The Implementation of the SD Programs for Management …
503
employability of students. Such an obstacle could be overcome by developing
sustainable products and markets, and/or through social marketing.
2. Those willing to embed sustainable development are uncertain as to what the key
concepts are as well as how these concepts should be embedded in the curriculum.
The way to overcome this barrier would be firstly to determine the concepts to be
included, then survey the students to see what they know, followed by a survey
at the end of the term to see what they were taught. Concepts not taught will be
embedded during the following academic year.
3. If the problem of sustainable development involves multiple disciplines, the solution should be multi-disciplinary if not interdisciplinary. Barriers to the interdisciplinary work for economists could be that economics is not welcoming to
other disciplines, the belief that economics has no limitations when answering
questions of sustainable development and the feeling that some economists are
insufficiently “trained” to communicate with other disciplines.
In some aspects, these barriers refer to management programs. In particular, this is
connected with the need of using a multi-disciplinary and interdisciplinary approach.
In Belarusian universities, in a narrow sense the course “Environmental Management” refers mainly to environmental management of enterprises in accordance with
ISO 14001. In a wide sense, environmental management is considered in the course
“Environmental protection and rational use of natural resources” aimed at specialized
training in the field of preserving and restoring the natural environment, rational use
and reproduction of natural resources, preventing pollution, degradation, damage,
depletion, destruction and other harmful effects and liquidation of its consequences.
Basically, such courses are developed based on national legislation and the use of
ISO standard only. It should also be noted that the international agreements of the
Republic of Belarus emphasize the need to bring the norms of national legislation to
an international one.
The aim of this paper is to present the result of the project “Environmental
management in European Union course and MOOC” which was developed for
management curriculum of Minsk Branch of the Plekhanov Russian University of
Economics. This course was developed in the framework of Jean Monnet activity
in the Erasmus + program and was directed at overcoming the gap between European and Belarus approaches to environmental management. Erasmus+ is the EU’s
programme to support education, training, youth, and sport in Europe. Jean Monnet
Activity proposes the development of a teaching module connected with European
Policy (Erasmus+ n.d.).
The analysis of sustainable development and its problems, as well as European
legislation related to this field are the basis of the course, which includes 10 themes:
Sustainable Development and Environmental Management, Global environmental
issues, Indicators of Sustainable Development, International laws, International
standards, Environmental monitoring, Development of environmental management
systems, Natural resource accounting, Waste management and Environmental assessment. These topics use practical studies as means to verify cause-effect relations
among problems and analyse statistical data related to the Sustainable Development
503
employability of students. Such an obstacle could be overcome by developing
sustainable products and markets, and/or through social marketing.
2. Those willing to embed sustainable development are uncertain as to what the key
concepts are as well as how these concepts should be embedded in the curriculum.
The way to overcome this barrier would be firstly to determine the concepts to be
included, then survey the students to see what they know, followed by a survey
at the end of the term to see what they were taught. Concepts not taught will be
embedded during the following academic year.
3. If the problem of sustainable development involves multiple disciplines, the solution should be multi-disciplinary if not interdisciplinary. Barriers to the interdisciplinary work for economists could be that economics is not welcoming to
other disciplines, the belief that economics has no limitations when answering
questions of sustainable development and the feeling that some economists are
insufficiently “trained” to communicate with other disciplines.
In some aspects, these barriers refer to management programs. In particular, this is
connected with the need of using a multi-disciplinary and interdisciplinary approach.
In Belarusian universities, in a narrow sense the course “Environmental Management” refers mainly to environmental management of enterprises in accordance with
ISO 14001. In a wide sense, environmental management is considered in the course
“Environmental protection and rational use of natural resources” aimed at specialized
training in the field of preserving and restoring the natural environment, rational use
and reproduction of natural resources, preventing pollution, degradation, damage,
depletion, destruction and other harmful effects and liquidation of its consequences.
Basically, such courses are developed based on national legislation and the use of
ISO standard only. It should also be noted that the international agreements of the
Republic of Belarus emphasize the need to bring the norms of national legislation to
an international one.
The aim of this paper is to present the result of the project “Environmental
management in European Union course and MOOC” which was developed for
management curriculum of Minsk Branch of the Plekhanov Russian University of
Economics. This course was developed in the framework of Jean Monnet activity
in the Erasmus + program and was directed at overcoming the gap between European and Belarus approaches to environmental management. Erasmus+ is the EU’s
programme to support education, training, youth, and sport in Europe. Jean Monnet
Activity proposes the development of a teaching module connected with European
Policy (Erasmus+ n.d.).
The analysis of sustainable development and its problems, as well as European
legislation related to this field are the basis of the course, which includes 10 themes:
Sustainable Development and Environmental Management, Global environmental
issues, Indicators of Sustainable Development, International laws, International
standards, Environmental monitoring, Development of environmental management
systems, Natural resource accounting, Waste management and Environmental assessment. These topics use practical studies as means to verify cause-effect relations
among problems and analyse statistical data related to the Sustainable Development