Engineering and the Environment (The Environmental Education of Professional Engineers)

Good engineering practice recognises the sensitive nexus between economic development and the management of the human use of the biosphere whilst ensuring sustainable utilisation of the natural environment. Good engineering then recognises the principles of conservation whilst providing designs, which will benefit the welfare of mankind. The envelope of the educational program for professional engineers must develop the tools for engineering design within a systems philosophy. The elements of this program must include not only the development of the traditional engineering disciplines from the physical sciences but also a clear appraisal of the interaction of design proposals with the natural environment. A complete engineering educational program must therefore incorporate systems engineering philosophy and methodologies such as data base management, multi-objective planning, simulation programs, optimisation, socio-economic considerations of resource management and conservation strategies. In defining an appropriate syllabus it is argued that an environmental education program will not, in any-way, constrain the development of entrepreneurial skills to utilise and manage natural resources in innovative ways. The management of the coastal zone is used to outline some of the issues of environmental engineering and to suggest an appropriate syllabus for training environmental engineers.