Course syllabus

Course-PM

ENM021 Applied industrial ecology sp4 VT23 (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
• Henrikke Baumann is a guest teacher at the division of Environmental Systems Analysis at the department Technology, Management and Economics
• Ridwan Dzikrurrokhim is the teaching assistant for the course: ridwand@chalmers.se 
• Clara Saglietti is the teaching assistant for the course: clarasag@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:

• an overview of the field of Industrial Ecology;
• a set of analytical tools and methods applied in Industrial Ecology that apply a systems approach to analyse the environmental, resource and societal impact of technologies and industries: material flow analysis, sustainability indicators, technology assessment, and scenarios;
• experience with identifying potential actions for societal, policy and industrial actors;
• students’ presentations of the industrial metabolism of a set of materials from a sustainability perspective;
• students’ presentations of foresight-based technology assessments for a set of technologies.

Schedule

You can find a detailed schedule in the document with the course description (PM) in the modules.

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 modules.

Course design

The course includes two larger projects that are performed in groups of students. The course includes lectures and literature that work as a base and support for both the projects and the exam. The students write a project proposal for each project. The students have a presentation for each project and write a report for project 2.

Learning objectives

After the course, you should be able to:

• describe the field of industrial ecology, including its history and current use;
• explain, identify, and assess critical aspects of the sustainability of materials and technologies;
• describe the industrial metabolism for a set of materials from a sustainability perspective;
• make and use simple models of materials and technologies to assess and deal with complex phenomena, issues and situations even with limited information;
• describe and explain the characteristics (e.g. purpose, intended users, system boundaries, dimensions) of different approaches to sustainability assessment in industrial ecology including their strengths and limitations;
• use material flow analysis (MFA) and technology assessment (TA) along with sustainability indicators and scenario analysis to conduct sustainability assessments, including ethical implications;
• explain how methodological choices and assumptions influence sustainability assessments in industrial ecology, including MFAs and TAs;
• 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 requirements 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;
• submit project proposals and attend compulsory consultation sessions to discuss the proposal;
• participate in the presentations of the group, and attend the presentations of the other groups;
• hand in power point presentations;
• approved report for project 2.

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.