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Teaching EA at an Austrian University: Experiences and

Challenges

By Dr. Ralf Aschemann, ANIDEASeoul, Yonsei University

1 December 2009International “TwoEA-M” Seminar

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• Universities in Austria• Subject “Environmental assessment”• Teaching experiences• Teaching challenges• Some final remarks

Structure

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• Public universities: 22• Private universities: 12• Universities of applied sciences

(“Fachhochschulen”): 19• Federal Ministry of Science and

Research (FMSR); autonomy since University Act 2002

• Rector, Academic Senate and University Council

Universities in Austria

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Source: BMWF(FMSR)

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Source: BMWF(FMSR)

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Total number of students in Austria

240,000 students at universities

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35,000 students at universities of applied sciences)

+

5,000 students at private universities

=

280,000 students total

(8,355,500 population 3.4 %)

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• No M.Sc. or B.Sc. programme in EA in Austria, yet

• But: Different courses/lectures in EA (e.g. Graz University, Graz University of Technology, Vienna University, Vienna University of Technology, Klagenfurt University, Innsbruck University etc.)

Subject “Environmental Assessment” (EA)

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• Courses/lectures in EA related fields, such as assessment tech-niques, indicators, GIS, environ-mental legislation, environmental economics, environmental plan-ning, management etc.

• I am lecturer at Graz University focus

Subject “Environmental Assessment” (EA) - 2

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• Founded 1585• Six Nobel Prize Awards (e.g. 1933

Erwin Schrödinger for physics)• Six faculties; 74 institutes; 22,000

students; 2,800 graduates/year; 100 degree programmes; staff 3,500 (2,500 scientific); 170 mio € budget/year plus third-party funds (approx. 293 bio Won, 22.5 bio Yen) Source: www.uni-graz.at

Graz University

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Graz University - 2

Source: www.uni-graz.at

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• EA framework in Austria:– Austrian EIA Act (implementation of EC

EIA Directive)– Austrian SEA legislation (implemen-tation

of the EC SEA Directive)– Federal country (legislation at federal

and provincial level)– Long (environmental/land-use) planning

tradition with many experiences/know how gathered

Teaching experiences

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• B.Sc. and M.Sc. Programme “Environmental system sciences” with lectures in, inter alia, EA and environmental management

• Motivation and interest of students in EA are varying, but that is not specific to EA

• Use of WebCT (e-learning plat-form) turned out to be positive

Teaching experiences - 2

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• Legislation issues (Requirements of EC Directives or annexes of Austrian EIA Act) sometimes difficult to understand for students

• Invitation of guest speakers (e.g. environmental ombudsman of Styria, EA practitioner) offered valuable input from the “non-academic” world

Teaching experiences - 3

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• Case studies as suitable means for explaining and demonstrating EA in practice EIA Database of Environment Agency Austria including EIS and other documents

• Visualisation (e.g. process, assess-ment matrix) eases understanding of complex issues

Teaching experiences - 4

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Teaching experiences - 5

http://glareanverlag.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/cartoon009.jpg

Don‘t behave like an “super expert“, who does know anything in the EA context

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Teaching challenges

http://campusib.fh-burgenland.at/images/2240007.1

Learning not as burden, but as education for the (professional and private) future of the students

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• Try to make legislation issues more attractive and better to understand

• Diversity instead of uniformity: Guest speakers, e-learning, case studies, role plays etc.

• Overcome students’ resistance to journal papers (perhaps only an Austrian phenomenon)

Teaching challenges - 2

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• Updating lectures in order to offer state-of-the-art knowledge

• Clarifying the relations to the professional world (e.g. application of EIA Act for different professions)

• Encouraging students to be curious to know more and detailed EA issues ( e.g. master thesis)

Teaching challenges - 3

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• Experiences and challenges in teaching EA not unique

• EA is important and will become more important in the future

• “Bologna process” (with its three main objectives mobility, international competitiveness, employability) requires efforts for scholars and students

Some final remarks

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Thank you …

... for your kind attention!