Course syllabus

Course-PM

ENM021 Applied industrial ecology sp4 VT22 (7.5 hp)

The course is offered by the department of Space, Earth and Environment

Contact details

• Ulrika Lundqvist is the examiner and main teacher for the first project in the course: E-mail: ulrika.lundqvist@chalmers.se, Phone: 031-772 3281.
• Jessica Jewell is the main teacher for the second project in the course. E-mail: jewell@chalmers.se
• Additional teacher is Henrikke Baumann at the division of Environmental Systems Analysis at the department Technology, Management and Economics, E-mail: Henrikke.Baumann@chalmers.se
• Ridwan Dzikrurrokhim is the teaching assistant for the course: ridwand@chalmers.se 

Course purpose and content

The aim of the course is that students should gain knowledge and skills about some analytical tools and methods applied in Industrial Ecology to support them to assess critical aspects of sustainability, focus on environmental impacts and resource constraints, and to suggest measures towards sustainable development. The focus is on technical systems and life cycles of resources and products. 

The course includes:

• the field of Industrial Ecology;
• a set of analytical tools and methods applied in Industrial Ecology that apply a systems perspective to analyse and suggest measures for societal and industrial activities and their impact on nature: material flow analysis, sustainability indicators, technology assessment;
• students’ presentations of the industrial metabolism of a set of materials from a sustainability perspective;
• students’ presentations of the results of technology assessments of a set of technologies from a sustainability perspective

Schedule

You can find a detailed schedule in the document "course description and schedule" in the modules (and in the "files") as well as dates for all deadlines.

Course literature

You can find information about the literature in the document with the course description (PM) and you can find all the literature in the "files".

Course design

The course includes two larger projects that are performed in groups of students. The groups are formed by the students. The course includes lectures and literature that work as a base and support for both the projects and the exam. The teachers give supervision and feedback for the projects. The students write a planning report for each project. The students have a presentation and write a work report for each project. Each student write an individual reflection about the results and methodologies for project 1.

Learning objectives

After the course, you should be able to:

• describe the field of Industrial Ecology and explain different parts of the concept;
• apply the tools and methods included in the course;
• describe and explain the steps in the procedures or methodologies of the tools and methods included in the course;
• describe and explain the main characteristics of the tools and methods included in the course (such as: purpose, intended users, system boundaries, dimensions);
• choose relevant tools and methods for different purposes;
• describe and explain strengths and weaknesses (possibilities and limitations) of the tools and methods included in the course;
• describe which and explain how methodological choices and assumptions can have important influence on the results produced by the tools and methods included in the course;
• explain, identify and assess critical aspects of sustainability for technical systems and life cycles of resources and products,
• focus on environmental impacts and resource constraints;
• make an evaluation of potential ethical consequences for technical systems and life cycles of resources and products, based on knowledge about ethics theory; make simple models of technical systems and life cycles of resources and products;
• critically and independently be able to identify and formulate complex problems in relation to sustainable development;
• simulate, predict and evaluate behaviour and events, also with limited or incomplete information;
• describe the industrial metabolism for a set of materials from a sustainability perspective;
• describe the results of technology assessments for a set of technologies (products) from a sustainability perspective;
• clearly and unambiguously present (orally) conclusions, and the knowledge and rationale underpinning these.

Examination

The course is divided into two parts: 1) projects 4.5 credits, and 2) written exam 3.0 credits. The grading for the whole course is: 3, 4 or 5 and is based on the performance in both these parts.

The following prerequisites have to be fulfilled to get a passed result for the projects:

• take an active part in the group work, which should correspond to an approximately equal distribution of work among the students in the group;
• participate at the supervision and feed-back meetings with the teacher;
• participate in the presentations of the group, and attend the presentations of the other groups;
• approved planning reports;
• hand in power point presentations;
• approved work reports;
• hand in individual reflection of the results and methodologies for project 1.

Bonus points will be given to students in groups that perform well in the projects. The bonus points will be added to the points received at the exam, which can result in a higher grade. However, the bonus points cannot be used to pass the exam. The bonus points can only be used during the ordinary exam and the two following re-exams. Each project can get 0, 2, or 4 bonus points depending on how well they have met the projects’ aims and objectives. The student presentations and the power-point slides are used for a preliminary evaluation and the work reports are included for the final evaluation.