Environmental Science: Legislation & Management – (M.Sc.)

Contents

This course provides a rigorous academic treatment of the fundamental scientific principles and practice of assessing and controlling the extent of environmental damage by Man's activities.

The course emphasises the processes and techniques related to the reduction of emissions to air, land and water, and the effects of pollution together with the legislative framework in which they are set.

It is designed to allow those whose career choice lies in fields such as environmental science, health protection and regulatory processes, to acquire a broad based knowledge of the concepts involved. The course is vocational and provides effective entry into all professions related to environmental pollution assessment and control.

Core Modules

* Resources and Society
* Ecosystem Function
* Environmental Change
* Environmental Hazard and Risk
* Dissertation

Specialised Modules

* EU and International Environmental Law
* Environmental Management

Resources and Society

Aims:

* To develop students´ understanding of the complex interactions of societies and their environments, from the perspective of those societies; particularly in relation to resource utilisation issues.
* To develop a critical awareness of how these interactions are unevenly experienced.

Topics:

* Interpreting and theorising the environment:
Depending on how environmental problems are theorised, different solutions tend to be proposed. This section will expose students to different approaches to environmental problems in order that they can understand the fundamental ideologies which underpin arguments which are often put forward as ideologically `neutral´
* Resource Use and Waste:
Many of the environmental problems facing society are a direct result of natural resources exploitation. In particular, the consumption of non-renewable energy resources is thought to be contributing to global climate change and local environmental degradation. The increasing scarcity of clean drinking water and arable agricultural land are related to resource utilisation patterns.
* Globalisation:
The 21st century is characterised by a global economy (including global trade, hyper mobility of capital flows and investment) high speed information flows, international migration (from the high skilled beneficiaries of the global knowledge economy to those victimised by war and, increasingly, environmental disaster) and international governance. In order to understand the nature of social/environment interactions it is critical to understand the nature of the society, which both produces and experiences environmental problems.
* Environmental Justice:
It is important to understand how societies distribute environmental problems (either intentionally, or as a by-product of existing uneven structures) and this element of the module will introduce students to the concepts of vulnerability and environmental justice by working through examples of mal-distributions.
* Environmental legislation:
This takes place at a number of scales and students will examine environmental legislation at the international, European, national, regional and local scale. They will consider conflicts between the scales and between different stakeholders.Resources and Society



Ecosystem Function

Aims:

* To provide a solid grounding in ecological principles, their application to biodiversity and an appreciation of the influence of human activities on these processes.

Topics:

* Ecological Principles
* Earth systems and their interactions
* Ecological energetics and Nutrient cycles
* Factors influencing Biodiversity
* The Biogeography of Earth
* Biological stability, homeostasis and sustainability
* The Gaia hypothesis
* How and What should we conserve?
* Biological Extinctions in earth history, present and future
* Is development sustainable



Environmental Change

Aims:

* To understand the processes which cause environmental change, how they are measured, how future change is predicted and how to interpret trajectories in elements of ecosystems and human health. Interactions between human impact and the environment will be examined.

Topics:

* Introduction: brief overview of the relationship between climate and biophysical and social systems. Introduction to global networks (e.g. IGBP) and agreements (e.g. Kyoto).
* The instrumental record of climate and what it reveals about variability and reliability of climate. Coverage of methods and causes of recent climate variability.
* Past global changes: methods, reliability, global data sets and case studies. What these reveal for the full range of climate variability and on driving forces behind climate change. Selected case studies.
* Past climates and societal responses. Case studies.
* Models and future climates. Types of models, testing models, reliability and uncertainty. Global networks and IPCC selected regional scenarios.
* Future impacts on biophysical systems, agriculture, human health, resources, energy usage. Case studies and directed project work.
* Rapid change caused by natural hazard processes: earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides, hurricanes, etc.



Environmental Hazard and Risk

Aims:

* To address various aspects of the relationship between hazard and risk, how risk is perceived and how government/industry/individuals assess risk in relation to natural, anthropogenic and occupational hazards in our environment.

Topics:

* Conceptualising Hazard and Risk * Probability and the concept of risk
* The Risk management cycle: risk assessment frameworks
* Human versus Environmental Risk Assessment
* Exposure characterisation: environmental transport and fate of chemicals
* Hazard characterisation: toxicity endpoints from gene to community
* Dose-response profiling: low dose effects and non-monotonic dose response relationships
* Point-deterministic and probabilistic risk assessment procedures


* Ecotoxicology * An introduction to environmental toxicology
* Toxic substances in the aquatic environment
* Aquatic toxicity testing in the laboratory
* Field studies in aquatic toxicity
* Bioaccumulation and Bioavailability
* Metabolism of Pollutants
* Structure-Activity Relationships
* A Specific Example: oestrogenic chemicals in the aquatic environment and their effects on fish
* Single chemical versus mixture toxicity: modelling mixture effects
* Monitoring of the Aquatic Environment


* Risk Perception and Management * The precautionary principle: late lessons from early signs
* Risk management and risk communication
* Perception of risk and stigma: socio-political influences on risk assessment





EU and International Environmental Law

Aims:

* To study and assess the core legal provisions and principles as well as key policy issues relating to Environmental Law of the European Union.
* To study and assess developments at international organisational level in terms of inter-state co-operation in addressing environmental protection issues and how they relate to EU law and policy on environmental protection.

Topics:

* EU Environmental Law components: * Framework of environmental protection in EU Law and policy;
* interface of environmental protection and market integration:
* free movement of goods law and the environment;
* legal basis for environmental policy development;
* external relations of the EU in relation to environmental policy;
* enforcement of EU environmental law;
* selected sectoral analysis of EU environmental law - eg. Waste managemen



* International legal aspects to environmental protection: * World trade law and the environment;
* overview of key multilateral agreements at international level;
* interface between EU environmental policy and
* international environmental agreements





Environmental Management

Aims:

* To introduce the concepts of key management principles necessary for the successful implementation of sound environmental management practice
* To study the environmental, technological and legislative issues in the management and disposal of solid, liquid and gaseous waste and the management of contaminat.

Topics:

* Project Management;
* Resources for Environmental Appraisal;
* Vulnerability of Societies to Environmental Change and Risk Management;
* Environmental Management Policy;
* Environmental Management Systems;
* Principles of Waste Management;
* Waste Management and Duty of Care;
* Contaminated Land;
* Waste Planning and Strategy;
* End-of-life Waste Directives;
* Water Resource Management;
* River Quality Management;
* Water Supply & Distribution;
* Reservoir Management



Dissertation

Recent examples of dissertations by students taking this course include:

* Review of the effectiveness of international treaties;
* Environmental impact assessment of oil pipelines in the Niger Delta, Nigeria.