ORIGINAL PAPER

Jurgis Kazimieras Staniskis Æ Zaneta Stasiskiene

An integrated approach to environmental education and research:a case study

Received: 18 October 2004 / Accepted: 14 September 2005 / Published online: 17 January 2006� Springer-Verlag 2006

Abstract Industrial processes have different levels ofimpact on the environment and there is a need to fosterknowledge of the environmental consequences ofindustrial activities. One way of achieving this is theapplication of the concepts of industrial ecology (mul-tidisciplinary research approach) to industry’s day-to-day activities. Another possible way of pursuing thisgoal is to use environmental education as a tool towardsincreasing awareness with regard to the social, politicaland economic relevance, as well as to the need forenvironmentally sound industrial activities. This paperoutlines the common features of both subjects andprovides an example from Kaunas University of Tech-nology (Lithuania), where such approaches have beenintegrated in an M.Sc. programme.

Introduction

Changes and development in the twentieth century havebrought many social and economic benefits to theLithuanian people. However, these changes have alsocaused a range of environmental problems. Overcomingof these problems depends on collaboration betweenresearch organizations and governmental institutions inthe region to find scientific, technological, legislativeand economic solutions. Many of these solutions alsodepend on the availability and quality of relevant edu-cation programmes.

Indeed, the international community is in agreementthat education has an enormously important role to playin educating and motivating citizens to participate inenvironmental improvement and protection. In the last

decade, major international reports have stressed thateducation is ‘‘the greatest resource’’ in this endeavour.The Brundtland Report of the World Commission onEnvironment and Development (1987), Caring for theEarth: a strategy for sustainable living (prepared as theWorld Conservation Strategy for the 1990s) (1991), andAgenda 21 (the Report of the United Nations Confer-ence on Environment and Development in Rio deJaneiro) (1992) stress that it is possible to sustain culturesand redress environmental damage done without jeop-ardising the ecosystem or resource base for the future.Each report speaks of the imperative role of education toengender this ethic (Du Preez and Mohr-Swart 2004).

In Lithuania, education has also been identified as acritical factor and the country has adopted a range ofstrategies for implementing programs in environmentaleducation. As a result many training programs havebeen organised in the country. Currently significantwork is taking place in order to redefine environmentaleducation in the Lithuanian context, particularly toincorporate concepts of sustainable development inuniversity curriculum.

Education and science structure in Lithuania

During the past decade important reforms have beencarried out in the Lithuanian education system includinga structural reform, introduction of new types of edu-cational organizations and a curriculum reform.

One of the most important indicators characterizingthe state of education is its accessibility. Educationalopportunities are unevenly distributed territoriallydepending on the size of population, the economicstructure, the demand for labour and other regionaleconomic factors. This problem is solved with theimprovement of the mobility of students.

At present the Lithuanian higher education and re-search system includes 19 university-type higher educa-tion institutions, 16 colleges, 26 state science andresearch institutes and 25 research establishments. The

J. K. Staniskis (&) Æ Z. StasiskieneThe Institute of Environmental Engineering,Kaunas University of Technology,K. Donelaicio str. 20, 44239 Kaunas, LithuaniaE-mail: jurgis.staniskis@ktu.lt

Clean Techn Environ Policy (2006) 8: 49–58DOI 10.1007/s10098-005-0028-1

system also includes science and technology develop-ment centres as well as business entities engaged in sci-entific and applied research.

The reform of higher education and research is aimedat increasing the efficiency of the system and expandingco-operation between research and industrial sectors. Inaddition, efforts are being made to make more efficientuse of the country’s academic potential in order to meetthe needs of the national economy, culture, educationand social sector as well as streamlining the use of statebudget funds allocated for higher education and re-search.

The importance of environmental education andpublic awareness is emphasized in the LithuanianEnvironmental Protection Strategy approved by thegovernment. Since 1996, the Commission of Educationand Information Co-ordination for Sustainable Devel-opment has been functioning at the Ministry of Envi-ronment. It includes representatives of ministries,scientific institutions, business organizations and NGOs.The main task of the Commission is to co-ordinateinformation and to present guidelines to state, munici-pal, scientific and study institutions as well as to NGOsconcerning the implementation of main legal acts of theRepublic of Lithuania and international agreements onthe issues of public awareness and education on sus-tainable development.

In 1998, the Government approved the LithuanianStrategy and Action Plan for Environmental Educationfor the period 1998–2002 based on the UN ‘Agenda 21’.Non-formal environmental education institutions suchas the Ministry of Environment, other ministries, localgovernments, scientific and study institutions as well asNGOs play a very important role in implementing thetasks of environmental education.

Environmental education

The focus of environmental efforts during the last dec-ades has shifted from dealing solely with the emissionsand wastes of industrial production plants to include thetotal environmental responsibility and performance ofenterprises, where the environmental properties ofproducts become more and more important. The intro-duction and integration of environmental managementsystems into the management of companies is becomingmore or less a business necessity that requires animprovement of the environmental competence on alllevels within the companies (Staniskis and Arbaciauskas2004b).

Based on Lithuanian reports a series of guidingprinciples aimed at enhancing the quality and relevanceof education for the environment has been consolidated.These principles represent a summary of best practice incontemporary environmental education in the region.Based on them, environmental education (Staniskis et al.2002):

• Considers the environment in its totality, i.e. ecolog-ical, political, natural, technological, sociological andaesthetic environments.

• Is a response to the challenge of moving towards anecologically and socially sustainable world.

• Is concerned with the interaction between the qualityof the biophysical environment and the socio-eco-nomic environment.

• Transcends the division of knowledge, skills andattitudes by seeking commitment to action in an in-formed manner to realistic sustainability.

• Recognises the value of local knowledge, practices andperceptions in enhancing sustainability.

• Supports relevant education by focusing learning onlocal environments.

• Considers the global as well as the local environment.Since the world is a set of inter-related systems, thereis a need for an international perspective on environ-mental issues.

• Focuses on current and future perspectives on envi-ronmental conditions.

• Is interdisciplinary and can be taught through andused to enhance all subjects in the curriculum.

• Emphasises participation in preventing and solvingenvironmental problems and revokes the passiveaccumulation of information about the environment.It should foster and increase a sense of personalresponsibility, greater motivation and commitmenttowards the resolution of the environmental situation.

• Develops the skills:

• To identify alternative solutions for the environmentalproblems,

• To clarify the values associated with the alternatives,• To use these values in making decisions about whichalternatives to choose.

Developing educational programmes based on theseprinciples may pose problems for many lecturers, espe-cially those who work in formal, centrally organisededucation systems. In the Work Group Meeting of theBaltic Sea Region Technical Universities Consortium(BALTECH) the following was stated (Staniskis 2001):

The curriculum goals of environmental educationoverlap with, but also differ quite markedly fromother more familiar components in the universitycurriculum. Environmental education in its fullnessinvolves very major changes in the ways lecturersconceive of, and act in their lectures. There are manyways lecturers can contribute to education for theenvironment that involve smaller, but significantchanges of thought and action. Conceptual and realbehavioural changes, however large or small, are noteasy and lecturers are no different from others in notfinding significant change easy.

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Invitations to change, or to try innovatory teachingstrategies are almost inevitably seen as ‘additions’ andhence requiring extra time and effort. The suggestionto innovate often comes as part of an external inno-vator’s timetable and not at the point in the lecturers’lives when they are dissatisfied with their presentpractice, and hence are looking for alternatives tosolve a problem they personally recognise. Theuncertain outcomes of using alternative pedagogiesalso are more likely to be seen as threatening thelecturers’ authority and stability of their studentsgroups than as improving these relationships, as theymay in fact do.

The environmental education of lecturers must addresssuch problems and, to the greatest extent possible, beconsistent with the principles of environmental educa-tion.

Principles related to environmental education

• Environmental education is interdisciplinary and fo-cuses on the interaction between environmentalquality and development issues. Hence, the relevantbiophysical, economic and social, as well as culturaland political aspects of environmental issues should berecognised and investigated.

• Environmental education is responsive to local con-text. This means that local environmental questions,issues and problems should provide a focus for thedevelopment of environmental education projects.This means that materials produced in one countrywill need to be adapted by other countries in responseto local cultural and educational requirements.

Environmental knowledge and awarenessof the Lithuanian society

The rising popularity of the notion of sustainabledevelopment has increasingly provoked the need foroperative rather than exclusively ideological insight intothe background of the environmental education concept(i.e. practical, measurable and policy relevant).

Therefore, several relevant issues should be evaluatedduring the development of environmental educationcurriculum: the sharing of responsibilities among allsocial actors and the fairness of ongoing environmentalpolicy attitudes; the linkage between consumer andproducer perspectives and the integration of scientificinformation into an effective policy decision-makingprocess. From this point of view, environmental aca-demic education has, at least in principle, the majorresponsibility of promoting the role of scientific knowl-edge within both the public and the private sectors.

Yet, as suggested by the Arrow–Fisher theorem(Arrow and Fisher 1974; Arrow 1979), dealing withuncertainty in technology and resource dynamics is notan easy task for scientists or analysts, and efforts have tobe rooted in the educational process. Conceptualisingthis stance in the academic world means to form stu-dents who are able to discuss with experts in differentenvironmental sciences as well as with managers anddecision-makers. Education has to deal with both thepolitical and the economic areas in which critical socialactors are involved. In this sense, the creation of a net-work among teachers and trainers is a necessary tool toshare experiences, discuss and reflect on successes andfailures.

Traditional environmental policy alternatives basedon direct intervention, are now often being transformedinto market-based instruments. The transition from a‘‘process-oriented’’ into a ‘‘product-oriented’’ policymeans changing many schemes. While the former wasdirected to individual firms through ‘‘command-and-control’’ regulations, the latter approach can contributeto the transformation of some negative environmentalexternalities into impacts directly recognised by themarkets. Producers and consumers therefore have thechance to price them in an effective way. The reversechain management model (Haberli et al. 2001) clearlyexplains the innovative perspective of this policy. Thecrucial transition is from a static pattern where wasteproduction and resource consumption are monitored expost, to a complex system where new regulatory actionsare investigated ex ante in their effects on both consumerand industrial firm behaviour.

A primary reason for the managers’ failure to effec-tively implement environmental improvement measuresis that they lack relevant information from both publicand private entities. Competitiveness, technologicalinnovations, international trade and the economic via-bility of firms cannot be neglected either. Informationabout environmental dynamics and the relative sus-tainability of activities becomes a strategic tool. In thissense, environmentally oriented universities, and conse-quently their graduates, are important resources to in-vest in. They provide a scientific basis for understandingthe dimensions of environmental problems, and theirgraduates know the language spoken by decision-mak-ers. Students have to know not only the basic models ofcorporate behaviour but also the existing legislativerequirements in the environmental field. They mustunderstand that environmental legislation directlyinfluences the firms’ short-term balances, and that in thelong run it indirectly drives investments and marketingstrategies (Hansmann et al. 2003).

Therefore the environmental labour market requiresgraduates with a foundation of technical education totake on managerial capacities. Environmental scienceeducation is in fact viewed as a means to interaction withexperts from different environmental branches and tothe integration of different scientific perspectives, ratherthan a tool for dealing with specific technical tasks. The

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environmental labour sector is seeking young profes-sionals with a broad educational basis who also embracethe socio-economic disciplines, as opposed to a highlyspecialised person whose skills can already be found inother more traditional scientific faculties (such aschemistry, geology, biology, physics; Giacomelli et al.2003).

Environmental education in the curriculum of KaunasUniversity of Technology

Technical universities in the Baltic Sea region in theframework of the BALTECH consortium decided todevelop and implement a new M.Sc. Programme inEnvironmental Management and Cleaner Production,based on an integrated approach of industrial ecologytowards current and long-term/strategic environmentalissues, focusing on technologies and concepts in envi-ronmental planning and management for a sustainableindustrial development. This is a 2-year (120 ETCScredits) programme suitable for graduates with qualifi-cations in many engineering fields such as chemicalengineering, mechanical engineering, civil engineering,environmental engineering and others (Fig. 1). Theprogramme started at the Kaunas University of Tech-nology in September 2002.

The following universities participate in the devel-opment and implementation of the programme: Tech-nical University of Denmark (DTU), Denmark; TallinnTechnical University, Estonia; Helsinki University ofTechnology (HUT), Finland; Riga Technical University,Latvia; Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania;Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Lithuania;KTH, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Swe-den; International Institute for Industrial Environmen-tal Economics, Lund University, Sweden; LinkopingUniversity, Linkoping, Sweden.

During the curriculum development process, valu-able information has been gathered regarding employ-ment opportunities in the market and the profile ofenvironmental managers at industrial, state and semi-state organisations. It has been concluded that most

environmental practitioners had a background innatural sciences or engineering, but there were alsopractitioners with other backgrounds. The survey alsorevealed that approximately 30 employment opportu-nities per year were becoming available in Lithuaniaincluding corporate environmental managers, environ-mental management consultants, environmental tech-nicians, environmental auditors and environmentalimpact experts.

The M.Sc. programme in Environmental Manage-ment and Cleaner Production, on the basis of the tech-nical background of the student, enables graduates ofthe programme to:

• Integrate preventive managerial and technologicaltools in achieving a more sustainable development forindustry and society.

• Lead and sustain the process of change in industry,academia and other organizations.

• Understand the interdependence of environmental,technical, economic and social sciences, and to per-form interdisciplinary research and development.

This was achieved by providing the M.Sc. students with:

• Skills to identify and assess the effects of humanactivity on the environment

• Knowledge of national and international environ-mental policy and legislation and the management ofenvironmental issues in industrial and service systems

• Knowledge of technical systems, strategies and tech-nologies for applying the principles of cleaner pro-duction in developing products and productionsystems

• Practical experience in implementing preventive envi-ronmental measures (see Box 1).

Programme structure

Compulsory core courses (35–45 ECTS credits) areEnvironmental Technology; Environmental Assessment;

Vytautas Magnus University

(Faculty of environmental

sciences and biology)16%

Kaunas University of Technology (Other

faculties)10%

Kaunas University of Technology (Chemical technology faculty)

55%

Klaipeda University(Faculty of natural

sciences and mathematics)

3%

Lithunian Agricultural University

(Faculty of water and land management)

16%

Fig. 1 Background of M.Sc.students in the CleanerProduction and EnvironmentalManagement programme at theKaunas University ofTechnology

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Cleaner Production; Environmental Policy, Law andEconomics; Environmental Management; Eco-design.These compulsory courses are developed and deliveredin collaboration between the participating universities.The responsibility of leading each course rests with oneof the participating universities, but it is shared withteachers and tutors from the other universities as well.For each course there is at least one local tutor fromuniversities with participating students.

In addition to the compulsory core courses, the can-didate takes a selection of optional courses (45–55 ETCScredits) in two different subject areas:

• Advanced courses in environmental and related sub-jects

• Advanced courses in one engineering subject

The contents of the programme are based on theindustrial ecology approach, i.e. on industry–environ-ment interactions to aid industry in evaluating andminimizing impacts to the environment. Programmecourses reflect one of the most important concepts ofindustrial ecology, which is the concept of waste rejec-tion as it is experienced in biological systems. The pro-gramme covers technologies dealing with industrialresidues, particularly those technologies aimed at thereuse and recycling of wastes (course titled‘Environmental Technologies’); identifying, evaluating

and implementing technical and managerial options forimprovement of environmental and economic perfor-mance (courses titled ‘Environmental Assessment’,‘Cleaner Production’ and ‘Environmental Manage-ment’); design of industrial processes and products fromdual perspectives of product competitiveness and envi-ronmental impact (‘Eco-design’) and development ofpolicy framework, which provides appropriate incen-tives for enterprises to adopt preventive environmentalmanagement practices and to increase their efficiency(course titled ‘Environmental Policy, Law and Eco-nomics’). Therefore, the compulsory courses of theprogramme cover all basic aspects of the industrialecology approach. Optional courses are used to discussthese issues in more detail and to provide additionalknowledge, which ensures that graduates of the pro-gramme will be able to apply the industrial ecologyapproach, i.e. will be capable to conduct systematicanalysis of industrial activities and to find optimalsolutions for many problems related to sustainableindustrial development.

The Institute of Environmental Engineering at theKaunas University of Technology (APINI), which is theresponsible organization for the M.Sc. programme atthe Kaunas University of Technology, treats the multi-disciplinary approach as the most important priority inthe design of curricular models and it is viewed as astrategic device for succeeding in the labour market.

Environmental education on planning and problemsolution involves the estimation of environmental im-pacts of certain variables. In order to define relevantinter-relationships and their magnitude, there is a needfor a certain expertise. In the field of education, it isusually very effective to combine professional and edu-cational skills in a lecturer position. For this reason theresearchers of APINI became lecturers—experts in themain courses of the M.Sc. programme. Their knowl-edge, in particular their ability to define and recogniserelevant problems, is fully utilised during the courses.

Since 1993, APINI lecturers participated in a series ofdifferent international projects on waste minimization,pollution prevention, cleaner production, environmentalmanagement systems (EMS), eco-design and eco-label-ling, environmental impact assessment, integrated pol-lution prevention and control (IPPC) directiveimplementation, integrated water management andsustainable development (Fig. 2).

The experience gained during these internationalprojects and the projects implemented in the Lithuanianindustry provided APINI lecturers with a possibility to‘‘break’’ the boundaries of formal teaching, i.e. to makeprogressive changes, focusing on a much broader areaincluding industrial activities. Another problem ad-dressed is the sustainable use of natural resources, sinceteaching the students how to make intelligent decisionsabout the use and management of natural resources isthe best insurance for sustaining the production ofgoods and services, while at the same time protecting ournatural resources on which the world society depends.

Box 1 Case study from textile company

The company is one of the biggest producers of acrylic yarn inEurope.The production consists of preparation, spinning, twisting, bulking(finishing by steam treatment), yarn dyeing, waste reuse work-shops, souvenir and knitting departments. Composition ofyarns—100% PAN.M.Sc. students together with the managerial staff of the companyand Cleaner Production group defined the main objectives ofCleaner Production assessment. The company was interested insaving all types of resources, especially heat energy resources in allproduction processes.After the assessment the following main environmental problemswere determined:Waste water in the acrylic yarn dyeingIneffective consumption of water and energyCleaner Production solutions1. In the result of the assessment stage 17 proposals were generated.The following project was chosen for practical development:Heat recovery from waste water in the acrylic yarn for technologicalwater heatingTechnical evaluationHot water from the yarn dyeing and washing processes is dis-charged into the precipitation tank and further, by means ofpumps, is transported to the piping system where it is used for softwater heating.Environmental BenefitsHeat recovery from waste water allows to save approximately670 Gcal/year of steam. It makes 6% of the total steam con-sumption in the company.Economic evaluationImplementation of the heat regeneration from the wastewater ofthe yarn dyeing process requires investment of 6790 EUR, resultingin annual savings of 18420 EUR with a pay-back period of less than5 months.

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By integrating education, research and practical trainingstudents can learn more about the relationships betweennatural resources, environmental sustainability and hu-man well-being.

The integration of theory and practice leads to theachievement of the key objective of the curriculum inenvironmental education—to prepare students forpractical work and to open the possibility for qualifiedresearch. Therefore, the following main categories havebeen combined (Fig. 3):

• General abilities• Scientific knowledge• Environmental problem solving ability

As the 3-year experience of the M.Sc. programmeshowed, the students trained in accordance with thismodel of integration of education and research:

• Learned to operate within the environmental areaoutside of the university in a problem-oriented way

• Received knowledge on the political, legal, economicand social factors and constrains (e.g. limited financialmeans, conflicts of interests), under which solutionsare developed in the environmental area

• Identified the problems that occur when they applytheir knowledge in practice (e.g. decision-making onthe basis of limited or insecure information, inaccu-racies of data, etc.).

Therefore, in the M.Sc. programme, the transition to-wards this new structure led to an educational modelthat provides students with both a systemic perspectiveand a more technical attitude towards multidimensionalenvironmental problems.

For example, in the course of environmental eco-nomics, the main aspects of micro- and macro-economicsas well as some fundamental issues of neo-classicalenvironmental economics are reviewed (e.g. valuing non-market goods, managing environmental pollution,renewable and non-renewable resources). Other coursesfocus on the relationships between the environment andenterprises and cover tools such as environmentalaccounting, eco-labelling and eco-auditing.

The programme resulted in the following benefits:

– Provided a broad perspective for considering envi-ronmental issues and understanding the context ofenvironmental and sustainability problems and widerange of actions (Fig. 4).

– Advantages of the multidisciplinary approach wereconsidered in the programme: the class debates anddevelopment of new ideas originated from the multi-focused views and were enriched by real data and casestudies.

– Besides teaching there were considerable efforts inresearch—facing new research fields that are worth

Fig. 2 Participation of APINIlecturers in internationalprojects, the results of which areused in environmentaleducation and research

Fig. 3 Structure of the categorysystem for the qualificationprofile of an EnvironmentalManagement and CleanerProduction M.Sc. programmestudent represented as ahierarchical tree

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of deeper analysis to understand the context ofenvironmental, social and economic interconnections.Bringing together these aspects fosters greater interac-tion between industry and academic institutions.

Currently, Lithuania is facing a significant environ-mental challenge: the EU accession process required theharmonization of environmental law, which refers toboth environmental legislation and enforcement.Industrial sectors may have different environmentalproblems, but the need of better environmental perfor-mance, the need of preventive environmental protectionand the need of self-regulation methods appear in allsectors and sub-sectors of the economy. To reach allthese targets the way of thinking should be radicallychanged. One of the cost efficient methods to change theattitudes is education.

The success or failure of environmental education isvery much related to the presence or absence of a mul-tidisciplinary attitude spreading from the environmentalsciences to the socio-economic disciplines. Results fromthe survey carried out by the authors confirm theimportance of such a management paradigm in prepar-ing environmental specialists and suggest to the aca-demic world that it should continue with this approach.A stronger emphasis on technical education could help

environmental science graduates to be more competitivewith graduates from other more traditional scientificfaculties.

Benefits gained from the integration of research andeducation

Industrial ecology may be seen as a combination of ascientific field and the practical industrial sector whereenvironmentally sound processes may be tested andimplemented. Environmental education is often seen asa process during which educational approaches andmethods are used to raise environmental awareness(Staniskis and Arbaciauskas 2004a). It focuses on soil,water, air, plant and animal life, forests and other eco-systems. It also incorporates land-use planning, theconcept of shared decision-making and the use ofinformation systems. Environmental education also ad-dresses renewable and non-renewable natural resourceuse in urban and rural settings. It involves people,communities and organizations in experiences that applyappropriate technology to everyday problems. Relianceon scientific methods and principles enables educators todeliver objective information, even if issues are emo-tionally charged. This illustrates how complementary

Fig. 4 Real life CP projects developed by M.Sc. students in the Cleaner Production and Environmental Management programme at theKaunas University of Technology

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both areas are and the usefulness of approaches aimed attheir integration (Leal Filho 2002).

The goal of integration can be achieved in variousways, for example:

1. Via the design of projects where attention to researchand education is paid

2. Via case studies in which multidisciplinary research iscombined with educational approaches such as, forexample, industry-based environmentally focusedtraining programs

3. By means of individual work during which thedevelopment of analytical skills is combined withenvironmental problem solving efforts

4. By developing competence among students in rela-tion to environmental dialogues so as to enable themto deal with industry and society

5. By integrating principles of environmental commu-nication and information into the normal businesspractice in industryComparing the perspectives pro-vided by the multidisciplinary research and systemstheory with some of the perspectives of environ-mental education shows a number of interestingsimilarities (Table 1) (Leal Filho 1999).

In addition, some further common features of mul-tidisciplinary research and environmental education re-side in the fact that both are:

• Interdisciplinary: neither of the two areas can beeffectively worked out without the body of knowledgefrom related fields such as ecology, economics,mathematics, sociology, etc.

• Integrative: both areas try to encompass informationderiving from different sources, from different fields,which they then assimilate and integrate as part oftheir own profile.

• Focusing on sustainability: no matter the angle onelooks at in both areas, their ultimate focus is thesearch for ways through which sustainability may bepursued.

• Participatory: research and environmental educationboth rely on the active input of individuals in pursuingtheir goals and aims and in their participation ininfluencing ever-changing scenarios.

Last but not least, both are continuously going througha process of change. Such a change, albeit not alwaysdramatic, is indeed a common element of both areas andenables them to evolve along within society, as societyitself is going through its own changes.

In addition, the areas where the different approachesare mutually complementary may include four maindomains: the views adopted, the objectives, the ap-proach used and their target groups. Let us look at eachitem one by one (Mieg 2000):

1. Views adopted: multidisciplinary research looks at itssubjects from a critical, systemic perspective, fromangles which environmental education tends to ig-nore. On the other hand, environmental educationlooks at environmental issues as globally intercon-nected, with a combined input to the understandingof nature.

2. Objectives: strictly speaking, a main concern of mul-tidisciplinary research is the integration of environ-mental considerations into industrial activity, payingattention to economic aspects. Environmental edu-cation seeks to foster awareness of environmentalissues and as a result, catalyse active participation inenvironmental action.

3. Approach used: multidisciplinary research worksintensively via incremental improvements in envi-ronmental management with the objective to improvethe efficiency of industrial activities. Environmentaleducation, in turn, tries to develop a sense of com-mitment towards the environment and prevents theexacerbation of environmental problems by workingat the conscience level.

4. Target groups: multidisciplinary research primarilyfocuses on those whose activities are directly relatedto industrial practice, while environmental education,whether it is formal or informal, aims at all individ-uals since it assumes that every person has an impacton the environment.Multidisciplinary research andenvironmental education may also be integrated byfocusing on issues of global concern, but they need todo that, not from their separate industrial or merely

Table 1 Perspectives in multidisciplinary research, systems theory and environmental education

Multidisciplinary research, systems theory Environmental education

Focus on long-term approaches Is a long-term process and entails long-term resultsFocus on concerns of regional and global scope Its concerns encompass local, as well as regional

and global issuesFocus on cases where human activitiesoverwhelm natural systems

Has a preventive as well as curative dimension also tryingto prevent ecosystems from being overwhelmed

Attempts to understand and protect the resilienceof natural and human systems

Focus on raising awareness and motivation towardsenvironmental protection, focusing on man’s role

Uses systems techniques as mass-flow analysisto understand economic and environmental systems

Uses role-play, scenery building and hands-on approachesto help understand environmental issues and problems

Views economic production agents as central tomitigating environmental impacts and seeks tounderstand how to make them more environmental friendly

Sees economic phenomena and political and social contextsas influencing environmental dynamics and seeks to integratethem in the environmental problem-solving process

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pedagogical angles as has largely been the case so far,but in an integrated way (Scholz and Tietje 2002).

Conclusions and considerations

A diverse range of publications, including conferenceproceedings, edited collections of articles and the spec-ialised International Journal of Sustainability in HigherEducation, as well as other journals, now contain manyreports on studies that have sought to advance sustain-able development in the curriculum and operations ofhigher education organisations. These studies generallyfocus on one or more of the ecological, economic, equityor political pillars of sustainable development (Yenckenand Wilkinson 2000).

The researchers who conduct such studies, may notnecessarily relate their research with the goals of sus-tainable development, because many scholars outsidethe mainstream environmental field do not yet recognisethe significance of sustainable development for theirresearch. The higher education sustainability movementis relatively new and has not yet been able to reach outto all scholars and university leaders. It may also be thatmany, if not most, advocates of sustainability in highereducation have tended to come from the fields of envi-ronmental studies, education and facilities managementand, thus, have tended to concentrate on the economicand ecological pillars of sustainability and have not of-ten seen the relevance of sociological, political scienceand cultural studies research for their goals (Scholz andTietje 2002).

Consequently, much research on sustainability inhigher education does not address the pillars of sus-tainability in a holistic, interdependent and systemicway. This is a key problem, which can be redressed withthe help of attention to alternative paradigms. Thesemay also help redress several related problems thatcharacterise much of the current research in this area.

Research funds are always limited and research pol-icies increasingly tend to fund single purpose, short-termstudies often with a strictly problem-solving approachand targeted objectives. The supreme role of research,namely the advancement of knowledge, and thus thetransfer of this knowledge advancement, is often over-looked or forgotten. Therefore, the Institute of Envi-ronmental Engineering at the Kaunas University ofTechnology is emphasising the dictum ‘‘research andeducation always go together’’ and searches for the pro-motion and improvement of the transfer efforts andmechanisms.

Science is aimed at generating true knowledge, engi-neering is about changing the world. Therefore, theworld of technology is far more directed towardschanging our society than the sciences and the arts are.It is therefore especially important that engineers aretaught to deal with the problems of society. Often,engineering deals with its responsibilities by defining

three separate stages (society is responsible for the de-mand of technology, the engineers create it, and societyis again responsible for its application). This self-pro-claimed docility is empirically untenable and morallydoubtful. However, sustainable development is not atechnological problem and engineers must learn to besusceptible to non-technical issues and must be able tocommunicate with the citizens involved and other ex-perts. The world needs engaged engineers who are will-ing and able to contribute to sustainable development.

The actions of policy makers, resulting from thou-sands of decisions, collectively influence the sustain-ability of our natural resources and our environment.Making intelligent decisions about environmental issuesis critical, but it is not always easy. The amount ofenvironmental information available is astounding andincludes both fact and fiction. Some experts tend toemphasize the tangible benefits to society throughharvesting natural resources. Other sources may high-light environmental health as the only relevant con-sideration for natural resource management decisions.The most accessible information may not be the mostuseful and the job of searching for particular knowl-edge may be overwhelming. Teaching people how tomake intelligent decisions about the use and manage-ment of natural resources is our best insurance forsustaining the production of goods and services, whileprotecting the natural resources on which we depend.There is a perceived need to help people acquireknowledge, skills and tools they will need in order tomake informed decisions about natural resources andthe environment. This also applies to the industrialsector.

By integrating systems theory (research) with envi-ronmental education and other programs, people canlearn more about the relationships between natural re-sources, environmental sustainability and human well-being. This knowledge, accompanied by appropriateaction, is necessary to maintain not only our naturalresources, but also our way of life. Research and envi-ronmental education thus require closer co-operationand more involvement in expanding their combined ef-fect. With the support provided by these two areas,industrialists, on the one hand, and educators, on theother, can do more than ever to help people under-stand—and act on—environmental concerns.

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