An interdisciplinary approach to integrating sustainability into mining engineering education and research

This paper considers how the Mining Engineering Department at the University of British Columbia (UBC) is addressing the need to integrate sustainable development into mining engineering on behalf of industry and society. In particular, it considers the evolution of an interdisciplinary model, the Sustainability Working Group (SWG), which has brought together a diverse array of disciplines from academia, industry, government, NGOs and mining communities. The operational mechanisms and structure of SWG have enabled momentum to be gained through several initiatives. These aim to impact on undergraduate and postgraduate education, lifelong learning and research.     

Creating policy analysis skills in postgraduate engineering for sustainable development

A new sustainable development module for a taught postgraduate engineering course provided an opportunity to design and streamline taught content, using a constructivist model of student learning. The design process revealed that a key learning objective for a postgraduate engineering student must be the competency to analyse difficult social and political contexts. The success of meeting this need by introducing cognitive mapping, a technique previously used in operations research and social science, is reported.     

How do scientific assessments learn?: Part 1. Conceptual framework and case study of the IPCC

Scientific assessments play a crucial role in advising and shaping political decisions particularly in the environmental domain. Therefore, this and the accompanying paper (Part 2) present two case studies of international environmental assessments with a perspective on internal learning processes. When carried out over a longer period of time, scientific assessments provide an opportunity for learning from past experience and from other assessment experiences which gives them the opportunity to become more powerful institutions in the process of solving environmental problems and in advising political decision-making. The paper will investigate how the assessments at hand organised their learning processes and which factors might have been influential in these processes. To answer these questions, a conceptual framework will be developed drawing particularly on literature on organisational learning. This concept will be applied to two case studies on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and (Part 2) on the scientific assessments under the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP). Both cases are iterative processes with significant changes of the assessment institutions over time, but they differ in their basic structures and in their effectiveness with regard to political outcomes which allows for their comparison in order to draw general conclusions.     

Teaching sustainability as a contested concept: capitalizing on variation in engineering educators' conceptions of environmental,social and economic sustainability

This study documents variation in engineering academics conceptions of sustainability. We investigated how a group of Australian engineering academics described environmental, social and economic sustainability, and identified a broad range of actions that participating academics associated with achieving sustainability. The study suggested marked variation in the actions that participating academics viewed as coherent with sustainable engineering practice, and therefore, potentially marked variations in the sustainability actions academics might advocate to their undergraduate students. Rather than framing this variation as problematic for teaching and learning sustainable engineering, we suggest that such variation in conception of sustainability, and explicit contestation of this variation in the engineering classroom, offers opportunities to enrich undergraduate sustainability learning and teaching. We develop this argument by using some generic environmental, economic, and social theoretical frameworks to characterize the differences according to the values and assumptions that may underpin the observed variation. Validated frameworks are useful to move beyond discussions based on ‘opinion’, because they provide a framework for critical reflection by engineering students and academics about the values and assumptions that inform engineering practice generally and sustainable engineering practice, particularly.     

富含H.S.B菌群活性污泥降解煤气废水的试验研究

煤气是一种清洁的燃料。然而,在煤气化生产过程中也产生了大量废水。生物降解目前是煤气化废水治疗的主要方法。由于煤气废水对微生物有较强的毒性和抑制性,生物学的技术提高是特别必需的。采用厌氧-好氧工艺,接种焦化厂厌氧池和好氧池成熟污泥,经驯化,通过对废水COD去除率的测定,结果显示,厌氧降解实际废水试验中,9天后COD去除率能达到72%以上;好氧降解水解出水试验中,7天后COD去除率能达到80%以上。     

Two approaches for pollution prevention in the chemical engineering curriculum at UASLP

Two experiences related to pollution prevention (P2) curricula are described: An active learning course in environmental engineering (EE) for ChE students, and the development of “modules” for pollution prevention in an international mobility program. The first is approached in collaborative learning oriented to pollution prevention through process and product analysis and life cycle assessment; the second attempts to design and develop up to 17 modules around process integration tools in an exchange program involving eight institutions from three countries of North America, some 12 professors and up to 42 students. Modules support in-class and distance learning using a web-based platform.     

Clean-up and disposal process of polluted sediments from urban rivers

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农业清洁生产工程体系

将工业清洁生产理论移植于农业，通过对农业清洁生产的初步探讨，提出了农业清洁生产工程的工艺体系、技术体系和管理体系，试为农业环境保护和农业生产寻找一条系统的可持续发展之路。     

地质工程建设与环境的协调发展

人类为自身的发展而进行的各种工程地质建设与环境相互依存,相互影响。本文首先提出人与自然是工程地质工作的两个基本点,并且认为人类活动应与自然环境相协调。人类的各种工程活动必然影响到周边环境。建立整体性思维是解决工程建设与环境协调发展问题的有效方法。我国近年来表现最突出的工程地质建设与环境问题包括:(1)为西部大开发而进行的各种配套的工程建设将要遇到的工程地质及环境问题;(2)南水北调工程建设及环境问题;(3)东部及沿海地区工程建设及环境问题;(4)水土流失与我国北方大规模荒漠化问题及城市的环境破坏与污染控制问题等等。最后作者详细论述三峡库区地质工程建设与环境的相互影响。为实现可持续发展战略,工程地质建设必须与环境相协调。     

A multi-level perspective on learning about climate change adaptation through international cooperation

International cooperation and learning may accelerate climate change adaptation and help countries and regions to adapt more effectively and efficiently. Recognizing the importance and opportunities for mutual learning and knowledge transfer, international and supranational organizations, such as the European Commission, have put programmes for international cooperation in place. This paper presents and tests a framework for assessing multi-level learning outcomes of such international cooperation processes and the conditions that produce these outcomes. The framework distinguishes between: (1) group learning by individual process participants; (2) organizational learning by organizations represented in the process; and (3) network and societal learning by actors external to the process. We verify the analytical potential of the framework by comparing learning by six partners in an adaptation-oriented European cooperation project. The project scores rather high on group learning with participants learning from and – to a lesser extent – also with each other. Learning by partner organizations varied and was generally less whereas learning by external actors was very limited. The case study confirms our expectation that learning outcomes are produced by combinations of partner-specific, process-specific and process-external conditions. The presented framework and insights can be used to stimulate learning in and from international cooperation processes.     

环境试验与可靠性试验技术的发展

在总结过去、现在产品环境试验基础上,提出以激发试验为主的今后发展方向,并提出“健壮工程”的理念。“健壮工程”是在原有的健壮设计的基础上,充实了可靠性与环境工程的成功技术,并体现设计、制造、试验可靠性3要素,加入了可靠性强化试验,构成完整的工程技术路线。     

工业企业推行清洁生产的制度体系

工业企业建立推行清洁生产的制度体系,是实施清洁生产的基本保证,文章在分析了企业建立并健全清洁生产制度体系必要性的基础上,运用系统工程的原理和方法,阐述了推行清洁生产制度体系的基本框架及主要内容,同时还阐述了编制制度体系的基本要点,以促使工业企业全面推行清洁生产,逐步形成“自我完善,自我约束”的污染防治运行机制。     

玻璃钢切边打磨纤维粉尘收集净化

根据玻璃钢切边打磨的工艺状况以及手工加工产生的纤维粉尘的特点,采用冲击、过滤、喷淋三级一体化净化装置净化含尘气流,取得良好的净化效果。浅述了净化系统的集气设备、净化原理、工艺流程和排风量计算等工程设计问题。     

灰色关联分析在生态工业园清洁生产推进中的应用

清洁生产是生态工业园建设的前提,在现有改造型生态工业园的建设中必须逐步推进,并全面实行清洁生产。应用灰色关联分析方法对拟建生态工业园现有企业进行清洁生产评价,通过建立评价指标体系和评价标准,利用关联度和关联系数分别确定园区推行清洁生产的近期、中期、远期方案和找出制约企业提高清洁生产程度存在的问题。以龙门工业园焦化企业为例,研究结果表明,企业9和企业4的关联度>0.8,为园区优先推行清洁生产的试点企业,是园区清洁生产推进中的近期方案,分类指出园区下一步推行清洁生产的重点企业,为园区的中、远期方案。该方法原理简单,结果可靠,是一种有实用价值、适合于指导园区清洁生产推进的评价方法。     

我国海洋工程海洋环境影响后评价方法初探——以温州灵霓北堤工程海洋环境影响后评价为例

海洋工程竣工投产后,其造成的海洋环境负面影响往往超过工程施工前开展的海洋环境影响评价中的预测值,开展海洋工程海洋环境影响后评价工作是近几年来国外海洋发达国家海洋工程管理方面应用较为成熟的一种管理手段。温州灵霓北堤工程是我国首个实施海洋环境影响后评价的工程,在其竣工通车2 a后,为了检验灵霓北堤对瓯江口南北两侧海域的实际海洋环境影响以及前期环境评价单位,温州市发改委委托中国海洋大学展开环境影响后评价工作。中国海洋大学根据海域现状和历史调查资料,采用有无对比、前后对比和数学模型预测的方法,针对工程前期评价单位的预测与结论,评价了灵霓北堤两侧海域海洋环境质量现状,并对前期环评结论的合理性和正确性开展了分析。后评价结果表明,前期评价单位的预测结果基本都已得到体现,但其部分预测值较保守,例如部分区域的冲淤量和灵霓北堤对两侧生物的影响等。     

Developing an interactive multimedia software package to enhance understanding of and learning outcomes in water treatment processes

Teaching and learning environments which use multimedia based resources greatly improve the effectiveness and efficiency of learning by engaging students at a deeper level than may otherwise be possible. This is particularly so in situations where “real world” phenomena and processes are being taught. Using such a multimedia package in teaching pollution control processes is novel. This paper reports on the successful development of a multimedia package dealing with several pollution control processes and its evaluation. The pollution control processes illustrated in the multimedia software are physico–chemical processes which are widely used in both water and wastewater treatment. Teaching the design concepts for these processes in a conventional classroom setting is challenging because students have difficulty in visualising the techniques and processes involved. This difficulty is compounded by the fact that many of the processes occur naturally over longer time periods and so cannot be easily be integrated into normal teaching environments. The software package incorporates several different media modes including text, drawings, photographs, animation, and simulation. The preliminary pilot evaluation of this package using third year engineering students indicated that it provided greater insight and understanding of the complex treatment processes being taught.     

淮河入海水道南泓生态工程规划研究

在“控制导流,清污两制”的战略指导下,借助淮河入海水道的水工设施,利用南泓作为三淮一洪地区城市污水的调度通道和生态处理场所,尾水最终入海。研究表明,南泓生态工程净化能力显著,基本不会对沿线环境卫生、地下水、下游地面水及海口生态构成影响,是淮阴市三淮一洪以至下游滨海、阜宁地区未来污水安全可靠的出路。     

Preparing future engineers for challenges of the 21st century: Sustainable engineering

The field of engineering is changing rapidly as the growing global population puts added demands on the earth's resources: engineering decisions must now account for limitations in materials and energy as well as the need to reduce discharges of wastes. This means educators must revise courses and curricula so engineering graduates are prepared for the new challenges as practicing engineers. The Center for Sustainable Engineering has been established to help faculty members accommodate such changes through workshops and new educational materials, including a free access website with peer-reviewed materials.     

软岩的力学特性及工程危害防治

软岩的分类界定及其力学特性是工程界讨论的热点问题。根据这类岩体具有抗剪强度低以及具有明显的流变特性、可塑性、膨胀性、崩解性和易扰动性等力学特性,分析了软岩的工程危害主要表现在边坡的稳定性和地下隧道开挖大变形等方面,提出在实际工程中应根据具体的情况采取有效的防治措施,降低软岩工程的危害性。