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Teaching EA at an Austrian University: Experiences and Challenges

Teaching EA at an Austrian University: Experiences and Challenges. By Dr. Ralf Aschemann, ANIDEA Seoul , Yonsei University 1 December 2009 International “TwoEA-M” Seminar. Structure. Universities in Austria Subject “Environmental assessment” Teaching experiences Teaching challenges

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Teaching EA at an Austrian University: Experiences and Challenges

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  1. Teaching EA at an Austrian University: Experiences and Challenges By Dr. Ralf Aschemann, ANIDEA Seoul, Yonsei University 1 December 2009 International “TwoEA-M” Seminar

  2. Structure • Universities in Austria • Subject “Environmental assessment” • Teaching experiences • Teaching challenges • Some final remarks

  3. Universities in Austria Public universities: 22 Private universities: 12 Universities of applied sciences (“Fachhochschulen”): 19 Federal Ministry of Science and Research (FMSR); autonomy since University Act 2002 Rector, Academic Senate and University Council

  4. Source: BMWF(FMSR)

  5. Source: BMWF(FMSR)

  6. Total number of students in Austria 240,000 students at universities + 35,000 students at universities of applied sciences) + 5,000 students at private universities = 280,000 students total (8,355,500 population  3.4 %)

  7. Subject “Environmental Assessment” (EA) No M.Sc. or B.Sc. programme in EA in Austria, yet But: Different courses/lectures in EA (e.g. Graz University, Graz University of Technology, Vienna University, Vienna University of Technology, Klagenfurt University, Innsbruck University etc.)

  8. Subject “Environmental Assessment” (EA) - 2 Courses/lectures in EA related fields, such as assessment tech-niques, indicators, GIS, environ-mental legislation, environmental economics, environmental plan-ning, management etc. I am lecturer at Graz University  focus

  9. Graz University Founded 1585 Six Nobel Prize Awards (e.g. 1933 Erwin Schrödinger for physics) Six faculties; 74 institutes; 22,000 students; 2,800 graduates/year; 100 degree programmes; staff 3,500 (2,500 scientific); 170 mio € budget/year plus third-party funds (approx. 293 bio Won, 22.5 bio Yen) Source: www.uni-graz.at

  10. Graz University - 2 Source: www.uni-graz.at

  11. Teaching experiences • EA framework in Austria: • Austrian EIA Act (implementation of EC EIA Directive) • Austrian SEA legislation (implemen-tation of the EC SEA Directive) • Federal country (legislation at federal and provincial level) • Long (environmental/land-use) planning tradition with many experiences/know how gathered

  12. Teaching experiences - 2 B.Sc. and M.Sc. Programme “Environmental system sciences” with lectures in, inter alia, EA and environmental management Motivation and interest of students in EA are varying, but that is not specific to EA Use of WebCT (e-learning plat-form) turned out to be positive

  13. Teaching experiences - 3 Legislation issues (Requirements of EC Directives or annexes of Austrian EIA Act) sometimes difficult to understand for students Invitation of guest speakers (e.g. environmental ombudsman of Styria, EA practitioner) offered valuable input from the “non-academic” world

  14. Teaching experiences - 4 Case studies as suitable means for explaining and demonstrating EA in practice  EIA Database of Environment Agency Austria including EIS and other documents Visualisation (e.g. process, assess-ment matrix) eases understanding of complex issues

  15. Teaching experiences - 5 Don‘t behave like an “super expert“, who does know anything in the EA context http://glareanverlag.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/cartoon009.jpg

  16. Teaching challenges Learning not as burden, but as education for the (professional and private) future of the students http://campusib.fh-burgenland.at/images/2240007.1

  17. Teaching challenges - 2 Try to make legislation issues more attractive and better to understand Diversity instead of uniformity: Guest speakers, e-learning, case studies, role plays etc. Overcome students’ resistance to journal papers (perhaps only an Austrian phenomenon)

  18. Teaching challenges - 3 Updating lectures in order to offer state-of-the-art knowledge Clarifying the relations to the professional world (e.g. application of EIA Act for different professions) Encouraging students to be curious to know more and detailed EA issues ( e.g. master thesis)

  19. Some final remarks Experiences and challenges in teaching EA not unique EA is important and will become more important in the future “Bologna process” (with its three main objectives mobility, international competitiveness, employability) requires efforts for scholars and students

  20. Thank you … ... for your kind attention!

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