Towards Sustainability: Challenges and Demands for Environmental Education in Hungary Márton HERCZEG&Noémi NAGYPÁL Ph.D. Student and Assistant Lecturer

Towards Sustainability:

Challenges and Demands for

Environmental Education in Hungary

Márton HERCZEG & Noémi NAGYPÁL Ph.D. Student and Assistant Lecturer Ph.D. Student

Budapest University of Technology and Economics

Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences Department of Environmental Economics

http://www.kornygazd.bme.hu/

Introduction



1. Demands by SocietyState of the environmental awareness

in Hungary

2. Demands by Industry and FirmsLevel of corporate environmental

awareness

3. Challenges in Hungarian Environmental Higher Education

State of environmental education

4. Environmental Management Specialist Post-grad Course

A response for the need

Hungary



Founded in 1000 AD

Population of 10 million

Will join the European Union in May 2004

The European Union has a market size of around 380 million people





Founded in 1782

Became the 1st technical university in the world in 1881

Has about 13,000 students

DoEE has 2,000 students

Curriculum in “Environmental” …

Economics, Management, Audit, Law, Performance evaluation, Policies, Strategy, Evaluation, etc.


Environmental Awareness in HungaryA Survey Questionnaire



Sample of 1,000 people

Representative regarding gender, education, age and residence of the Hungarian population

Control group formed by university students taking environmental courses

Residence

20%

39%

41% Budapest

Other cities

Other settlement

Education

44%

42%

14%Primary school

Secondaryschool

Higher education

Age stucture of the sample

39%

37%

24%-29

29-49

50-


Environmental Awareness in Hungary A Survey Questionnaire



1.State of the environment2.Interest in environmental issues and

participation in programs3.Opinion concerning environmental liability of

firms4.Environmental information, source of

information5.Environmental programs at school, work and

home6.Environmental issues related to consumption7.Willingness to pay for environmentally sound

products

Issues in focus:


Environmental Awareness in Hungary



2. How serious is the problem of environmental pollution at or close to your residence, in your opinion?

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Very serious Pretty serious Not a significantproblem

It is not a problem

Per

cent of an

swer

s

Sample

Control group




7. Who has the primary responsibility for the environmental protection of the country (settlements)?

05

10152025

303540

4550

Government(local

authorities)

Organisations,companies.

Civilorganisations

(NGOs).

Citizens. Other.

Pe

rcen

t of

an

swer

s

Sample

Control group





8. Do consumer attitudes have role in decreasing environmental problems?

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Yes, signif icantimpacts.

May haveenvironmental

impacts.

No. No answer.

Per

cen

t of

an

swer

s

Sample

Control group




12. Would you pay more for goods in order to guarantee the reduction of pollution?

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Yes, I am w illing topay more.

I am not sure to paymore.

I w ould definitely notpay more.

No answ er.

Per

cent

of a

nsw

ers

Sample

Control group


Budapest University of Technology and EconomicsFaculty of Economic and Social Sciences Department of Environmental Economics

Conclusions of the survey

Generally, people are aware of their own environmental role and the negative impacts related to their consumption of goods and services.

They follow environmental related events: main source of information is the electronic media.

Consumers would like to consider environmental information when choosing products and services, but …

Consumers would like to have more environmental information about the products and services they buy.

The willingness to pay seems to be remarkable.

Environmental Higher Education



Increasing demand from society and business since the early ´90s

Must confront two issues:

Inadequate preparation of applicants

The demand for more and better prepared graduates

European initiatives: Cardiff and Bologna Processes

Positive tendencies:

General improving tendency

Different forms of training

New educational tools implemented

Negative tendencies:

Environmental education is not compulsory for every student

Lack of effective cooperation with environmental associations

“Professional jealousy”

Environmental Higher Education



Full-time, other forms and (sub-branch) specializations

Environmental engineer

Environmental economic agricultural engineer

Environmental sciences teacher

Environmental protection teacher

Environmental sciences

Environmental pedagogy

Total number of students

0200

400600800

10001200

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Year

Stude

nts

Total number of students

Business Need for Professionals



Organizations observed by our study:1. Companies with ISO 14001 certificate2. Companies not certificated but having significant

environmental impacts3. Local authorities of municipalities

For companies certified under ISO 14001 it is more important to employ environmental specialists than for the rest of the sample:

9 to11 specialist vs. 1 to 3.

For both groups of companies it is important to employ experts in order to fulfill legal requirements and have good relationships with authorities, while higher market share is less important.

ISO 14001 certificated companies find positive image more important in environmental issues than non-certified companies.







Environmental Management SpecialistPost graduate course at DoEE



Environmental management specialists will have an up-to-date knowledge of:

environmental management systems,

environmental impact assessment,

environmental risk assessment,

environmental audit,

project management, projects with significant environmental impacts,

preparation environmental policies, reports and statements.

Environmental Management SpecialistPost graduate course at DoEE

Budapest University of Technology and EconomicsFaculty of Economic and Social Sciences Department of Environmental Economics

Correspondent course

450 contact hours (lectures and lab work)

Friday & Saturday 9.00 am to 18.00 pm

4 semesters

120 credits must be earned

First semester finished with 19 students

Budapest University of Technology and

EconomicsFaculty of Economic and Social Sciences Department of Environmental Economics

Thank you for your attention!

Márton HERCZEGPh.D. Student and Assistant Lecturer

[email protected]: + 36 1 463 19 41

Fax: + 36 1 463 11 49

Address:Budapest University of Technology and Economics

Department of Environmental EconomicsH–1111 Budapest, Stoczek u. 2.

HUNGARY

Documents

Towards Sustainability: Challenges and Demands for Environmental Education in Hungary Márton HERCZEG&Noémi NAGYPÁL Ph.D. Student and Assistant Lecturer