Academic courses at AUA

ECRC offers a survey class in environmental management taught to first-year students in all masters programs and a certificate program in conservation and environmental studies.

Environmental Management (EM295) explores the fundamentals of ecology, conservation, and environmental pollution. The class promotes a concrete understanding of the environmental problems facing Armenia and places those problems in a global context. The course emphasizes the ability to critically think about possible solutions. The goal of the class is to provide all students with innate knowledge and awareness of the impact of environmental degradation on human and natural systems.

The Certificate Program in Environmental Science and Conservation is offered to second year students in AUA's MBA, Political Science, Industrial Engineering, Public Health, and Law programs. The Certificate Program provides advanced course work coupled with the completion of an independent research project. The certificate program is intended to provide students with the background necessary to bring environmental awareness and sustainable development concepts to their professional careers. As future leaders in Armenia, the students completing the program will become environmental educators for their peers.

Environmental Education Workshops

ECRC organizes an annual conference for K-12 science teachers in Armenia. ECRC is taking a leading role in bringing an environmental education curriculum to the classrooms of Armenian schoolchildren. The first Environmental Education Workshop, held in the Fall of 1998, identified three roadblocks to environmental education in Armenia: 1) the lack of curricular materials, 2) the lack of teacher training in the variety of environmental disciplines, and 3) the lack of a clearly defined government policy on environmental education in the Republic of Armenia.

In the 3rd annual Environmental Education Workshop to be held in the Fall of 2000, ECRC will work with participants to address these problem areas.

Results of the 1st and 2nd education conference include the drafting of a