Faculty of Engineering

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UNIVERSITIES AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
Professor Suleyman Aremu Muyibi PhD, MNSE, Reg.
Engr(COREN),MIOBB, MMNN, MMANCID, MWA Visiting
Professor( LAUTECH, OGBOMOSO) DEPARTMENT OF
BIOTECHNOLOGY ENGINEERING FACULTY OF ENGINEERING
INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY
MALAYSIA
BIENNIAL CONFERENCE
ORGANISED BY ASSOCIATION OF VICE CHANCELLORS OF
NIGERIAN UNIVERSITIES (AVCNU) UNILORIN JUNE 1
-4, 2009
Faculty of Engineering
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Presentation Outline

• Introduction Global Perspectives on
  Environmental Sustainability
• Environmental sustainability programmes in
  Universities
• Policy Development
• Master Plan Development and Implementation
• Implementation Strategies
• Education and Training Programmes in
  Environmental Management( multidisciplinary
  approach)
• Concluding Remarks

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Global Perspectives on Environmental
Sustainability

• The demand of Humans upon the planet earth are
  now of a volume and kind that, unless changed
  substantially, threatens the future well-being of
  all living species.
• Universities are entrusted with a major
  responsibility to help societies shape their
  present and future development policies and
  actions into the sustainable and equitable forms
  necessary for an environmentally secure and
  civilized world.
• As the international community marshals its
  endeavors for a sustainable future, focused upon
  the United Nations Conference on Environment and
  Development(UNCED) in Brazil in 1992,
  universities in all countries are increasingly
  examining their own roles and responsibilities.
• The meeting expressed the belief that solutions
  to these problems can only be effective to the
  extent that the mutual vulnerability of all
  societies, in the South and in the North, is
  recognized, and the energies and skills of people
  everywhere be employed in a positive, cooperative
  fashion.

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Global Perspectives on Environmental
Sustainability

• At Talloires, France in October, 1990, a
  conference of university presidents from every
  continent, held under the auspices of Tufts
  University of the United States, issued a
  declaration of environmental commitment that has
  attracted the support of more than 100
  universities from dozens of countries.
• At Halifax, Canada, in December l991, the
  specific challenge of environmentally sustainable
  development was addressed by the presidents of
  universities from Brazil, Canada, Indonesia,
  Zimbabwe and elsewhere, as well as by the senior
  representatives of the International Association
  of Universities, the United Nations University
  and the Association of Universities and Colleges
  of Canada.
• The Halifax meeting added its voice to those many
  others worldwide that are deeply concerned about
  the continuing widespread degradation of the
  Earth's environment, about the pervasive
  influence of poverty on the process, and about
  the unsustainable environmental practices now so
  widespread.
• Because the educational, research and public
  service roles of universities enable them to be
  competent, effective contributors to the major
  attitudinal and policy changes necessary for a
  sustainable future, the Halifax meeting invited
  the dedication of all universities to the
  following actions

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Talloires Halifax Declarations

• Declarations that commit signatory universities
  and colleges to advancing research on sustainable
  development(Done at Dalhousie University,
  Halifax, Canada, the 11th day of December, 1991)
• To ensure that the voice of the university be
  clear and uncompromising in its ongoing
  commitment to the principle and practice of
  sustainable development within the university,
  and at the local, national and global levels.
• To utilize the intellectual resources of the
  university to encourage a better understanding on
  the part of society of the inter-related
  physical, biological and social dangers facing
  the planet Earth.
• To emphasize the ethical obligation of the
  present generation to overcome those current
  malpractices of resource utilization and those
  widespread circumstances of intolerable human
  disparity which lie at the root of environmental
  unsustainability.

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Talloires Halifax Declarations

• To enhance the capacity of the university to
  teach and practise sustainable development
  principles, to increase environmental literacy,
  and to enhance the understanding of environmental
  ethics among faculty, students, and the public at
  large.
• To cooperate with one another and with all
  segments of society in the pursuit of practical
  capacity-building and policy measures to achieve
  the effective revision and reversal of those
  current practices which contribute to
  environmental degradation, to South-North
  disparities and to inter-generational inequity.
• To employ all channels open to the university to
  communicate these undertakings to UNCED, to
  governments and to the public at large.

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Environmental Sustainability Programmes in
Universities

• Policy development
• Master Plan Development and Implementation
• Environmental Management Regulations and
  Guidelines relating to
• Wastewater treatment and disposal includes
  laboratory/workshop liquid waste, domestic
  wastewater from toilets and washrooms, eateries
  etc.
• Conversion of waste to valuable added products
• Integrated Solid Waste Management Food waste,
  garden waste, office waste(papers, cardboard
  etc), plastics, glass , waste from labs /
  workshops etc.
• Conversion of waste into value-added products,
  recycling, reuse, etc.
• Air Quality Management

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Implementation Strategies

• Implementation of Master Plan
• Implementation of Environmental Management
  Regulations and Guidelines for Sustainability.
• Integrated Solid Waste Management
• Wastewater Management
• Air quality Management- Indoor and Outdoor

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Implementation Strategies

• Research and development programmes in
  environmental sustainability.
• Formation of multidisciplinary research
  groups/clusters dealing with environmental
  management sustainability .
• Waste management Environmental Biotechnology
  Applications
• Waste as a resource bioconversion of wastes into
  value added products.
• Examples
• Production of bio-fertilizer/biocompost from
  solid waste/agro waste/food waste/sludge etc.
• Production of biogas from municipal/domestic
  wastewater food waste.
• Production of industrial bio-chemicals from
  municipal wastewater (sludge, effluent) food
  waste e.g. citric acid, bio-protein( for animal
  feed), enzymes, activated carbon, bio-plastics
• Development of Pilot scale bioconversion systems
  e.g. bioreactors, (show photos)

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Some Typical Applications of Environmental
Biotechnology in Environmental Management

• Treatment of waste to produce valuable products
  (bio-conversion) for example Bio-fertilizer from
  garbage, saw dust , Biogas e.g. methane from palm
  oil mill effluent (POME), Bio-ethanol, citric
  acid etc. from POME.
• Biogas production from Palm Oil Mill Effluent
  (POME)
•  

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DEVELOPMENT OF BENCH SCALE MODEL ROTARY DRUM
REACTOR

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ROTARY DRUM BIOREACTOR -ACCESSORIES
Air Flow meter
Speed Controller
Air Compressor
Humidifying Tank
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Implementation Strategies

• Education and Training Programmes in
  Environmental Management ( Multidisciplinary)
• Undergraduate programmes elective
  courses/options
• Postgraduate Programmes( PGD, MSc, PhD)
  specializations
• Short courses/workshops
• Relevant specialties/ disciplines in
  Environmental Science Engineering
• Wastewater Management Engineering
  municipal/domestic, industrial, institutional
  etc.
• Solid Waste Management Engineering includes
  municipal/domestic, industrial, institutional and
  hazardous wastes
• Public Health Engineering
• Green Technology
• Environmental Management Pollution Control
• Water Quality Management(Science Engineering)
• Environmental Biotechnology
• Resource Management

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CONCLUDING REMARKS

• The conservation of the natural environment is an
  imperative commanded by God, the Lord and
  Sustainer of all beings.
• Protection of the natural environment from abuse
  by man leads to the improved quality of life of
  all of Gods creation, i.e. human beings,
  animals, water resources, land resources,
  vegetation etc.
• The need to protect the natural environment with
  all its biological components from the harmful
  activities of man has existed as long as history
  has been recorded.

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CONCLUDING REMARKS

• The conservation of the natural environment is a
  moral and ethical imperative.
• Environmental problems cannot be solved through
  knowledge and technology alone.
• Moral conviction and ethical consciousness -- at
  both individual and social levels -- can motivate
  people to forego some of the short-range profits
  of this life, and to make personal sacrifices for
  the common good.
• It is only when our ethical horizons extend to
  embrace not only mankind but all generations and
  all created beings, that we can perform the noble
  role of stewardship on earth for which God
  created us.

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CONCLUDING REMARKS.

• Ethical teachings should be backed with
  legislation and effective enforcement of
  injunctions and prohibitions.
• The force of law and political authority are
  therefore indispensable to bring about justice
  and equity in the allocation and distribution of
  natural resources and in implementing the
  measures required for the protection and
  conservation of the earth and what it contains.
• Through the institutional arrangements of
  society, conservation should be integrated with
  ecologically sustainable development.
• Conservation divorced from sustainable
  development is neither socially acceptable nor
  economically viable.
• People's rights to harvest and extract the
  natural resources on which society depends should
  be allocated according to the effort they invest
  in the beneficial use and conservation of these
  resources, and linked to accountability for the
  way they use these common assets of society
• The right to use a resource sustainably for
  profit provides an incentive to reinvest in its
  conservation and enhancement. 
• Similarly, the economic benefits of the
  conservation of a resource should return to those
  people who have borne the cost of its
  conservation

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CONCLUDING REMARKS.

• Scientific and technical knowledge of the natural
  environment and the means of its conservation
  should continually be improved and developed
  through ongoing scientific research and
  monitoring.
• Accurate information is indispensable to make
  enlightened decisions for the conservation of the
  natural environment, to avoid acts that lead to
  its degradation, and to rectify damage that
  already has occurred.
• Such information should be disseminated as
  widely as possible and incorporated into
  extension services and basic education in the
  schools and universities so as to enable the
  public to participate fully in the conservation
  of the environment.
• The development of the earth, in order to be
  ecologically sustainable, should be planned and
  carried out in accordance with the natural
  constraints, ecological values and sensitivities,
  and inherent suitability of its various
  localities.
• Planning for development should in every case
  include analysis of environmental impacts, and
  be designed to minimize damage to the natural
  environment and depletion of natural resources.
• Due consideration of all aspects of the
  environment, including science, health, and
  natural beauty, should be emphasized throughout
  every development project.

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CONCLUDING REMARKS

• Developmental actions and projects undertaken in
  one country should not lead to any kind of
  damage, harm, or degradation in the natural
  environment of another country.
• The natural environment and natural resources
  should not be subjected to any irreparable damage
  for the purpose of military or hostile actions.
• The challenge that faces us is unprecedented in
  its magnitude, and to meet it requires an
  enormous mobilization of resources, sound
  strategies, and resolute action, so that we may,
  God-willing, maintain and perpetuate a good and
  prosperous life for the present and future
  generations of mankind and all created beings.
• Finally there is the urgent and crucial need to
  promote all endeavors, whether local, regional,
  or international in scope, and call for the
  joining of concerted efforts in all fields to
  conserve, protect, and rehabilitate our natural
  environment

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• THANK YOU FOR YOUR AUDIENCE