Christopher Kennedy
University of Victoria/
Chris Kennedy is Chair of the new Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Victoria. He conducts research on sustainable cities, urban metabolism, and the industrial ecology of sustainable global infrastructure systems. He is Past-President of the International Society for Industrial Ecology.
This paper has two objectives:
To examine the relationship between Industrial Ecology (IE) and Sustainability Science
Review programs in IE and discuss a model program that provides core content for Sustainability Science.
Industrial ecology was defined by Robert White, President of the US National Academy of Engineering, as “the study of the flows of materials and energy in industrial and consumer activities, of the effects of these flows on the environment, and of the influences of economic, political, regulatory, and social factors on the flow, use, and transformation of resources.” (White, 1994). IE is an interdisciplinary applied science with both objective and normative elements. It is a physical science in that it involves rigorous application of conservation of energy and mass; and is a social science in that the applications are largely to the creations of industrial-society. IE is normative in that it seeks to reduce environmental impacts, but recognizes that objective study helps to encourage policies and designs that can reduce environmental impacts.
Referencing the PNAS website Kates (2011) defines sustainability science as “…an emerging field of research dealing with the interactions between natural and social systems, and with how those interactions affect the challenge of sustainability: meeting the needs of present and future generations while substantially reducing poverty and conserving the planet's life support systems.”
Sustainability Science is possibly a broader field than Industrial Ecology. Bettencourt & Kaur (2011) identified over 20 million web documents that self-identify with sustainability, including contributions from such diverse disciplines as soil science, ocean control management and membranes. Those who have wrestled with the fundamentals of sustainability, such as Ehrenfeld (2004), nevertheless find that concepts from Industrial Ecology lie at the core of Sustainability Science.
Several universities have established programs or certificates in IE, including for example: Chalmers University; Leiden & Delft; NTNU; University of Michigan and Yale University. From a review of several programs the content of a possible model program is identified. The idea of a model program is to show typical common courses amongst programs while recognizing that actual programs differ due to factors, such as host Faculty (e.g. Environmental Studies, Engineering or Business School), skills and interests of instructors, etc.
Courses for the first year of the model program include:
Technology and Global Environmental Change
Fundamental courses in the three metabolisms (Industrial Metabolism, Socio-Economic Metabolism and Urban Metabolism)
Methodological courses (LCA, MFA)
Business-oriented (e.g., Corporate Environmental Management)
Design for Environment
Energy Systems
Environmental Policy
Other foundational course (e.g., in Economics, Statistics, Systems Analysis)
Examples of more advanced courses include:
Industrial Symbiosis
EIO Modelling
Thermodynamics
Waste Management & Recycling Technologies
Renewable Energy Technologies
Environment & Resource Economics
Green Finance
