Environmental disaster education at the university level: an integrative approach

Because of the highly complex nature of chemical and nuclear accidents, eff orts aimed at prevention, preparedness and response require the melding of many types of knowledge and the close collaboration of a wide range of prof essions. Nevertheless, the need for such integration and cooperation is not always strongly emphasized in university-level curricula. As a result, dev eloping professionals have few opportunities to learn and practise unified models of environmental accident management. In an effort to foster a more integrative approach. the University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA, has lau nched the "Environmental Disasters" project. The project crosses disciplina ry boundaries with respect to both curriculum and enrollment. In terms of c urriculum, the project examines chemical and nuclear accidents from a multi -dimensional perspective, considering not only regulatory, scientific and p olicy issues, but also the public health, social, and psychological implica tions. In terms of enrollment, the project brings together students from th e full range of fields that are involved with environmental accidents, incl uding engineering, public health, public administration, social work, psych ology, nursing, communications, medicine, and environmental studies. Emphas izing the need for a collaborative approach, students work in multi-discipl inary teams as they explore theory, case studies and current research. In a ddition, the student teams develop detailed plans for addressing the effect s of a chemical or nuclear disaster. With environmental accidents represent ing an on-going threat to health and safety, the approach discussed in this article may provide a useful model for environmental disaster education at the university level. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.