Environmental Management

An introduction to the basic principles, significant underlying concepts and techniques of environmental management. Issues like uncertainty and public goods and their relation to environmental management as well as cases of environmental management practices in different settings are discussed.   All human activities impact on the environment. Economic development, as it has been implemented in recent decades, has negative impacts on the environment and our societies. We need to reconsider how we use and manage natural resources so that sustainable development is possible. Environmental management is a political process. Its different dimensions (technical, political, socio-economic and cultural) as well as basic issues that underlie an environmental management plan should be understood. As a field of study, environmental management has evolved in the recent decades, following developments in our perception of the environment, in related fields (like environmental technology) and in available tools. Environmental management can be applied to different settings: from a protected habitat or a river basin, to an urban setting, a building or a corporation. Environmental management approaches may differ in some ways depending on the setting they are applied; however, their basic principles and underlying tenants are similar. These will be explored in this course.