degree in environmental geotechnology. A drama professor is using environmental themes as the content for many in-class exercises and homework assignments in two acting courses (e.g., personal storytelling, scenes from existing plays, and selected readings about the environment). Our long-term goal is to have TELI s e r v e f a c u l t y from h i g h schools .and other universities in the northeastern United States and universities in developing countries. The strategy for the latter is to develop the capability of universities to establish their own TELI unique to their culture but connected with Tufts. We are planning to conduct a training program for faculty from the Universities of SBo Paolo, Mato Grosso, and Brasilia in Brazil in the spring of 1993. By developing the capability of 500 faculty members from Tufts and other universities over the next five years, 75,000 to 100,000 students will receive broad, continuing exposure to environmental issues in the context of their regular disciplinary studies. TELI programs are complemented by another new initiative, Tufts CLEAN! (Cooperation, Learning, a n d Environmental Awareness Now!), a demonstration program initiated with EPA funding in 1990 to reduce the local, regional, and global environmental impacts of Tufts’ activities on its three cam-
puses. Tufts CLEAN! is engaging students, faculty, staff, and administration in pollution prevention strategies that we hope will be an example for other universities, nonprofit organizations, and industry. By practicing what it preaches, the university can both engage the students in understanding the “institutional metabolism” of materials and activities and have them participate in minimizing their environmental effect on the Tufts and larger communities. Tufts CLEAN! is also making it possible for faculty and students to try out new ideas and skills developed through TELI programs, and recycling and energy conservation have been expanded. Encouraging global education In view of the rapid environmental changes occurring around the world, how can we promote the education necessary to move us toward environmental sustainability? Development assistance. Because more than 90% of the world’s population growth and much of the economic growth expected in the next 40 years will be in developing countries, it is important that environmental education be made a priority. Industrialized countries should provide financial and technical assistance to developing countries to catalyze environmental education. A percentage of development assistance should be set aside for environmental education and training so that economies can develop in an environmentally sound manner. This policy should be applied to bilateral as well as multilateral financial assistance agents such as the World Bank. The financial a n d technical assistance should be applied to short-term training of professionals in government and industry a n d to development of university environmental specialist training programs. Faculty and curriculum development. Developing countries must add new faculty and retrain existing faculty in colleges and universities so that they can teach environmental specialists and perform the research necessary to put us on an environmentally sustainable path. It will also require a significant increase in funding for research on environmental science and environmentally friendly technologies and policies-because funding drives the research and education at most research-oriented universities. Faculty development programs must also be targeted toward the general Environ. Sci. Technol., Vol. 26, No. 6,1992 1113
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faculty in primary and secondary schools as well as in higher education. Programs such as the one being tried at Tufts can reach many students quickly. For example, for a modest investment-$250 million a year-100 regional centers for high school and college faculty and curriculum development worldwide could train 50,000 teachers who would, in turn, educate 1-2 million students per year. In addition, each center could train approximately a thousand practicing professionals per year. Creating the demand. Students, parents of students, alumni, prospective employers, and organizations that fund research and education (government, industry, a n d foundations) are all consumers, clients, or supporters of higher education’s services. Collectively they have the greatest potential to encourage innovation in environmental education. To date, these stakeholders have exerted modest influence on higher education for environmental education and little influence for pollution prevention education; they must accelerate their request for environmental education a n d research. There is a growing student demand at colleges and universities everywhere for environmental education and for the institutions to reduce the environmental impact of their own operations. This “greening” of campuses must be encouraged. Because research often drives the interest and teaching of university faculty, government, which provides more than 90% of the funding for research, must make a larger portion of its research budget [more than $15 billion in basic research in the United States annually) available for environmentally s o u n d technology, science, and policy development. For example, EPA support to universities for exploratory environmental research is about $50 million annually. EPA a n d other federal agencies need to expand their funding of both environmental education and research. Finally, prospective employers (e.g., government a n d industry) must begin to communicate with educators directly and through hiring practices about the need for environmental specialists and environmentally literate and responsible graduates in all fields.
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In conclusion All of these actions are necessary to produce the workforce that can
lead us on an environmentally sustainable path. EPA should expand its support of environmental education and lead an intergovernmental and intersectoral effort to develop a long-term societal strategy for environmental education. It is impossible to take environmentally responsible action unless we are motivated and have the knowledge and tools to do so. As the Senegalese conservationist Baba Dioum recently said, “In the end we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we understand, and we will understand only what we are taught.” This article was adapted from a n article i n t h e Sept.-Oct. 1991 issue of EPA
Journal.
References Our Common Future; Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development of the United Nations; United Nations: New York, 1987. “Reducing Risk: Setting Priorities And Strategies for Environmental Protection”; U S . Environmental Protection Agency, Science Advisory Board; U S . Government Printing Office: Washington, DC, September 1990, pp. 15, 21; SAB-EC-90-021. Allen, D. “Survey of Pollution Prevention Education in US Engineering Schools”; Report of the Pollution Prevention Focus Group, Pollution Prevention Education and Training Comm i t t e e , EPA N a t i o n a l A d v i s o r y Council for Environmental Policy and Technology; U.S. Government Printing Office: Washington, DC, in press. “The Role of Universities and University Presidents i n Environmental Management and Sustainable Development”; Report and declaration of the Presidents Conference at the Tufts University European Center, Talloires, France, October 4-7, 1990; Tufts University: Medford, MA, 1990.
Anthony D. Cortese is dean of environmental programs at Tufts University and i s a member of the EPA Science A d visory Board. He was founding director of the center for Environmental Managem e n t at Tufts and former commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Quality Engineering. He has an M.S. degree in environmental engineering from Tufts and an Sc.D. from the Harvard School of Public Health.
