Decision Making in Environmental Management EENG 8785

Upon successful completion, the student will be able to:

• Define and apply the key elements of the (rational) decision-making process.
• Understand the historical background on Canadian resource management.
• Describe the historical roots of the modern environmental movement and its influence on environmental decision making.
• Describe the historical development of environmental evaluation and the way(s) in which evaluation is influenced by political, legal, economic, technological and physical constraints.
• Use acquired knowledge of the number and complexity of considerations which must be incorporated into environmental decisions to critically evaluate case studies.
• Define and explain problems in the measurement of environmental values.
• Discuss the role of valuation methods in environmental decision making.
• Understand why rational individual decisions don't necessarily lead to optimal group decisions with respect to resource and environmental management.
• Understand the planning and policy-making process in environmental decision making.
• Define the key 'drivers' of change for environmental decision making.
• Define the role of ENGOs, business and the public in environmental decisions.
• Understand the role of ethics and corporate social responsibility in environmental decision making.
• Apply their knowledge of environmental decision making to facilitate better management of scarce resources, and facilitate progress toward sustainability.

Effective as of Fall 2003