Course Summary:

Recent floods and droughts across the world highlight the need for our natural water resources to be better managed. In addition, the provision of secure clean water supplies and the treatment and disposal of wastewater and other contaminants require innovative and sustainable solutions to ensure that their environmental and socio-economic impacts are minimised. The programme provides a multi-disciplinary understanding of these water resources and environmental issues through the development of knowledge and skills necessary for the planning and management of these resources to meet the needs of society and the environment within the context of climate change

Course Objectives:

Urban Energy and Water supply Management

Course Outline

Methods for Environmental Data Analysis

• Designing experimental and observational studies
• Research methods
• Graphical presentation of environmental data
• Model evaluation
• Application of methods to analyse environmental data

Environmental Planning

• A process for preparing area management plans
• Planning preliminaries
• Collecting and analysiing data
• Identifying issues and options
• Establishing goals and objectives
• Writing plans
• Evaluating options and selecting actions
• Multicriteria analysis

River and Floodplain Ecology

• The hydrological cycle and properties of water
• Physical, chemical and ecological processes in freshwater environments
• Freshwater habitats and biota
• Freshwater ecosystem models and concepts
• Sampling and assessment of freshwater ecosystems
• Human impacts and threatening processes
• Aquatic food webs and trophic linkages
• Energy sources and primary production in freshwater ecosystems

Natural Resource Management

• Introduction to natural resource management
• The nature of environmental systems
• Natural resource policy
• Types of policy instruments and processes
• Critical thinking and the choice of policy instruments

Environmental Risk Assessment and Management

• Hazards and risks: basic concepts 
• Foundations of risk assessment and management.
• Regulatory frameworks for risk assessment and management:  overview of international and national laws and regulations, corporate governance and the environment.
• Identifying, quantifying and assessment of environmental hazards:  toxicity, ecotoxicity, radiation, effects, exposure, pathways, persistence, biodegradation, exposure and risk screening, consequence analysis.
• Evaluating and characterization of environmental risk:  principles, processes, perceptions, tools, techniques matrices, process-based models, cost-benefit analyses. 
• Devising management plans:  responsibilities, communications, documentation, awareness, training, reporting, monitoring, refining.  
• Management decision-making:  processes, tools, mitigation strategies. 

Integrated Environmental Management Systems and Auditing 

• Environmental Management Systems and Standards 
• Planning an EMS: review, vision, mission, values, policies, objectives, targets, plans, and    documentation the principles needed to plan and implement an Integrated Environmental Management System 
• Implementation and Operation of an EMS: responsibilities, communications, documentation, awareness, training, reporting, and emergency procedures/response 
• Evaluating and Improving Performance of an EMS: monitoring, measurements, management review, continual improvement, corrective actions and auditing knowledge to operate and evaluate an Integrated Environmental Management System 
• Types of Environmental Audits 
• Audit process: initial review, planning, checklists, activities 
• Identifying, quantifying and assessment of the environmental aspects for the audit 
• Legislation and regulations