Environmental engineering education in Germany

The paper describes Environmental Engineering education in Germany. The dual system of engineering education is outlined having scientific-oriented programmes at university level and application-oriented programmes at ‘school of engineers’ level. The historical development of Environmental Engineering and its main topics are described as well as its common integration in the study programme of Civil Engineering. The paper then focusses on the educational programmes for Environmental Engineering itself. The organisation in a preparatory module, a basic subject module and a specialized module is discussed. Topics, special courses and the time frame of the education programmes in Environmental Engineering are presented. The programmes of 3 selected universities, Hannover, Kaiserslautern and Cottbus, are described in greater detail and their specific character is outlined.

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Environmental education for all engineers

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.2004.0478 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 49 (8) ◽

pp. 19-25 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

K. Jahan ◽

J.W. Everett ◽

R.P. Hesketh ◽

P.M. Jansson ◽

K. Hollar

Keyword(s):

Environmental Education ◽

Engineering Education ◽

Engineering Students ◽

Civil Engineering ◽

Pollution Prevention ◽

Environmental Engineering ◽

Education For All ◽

Successful Implementation ◽

Engineering Program ◽

Wastewater Quality

Environmental engineering education at universities is a rapidly changing field globally. Traditionally it has resided in the civil engineering program addressing water and wastewater quality, treatment, design and regulatory issues. In recent years environmental engineering has become a much broader field encompassing water, wastewater, soil pollution, air pollution, risk assessment, ecosystems, human health, toxicology, sustainable development, regulatory aspects and much more. The need to introduce environmental engineering/green engineering/pollution prevention/design for the environment concepts to undergraduate engineering students has become recognized to be increasingly important. This need is being driven in part through the US Engineering Accreditation Commission Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology criteria 2000. Thus there has been a major shift in environmental engineering education and it no longer resides only within the civil engineering discipline. This paper focuses on the development of innovative curricula for a brand new engineering program at Rowan University that integrates environmental education for all engineers. A common course known as "engineering clinic" was developed for all engineering students throughout their eight semesters of engineering education. One of the clinic goals is to integrate engineering design and the environment. The program, in its seventh year, indicates successful implementation of environmental education in all four engineering disciplines in their course work and clinics.

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EEE in changing times: new B/M study programs, increasing specialization and interdisciplinarity for fewer students

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.2004.0504 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 49 (8) ◽

pp. 125-132

Author(s):

T.G. Schmitt

Keyword(s):

Engineering Education ◽

Civil Engineering ◽

Student Mobility ◽

Research Work ◽

Environmental Engineering ◽

Limited Resources ◽

High Quality ◽

Study Programs ◽

Future Challenges ◽

Changing Times

Scope and organisational aspects of environmental engineering education in Germany as part of civil engineering are described. The structure of conventional diploma courses is compared with study programs structured in bachelor and master's courses. The current discussion and first steps of reorganisation in Germany are outlined. Intensifying interdisciplinarity and internationalisation, limited resources and increasing specialisation of research work together with a decreasing number of students are identified as future challenges to be met by innovative study programs. Cooperation in education between EE programs and networking of universities - together with enhanced student mobility - seem to be promising and necessary to achieve high quality and efficient EE education.

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Evaluating noise exposure levels of laboratories in civil engineering education

Noise Control Engineering Journal ◽

10.3397/1/37677 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 67 (2) ◽

pp. 69-79 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ã-. AkboÄŸa Kale ◽

Ä°. Bayram ◽

S. Baradan

Keyword(s):

Engineering Education ◽

Noise Exposure ◽

Civil Engineering ◽

Exposure Levels

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Environmental engineering education in conjunction with or as Part of social sciences curricula

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.2000.0042 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 41 (2) ◽

pp. 47-54 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

H.H. Hahn

Keyword(s):

Social Sciences ◽

Engineering Education ◽

Business Administration ◽

Natural Sciences ◽

Environmental Engineering ◽

Basic Question ◽

Basic Training ◽

The University ◽

Engineering Programme ◽

Environmental Infrastructure

Traditionally in Germany environmental engineering education took place within the context of a civil engineering programme. There were reasons for this: the beginning of much of what we understand today to be environmental works fell within the parameters of city engineering. There were and are advantages mostly in view of the necessary planning, construction and operation of environmental infrastructure. There are also disadvantages which become more and more pronounced as the field of environmental protection expands: the civil engineer frequently lacks basic training in disciplines such as biology and chemistry and carries a large and sometimes burdensome knowledge of other less relevant subjects. Thus, educators begin to look for alternatives. This paper deals with an alternative that was developed some ten years ago and therefore has proven viable and successful: at the University of Karlsruhe students may choose to major in environmental engineering within the context or on the basis of an economics and business administration curriculum. The basic question here is as to what extent the student masters the field of environmental engineering if he or she has predominantly a solid background in social sciences and very little in natural sciences. The paper will describe the curriculum in structure and intensity and evaluate the accumulated knowledge and suitability of these students in terms of actual environmental problems. This will be done in terms of examination performance parallel and/or relative to traditionally trained civil environmental engineers as well as in terms of topics successfully treated in Masters' theses. In conclusion, it is argued that such combination of curricula should not be confined to economic sciences and environmental engineering but also be planned for legal sciences and environmental engineering.

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Crisis and Water Services: How a 2007 Public Health Emergency in Finland Helped Shape Its Response to COVID-19

Public Works Management & Policy ◽

10.1177/1087724x20969159 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 26 (1) ◽

pp. 63-70

Author(s):

Tapio S. Katko ◽

Jarmo J. Hukka

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Engineering Education ◽

Well Being ◽

Public Health Emergency ◽

Environmental Engineering ◽

Clean Water ◽

Water Services ◽

Sanitation Services ◽

Sound Management

This paper aims at shedding light on the significance of water epidemics and their potential positive impacts on improving preparedness in water and sanitation services. We explore the water epidemic of Nokia in 2007 and preparedness-related reactions since then. The corona case confirms the fundamental role of clean water for well-being in communities, the need for sound management of water services to proactively promote public health, as well as the need for expanding conventional water and environmental engineering education and research to offer more holistic views.

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