Title: The origins of the environmental systems and sustainability roundtables: design, core competencies, and certification/accreditation of interdisciplinary environmental academic programmes

Authors: Kimberly D.S. Reiter

Addresses: Department of History, Stetson University, DeLand, FL 32723, Florida, USA

Abstract: The Interdisciplinary Environmental Association has sponsored a series of invited roundtables on the issue of how to craft and validate degree-granting programmes in environmental systems and sustainability, addressing the goal of studying the holistic, adaptive management of the health and resilience of the systems at the human-nature interface to support stewardship of the natural environment and long term improvement in the human condition. The challenges of adapting and aiding existing |environmental| programmes are acknowledged as historic barriers to the implementation of such programmes. The roundtables seek to address these challenges, especially in the areas of interdisciplinary/supradisciplinary teaching, core competencies, certification or accreditation for the purpose of giving programmes and graduates validation, and institutional administration. The hope is that the ESS roundtables, in conjunction with the efforts of other organisations of similar perspective, will be able to produce a series of papers and proposals for facilitating ESS programmes.

Keywords: sustainability; curriculum; supradisciplinary teaching; interdisciplinary academic programmes; environmental academic programmes; environmental education; environmental courses; higher education; roundtables; sustainable development; core competencies; certification; accreditation.

DOI: 10.1504/IER.2011.043341

Interdisciplinary Environmental Review, 2011 Vol.12 No.4, pp.329 - 337

Published online: 23 Sep 2014 *

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