Environmental Management

• Principles of Environmental Management.
• Principles of Ecology, Environment & Environmental Management.
• Policies and Legal Aspect of Environmental Management.
• Overview of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).
• Preparation and Review of Environmental Impact Assessment Report.
• Environmental Audit.
• Life Cycle Assessment as EM Tool.
• Environmental Management Systems Standards: ISO 14000 (EMS).
• Related Issues in Environmental Management.
• Environmental Design.
• Environmental Economics.
• Basics of Data base Management System (DBMS), Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing
• Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing in Environmental Management.

Due to unplanned developmental activities as well as ever-increasing population, which has caused enormous strain on the environmental resources, societies across the world face several problems of environmental degradation. However, it is imperative to maintain a balance between the capacity of the environment and the quantum of sustainable utilisation. This is only possible by understanding the environment in its totality and the principles of its scientific management.

Environmental management (EM) has become one of the most used terms in recent times. But, what exactly does the term mean and entail? Different individuals belonging to different disciplines approach EM differently and therefore it is difficult to find a single, comprehensive view of EM. However, we will discuss in detail the various issues relating to EM in the ten Units that constitute this Course.

We will first discuss the fundamentals of EM and ecosystem in Unit 1 and, subsequently, the various environmental policies, legislations and international treaties in Unit 2. In Units 3 and 4, we will deal with the concept of environmental impact assessment (EIA) and the preparation of EIA report, respectively. We will discuss the methodology and processes of environmental auditing in Unit 5. In Unit 6, we will introduce you to life cycle assessment (LCA) in the context of EM. In Unit 7, we will explain the various EM system standards. We will then take up the issues and techniques relating to EM in Unit 8. Finally, we discuss environmental design and economics in Units 9 and 10, respectively.

•  Classroom briefing and introductory sessions at the beginning of the course (3 days 26th Aug - 28th Aug 2006).

•  Interactive session through Web and Email for two months.

•  Mid-term contact session (3 consecutive days) & Mid-term Exam.

•  Project work after the Mid-term contact session.

•  Final contact session (3 days) and Final exam at the End of the Course.

This Course is open to all graduates. Participants are expected to take part in all activities that form part of course in addition the participants should work on individual projects. During the course, participants should compulsorily attend interactive chat sessions, for which some grading will be given. Participants should actively participate in the sessions for best results. A certificate along with grades will be given to all the successful participants.

Evaluation will be done at two levels, namely concept level and module level. At the concept level, after student goes through each concept, he/she is evaluated online by randomly displaying multiple-choice questions. Each question carries some weight or marks. Based on his/her test performance, the system checks the number of questions correct answers and the performance is evaluated. At the module level, after the students complete all the concepts, they are given final exam, which will be held at the Centre for Continuing Education (L10) or at Centre for Ecological Sciences (CES). The concept level evaluation marks will also be considered for grading. Completion of a project is a partial requirement for the course.