Principles of Environmental Engineering

Todays societies are facing multiple environmental changes of natural and anthropogenic origin that can both impair human and environmental health. The main priority of environmental engineers is to safeguard environmental quality, human livelihood, health, well-being, and safety. To design effective engineering and management solutions, environmental engineers need to understand both physico(bio)chemical processes in soil, water, and air as well as the societal processes that affect environmental legislation and courses of action. These two aspects are covered within the themes Environmental Quality, Cycles and Fluxes and Environment and Society.

Environmental Quality, Cycles, and Fluxes

Link to learning objectives of the module:

ENV-PC: LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4, LO5 and LO8ab.

Regarding physico(bio)chemistry, this module provides the student with quantitative insights into the interlinkages between the soil, water, and air compartments, specifically the processes distributing water (the hydrological cycle) and elements (for example C, N, P, S cycles). The module will also discuss how human activity influences these cycles and impairs soil, water, and air quality. It is explained how various environmental quality standards protect environmental and human health.

Environment and Society

Link to learning objectives of the module:

ENV-PC: LO1, LO4, LO5, LO6, LO7 and LO8ab.

Several different Environmental Engineering problems will be selected to show the variety of environmental engineering problems and how they could be analysed and solved. Problem ownership and responsibility will be discussed together with distribution of costs and benefits and ethical dilemmas. Students learn about the role of law and politics at different levels. With the gained understanding and skills, the student is able to identify integrated strategies to practically prevent or resolve environmental engineering problems.

Other

The students will start compiling their portfolio that will be assessed in Q6. An introduction will be given on the portfolio compilation, life-long learning skills and the ethics learning line.