Environmental impact assessment in higher education institutions in East Africa: the case of Rwanda

Abstract

Due to the pressure on limited resources produced by a growing population and due to a decade of war, Rwanda is facing a major problem in environmental protection. Because of such problems, it seems only reasonable that environment-related courses should play an important role in the curricula of institutions of higher learning. The main aim of this research is to present a comprehensive picture of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) integration in graduate and undergraduate programs in Rwandese higher education institutions and to make recommendations for its improvement. During this study, two surveys were conducted: the first survey targeted Environmental Impact Assessment lecturers and the second survey was for Environmental Impact Assessment practitioners (including EIA certified experts and competent authorities). The study found that Environmental Impact Assessment is not well established in these institutions and it is not taught in some programs; civil engineering, for example, has no Environmental Impact Assessment courses. Recommendations to improve EIA education are proposed, such as requiring that a common core course in Environmental Impact Assessment be made available in Rwandese higher learning institutions.

Teaching Environmental Impact Assessment in Brazil: is it just a ‘Make-believe’ approach?

“…EIA courses were most frequently offered during the 4th and 5th years of undergraduate programs (Figure 2C), similar to results from Canada (STELMACK; SINCLAIR; FITZPATRICK, 2005), and Rwanda (KABERA, 2017), where EIA courses were usually offered in the 3rd or 4th years. Although annual and semester courses were analyzed, this information was standardized considering the course year to allow courses comparison (1st and 2nd periods -1st year; 3rd and 4th periods -2nd year; etc.…”

“…Research on EIA teaching has been carried out for different contexts. For example, the studies by Stelmack, Sinclair and Fitzpatrick (2005), in Canada; Ramos, Cecílio and Melo (2008), in Portugal; Sánchez (2010), in Brazil; Weiland (2012), in Germany; Kabera (2017), in Rwanda; and Fischer et al (2013), in Pakistan. Other studies evaluated broader contexts: Sánchez and Morrison-Saunders (2010) analyzed EIA teaching at undergraduate and graduate programs in 18 countries; Gazzola (2008), and Fischer and Jha-Thakur (2013) researched on EIA teaching in Europe; and Ramos et al (2015) studied Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) teaching in Brazil and Portugal.…”

“…Thus, there is a gap related to more in-depth studies that analyze what EIA courses curriculum contain. Then, EIA teaching has not been sufficiently scientifically addressed (FISCHER; JHA-THAKUR, 2013;KABERA, 2017).…”

Liquid Wastes Treatment and Disposal in Rwanda

“…If it is a rented vehicle, should show the renting contract for at least one year. This requirement is approved during the registration of being recognized by RURA and during the application for the permit before starting the business [7,8].…”

Engineering Education for Sustainable Cities in Africa: A Case for Rwanda

“…The GoR understands the key role that education will play in improving the social and economic wellbeing of its people. It also recognizes that university programs should be orientated towards sustainable development, including urbanization [10]. However, the quality of the graduates from Rwanda's higher education institutions has been under critique lately.…”