1. Environmental assessment and management in Dutch Master programmes A SWOT analysis
dr. Hens Runhaar
Environmental Studies and Policy
Faculty of Geosciences /
Copernicus Institute for Sustainable Development and Innovation
Universiteit Utrecht

2. Outline Environmental Master programmes in the Netherlands
After graduation
Environmental assessment in Dutch Master programmes
Master Sustainable Development at Utrecht University
A SWOT analysis
Conclusions

3. Environmental Master programmes in the Netherlands
VU University Amsterdam – Environment and Resource Management (1 year; natural and social sciences) & Global Environmental Governance (1 year; social sciences)
Groningen University – Energy and Environmental Sciences (2 years; natural sciences)
Radboud University Nijmegen – European Spatial and Environmental Planning (1 year; social sciences) & Environmental Sciences (2 years; natural sciences)
Open University – Environmental Sciences (in Dutch; 1 year; natural sciences)
Wageningen University – Environmental Sciences (2 years; natural sciences) & Urban Environmental Management (2 years; natural and social sciences)
Utrecht University – Sustainable Development (2 years)

4. After graduation UU-SD graduates:
91% has a regular job, of which 78% in the environmental domain
Main employers: consultancy firms and universities; others include governments, NGOs, companies and educational institutes
43% has a function as an advisor, 25% as a researcher, 13% as a project leader or policy maker

5. After graduation Environmental labour market:
109,000 fte jobs, turnover 11.1 billion €
1.6% total employment, almost 2% GNP
25% growth between (in particular recycling and consultancy)
Data 2007; source: CBS

6. Figures 2007

7. Environmental assessment in Dutch Environmental Master programmes
Nowhere specific modules on EA
However, aspects of EA frequently taught
Particularly in environmental sciences Masters
In line with findings Gazzola (2008):
“EA is rarely taught as a full postgraduate programme and seldom as a subject in its own right. Normally more than one discipline or specialisation is included in the EA-related degree title”

8. Environmental assessment in Dutch Environmental Master programmes
VUA: module environmental and energy policy tools:
Systems analysis and simulation: use of simulation software;
Spatial analysis and spatial evaluation; use of Geographic Information Systems;
Scenario Analysis;
Multi criteria analysis; use of evaluation software;
Life cycle analysis;
Valuation and cost-benefit analysis; use of evaluation software

9. Environmental assessment in Dutch Environmental Master programmes
WU: major in environmental systems analysis:
Systems analysis and simulation: use of simulation software;
(Participatory) integrated assessment;
Pollution management;
Environmental modelling;
Integrated cost-benefit analysis of multifunctional land and water use;
Decision support systems and ecological-economic modelling;
Environmental function analysis and conflict analysis;
The behaviour of large-scale models;
Methods for uncertainty analysis

10. Environmental assessment in Dutch Environmental Master programmes
RU: module Integrated environmental assessment of water systems:
Working in multidisciplinaty teams
Collect, interpret and integrate data on the structure and functioning of water systems in order to analyse environmental problems in water management
Assess implications of policy documents and legal instruments (e.g. function assignment and environmental quality standards) for the design, use and management of water systems
Apply a selected number of scientific methods and (predictive) models for effect assessment of alternatives or scenarios for management of water systems
Formulate recommendations for sustainable design, use and management of water systems

11. Environmental assessment in other higher education programmes
UU: bachelor environmental (social) sciences:
Specific module on EIA
Legal frameworks, analytical tools and assessment techniques, procedures, specific aspects
Role of EIA in decision-making
Review of EISs
‘EIA game’
Most SD Master students that previously completed
our bachelor programme (20%) have taken this course

12. EA in a broader perspective: UU Master Sustainable Development
Mission: “To educate academics who will be able to make a substantial contribution to the transition to a sustainable society through their scientific research and their skills in the area of societal intervention”
Four ‘tracks’:
Energy and Resources
Land Use, Environment and Biodiversity
Environmental Policy and Management
International Development
Also as joint degree program with Graz, Venice, Leipzig, Basel and Hiroshima (aim: Erasmus Mundus)

13. Master SD: general programme
Period
Course 1
Sustainability
Science
Track Module 2
The Sustainability Challenge A
Optional Module 3 4

14. Master SD: general programme
Period
Course 1
The Sustainability Integration
Optional Module 2
Master Thesis
Choice: 30 or 45 ECTS
30 ECTS: - extra options
- thesis  scientific article 3 4

15. Master SD track EPM Key challenge: Approach: social sciences
The scientific analysis of the complex changes accompanying the pursuit of a sustainable society
Approach: social sciences

16. Master SD track EPM Key concepts: Environmental policy
Shifts in environmental governance
Governance by non-governmental actors
Evaluation research
Conditions for effective governance

17. Master SD track EPM Year 1 Course Period 1
Sustainability Science: An Introduction
Development Theories
Period 2
Sustainability Challenge A
Sustainability Challenge B
Period 3
International Environmental Governance
Policy Analysis
Period 4
Research Methodology EPM
Interactive Planning of Sustainability
Year 2
The Sustainability Integration
Elective
Master's Thesis
Extension Thesis
Publishing your research
Extra optional courses
SD joint course
EPM track course

18. EA in SD track EPM Sustainability science: environmental modelling
Policy analysis:
Impact assessment
EA (guest lecture Thomas Fischer)
Role of policy analysis in decision-making
Various modules:
Environmental decision-making
Role of stakeholders
Role, authority and subjectiveness of knowledge

19. EA in SD track EPM Master thesis (four with an internship at NCEA):
The contribution of SEA to the greening of public decision-making: the relevance of the decision-making context
Capacity development for EIA in Yemen
Environmental policy integration and spatial planning: an evaluation of the MILO and LOGO planning tools
Assessing the impacts and success factors of integrated methods centred on urban environmental quality: Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands
Guiding Georgia: lessons from 21 years of Dutch EIA experience in waste management
Promoting environmentally sustainable transport through public participation and SEA. Lessons from Dutch transportation planning for Japan
Appropriate assessment versus environmental assessment
EA system development in developing countries

20. A SWOT analysis Review accreditation committee (2007):
Programme meets the needs and demands of the domain of sustainable development
Level is adequate, ambitious
Programme is coherent
Adequate didactical concept
Well embedded in research (Copernicus)
Contacts with labour market can be improved

21. A SWOT analysis A sample of UU-SD students:
Did you come across EA during your bachelor or Master programme?
Same after your graduation?
Do you feel you are well-prepared to work with EA (and in the environmental domain in general)?
What three aspects of your Master programme were most useful?
What have you missed in your Master programme ?

22. 1. EA during your studies During bachelors: EIA, environmental law
During Masters: environmental modelling, GIS, environmental policy, thesis

23. 2. EA in your current job 2 not (yet)
4 often (as EIA consultants conducting EAs or advising on EA systems in new EU Member States, or as consultants in spatial plans of which EA is an element)

24. 3. Master prepared you sufficiently for working with EA
Yes:
Specific EIA courses
Policy analysis methods
(Role of knowledge and the environment in) decision-making
Working in multidisciplinary teams/environments
No:
Technical aspects of EA
Legal aspects of EA

25. 4. Three key elements in Master SD
Policy analytical methods and skills
Environmental assessment techniques
(International) governance of environmental issues
Analytical skills, research skills
Communicative skills
Knowledge of environmental themes
Working in multidisciplinary teams

26. 5. What did you miss Management and commercial skills
Political sciences
Public administration (SD more general about ‘governance’)
Dutch environmental law
Environmental governance in non-Western countries

27. Conclusions Put EA in a wide perspective
Decision-making and governance
Multidisciplinarity
Role of science in society
Provide elements that are relevant but not unique to EA
Environmental modelling
Impact assessment methodology
They will learn the specifics in practice!

28. Sources www.mastersportal.eu www.uu.nl/NL/Informatie/master/susdev
Gazzola, P. (2008), Trends in education in environmental assessment: a comparative analysis of European EA-related Master programmes, Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal, 26 (2):