Enhancing Attractiveness of Environmental Assessment Education in the UK: Relevance to India and China

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• Enhancing Attractiveness of Environmental
  Assessment Education in the UK Relevance to
  India and China

Urmila Jha-Thakur, Thomas Fischer, Ingrid
Belcakova, Ralf Aschemann
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Presented at AESOP Conference University of
Liverpool 15-18th April, 2009
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Outline of Presentation

• Setting the Context (PENTA Two EA-M )
• Rationale
• Methodology
• Templates Recent Trend of UK EA Edu
• Questionnaire Feedback from students
• Conclusions

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Project Partners

• Department of Civic Design, University of
  Liverpool
• Spectra Centre- Centre of Excellence of the
  Faculty of
• Architecture at the Slovak University of
  Technology
• Austrian Institute for the Development of
  Environmental
• Assessment (An!dea)

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PENTA
Promotion of European Education on Environmental
Assessment for Third Country Audience http//www.
penta-eu.net/index.php?pagepentaworksh Bologna
Process of Standardisation and Internationalisatio
n

• Erasmus Mundus Action 4 project (October
  2005-September 2007)
• Environmental Assessment lecturers handbook
• SEA Textbook
• Range of Workshops
• International Conference in Dehradun (India)

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TwoEA-M Enhancing Attractiveness of
Environmental Assessment and Management Higher
Education1st December 2008 until 1st December
2010 

• EU being seen as a global leader in the field of
  EAM.
• Focus on practice in Europe and East Asia
  (Japan, South Korea, Malaysia China).
• Basis created by PENTA- materials produced will
  be used in this project.
• It will help in understanding and appreciating
  the regional specific.
• interest and educational requirements
• Emphasis on the notion of partnership.
• Making PG EAM curriculum cater to international
  requirements.

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Inspired by PENTA TwoEA-M

• Educational materials appreciated however the
  extent to which they
• are in line with higher education EAM
  requirements and interests of
• the Indian sub-continent remains somewhat
  unclear.
• The importance of context was highlighted as the
  representatives of the
• Indian sub-continent showed their concerns
  about the relevance and
• transposition of European educational themes on
  their own professional work.
• The notion of partnership was welcomed.
• There is a need for exploring the different
  approaches, strands and streams
• of European EAM education.
• Test the usefulness of the educational materials
  produced during PENTA
• Organise European Conference on European and
  East Asian EAM
• interests to enable European higher
  education institutions to better
• cater for East Asian (possibly other
  international) students.

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Inspired by PENTA TwoEA-M

• First, this paper can be considered to be a
  follow-on from PENTA where 15
• EA related Master courses were identified in
  the UK.
• By exploring the context of other countries
  where such courses maybe of high
• demand the process of internationalisation of
  EU courses is directed as a
• two-way process. Hence the shift of emphasis
  from promotion to mutual
• co-operation is highlighted.
• A better understanding of how EA UK education
  is perceived by the
• international students will help in developing
  and delivering education best
• suited for these students and their respective
  countries.

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• Enhancing Attractiveness of Environmental
  Assessment Education in the UK Relevance to
  India and China

• UK is second only to the global leader US, in
  attracting international students
• (Lipsett, 2009)
• Overseas students add a healthy 6billion to the
  UK Economy
• The factors that have contributed in this
  excellent performance needs to be
• further explored especially for projects like
  PENTA and TwoEA-M which aim in
• promoting and enhancing EU education as a whole
• Although an overview is available on
  international students in the UK, not much
• research has been conducted for number and
  nature of international students
• within specific EA related master programs

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Enhancing Attractiveness of Environmental
Assessment Education in the UK Relevance to
India and China

• The international student scenario in the UK is
  particularly influenced by Chinese and Indian
  students
• Out of a total of 1833 Erasmus Mundus Masters
  scholarships offered, Chinese
• students received 188 followed by 118 received
  by Indian students
• These two countries also consist of the major
  emerging economies which are
• facing tricky environmental challenges in the
  face of rapid development.
• These two countries are proving to be the most
  popular recruiting grounds for
• UK universities.
• And yet they offering a contrast as far as
  contexts are concerned.

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Methodology

• Literature Review
• Developing Templates
• (Internet Survey)
• Questionnaires
• Generic Questionnaires
• Specific Questionnaires
• Workshop Feedback

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Developing Templates
Sl No. COUNTRY NAME COUNTRY NAME
1 Name of University Full name
2 Weblink/source Internet site/handbook/ other source?
3 Degree Title MSc in Environmental studies etc?
4 Emphasis on EA EA taught as postgraduate curriculum or as a part within PG curriculum?
5 Faculty (Sc,SSc, Eco)/Department Science (Sc), Social Science (SSc), Economics (Eco), others...
6 Duration In months full time/part time
7 Fees (euros) Please maintain the home currency where applicable.
8 Delivery language English/French/combination/others...
9 Delivery method On-line or onsite?
10 Assessment method Assignments/continuos assessments/group work/
11 Focus (teaching/research) Taught programme or research led...
12 Geographical specialism International/European/Local ?
13 Entry requirements IELTS/TOEFEL/Qualifications/grades as in 21/others
14 Programme Structure Number of modules, core modules and optional modules, what these are...
15 Credit Structure Credit distribution in the programme.
16 Career opportunities Consultancy/ any particular sector/ not mentioned/ mentioned somewhere else?
17 Any other Remarks? Any other Remarks?
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EA Education in the UK
Compared to 15 templates filled in during PENTA,
we have 37 templates from 30 Universities

• Overlapping Programmes
• UK dominating the EA education in EU with sheer
  degree numbers!

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EA Education in the UK

• Flexible Requirements but exceptions are there.
  For example LSE and Royal
• Holloway, University of London
• Environmental Science, Biology, Civil and
  Structural Engineering, Built Environment,
• Agriculture Food and Rural development, Health

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Questionnaires

• Only Generic Questionnaires submitted 16
  Chinese and 6 Indian
• received so far
• One year programme makes UK higher education
  attractive to both,
• Indian Chinese students
• The flexibility between Arts/Science Choice
  allows for a career
• change which is not easy in their own
  respective countries
• The use of Internet is the most dominant search
  technique used by
• both Indian and Chinese Students in searching
  for relevant
• programmes.
• The next most popular source of information
  seems to be Education
• fares.

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Conclusions

• Internet Survey is the most suitable method for
  conducting this survey.
• The UK dominates the EA Management related
  Education in the UK.
• The one year structure is particularly
  attractive for Chinese and Indian students.
• The emphasis is on a multidisciplinary approach
  to EA education which is still
• not the case in India and China.
• The relevance of UK education in the Chinese and
  Indian job markets need to be
• further explored.
• UK education is no doubt attractive, but more
  data is needed to explore the
• effectiveness of EA education in the UK.

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Thank you

• Questions and Suggestions?