The environmental management profession is made up of individuals with a wide range of academic and experiential backgrounds, including, but certainly not limited to: civil, chemical, and environmental engineers; chemists, biologists, geologists, and environmental scientists; lawyers, financial managers, human resource directors, operations managers, and a relatively small but hopefully increasing number of individuals who were actually prepared as environmental managers. Thus finding a reasonable set of qualifying credentials for the profession is an elusive problem. On one hand, our amalgamated skills may appear much broader than the environmental management needs of the organizations we serve, yet when we consider the breadth of the concept of sustainability, perhaps not. The subtopics in this collaboratory explore the possibility of establishing requisite skills for the profession and credentialing of environmental management professionals.
January 16, 2008 by
John Morelli | Filed under: Overview,Profession vs. Vocation | No Comments »
Welcome to the discussion!
Researchers working on this important subtopic include:
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Listed below are the various postings from the research team. Some will be abstracts of and links to relevant literature. Others will be original work posted here for comments, criticisms, suggestions, questions, etc. from professional environmental managers who visit this site.
If you are interested in participating on this professional research team, or learning more about it, please contact us by clicking here.
January 15, 2008 by
John Morelli | Filed under: Overview,Professional Oaths | No Comments »
Welcome to the discussion!
Researchers working on this important subtopic include:
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TBA_________________________
TBA_________________________
TBA_________________________
Listed below are the various postings from the research team. Some will be abstracts of and links to relevant literature. Others will be original work posted here for comments, criticisms, suggestions, questions, etc. from professional environmental managers who visit this site.
If you are interested in participating on this professional research team, or learning more about it, please contact us by clicking here.
January 15, 2008 by
John Morelli | Filed under: Overview,Standards of Competence | No Comments »
Welcome to the discussion!
Researchers working on this important subtopic include:
TBA_________________________
TBA_________________________
TBA_________________________
TBA_________________________
TBA_________________________
TBA_________________________
Listed below are the various postings from the research team. Some will be abstracts of and links to relevant literature. Others will be original work posted here for comments, criticisms, suggestions, questions, etc. from professional environmental managers who visit this site.
If you are interested in participating on this professional research team, or learning more about it, please contact us by clicking here.
January 15, 2008 by
John Morelli and
Brian Butler | Filed under: Competencies of the Environmental Manager [2, 3, 4],Overview | No Comments »
Ongoing research examining the balance of skills (managerial vs. technical) required by the environmental manager has generated some interesting results. This workshop will first present those findings and then proceed to begin identifying the specific requisite competencies under each of the categorical areas.
Moderator: Mr. Aromake Afiegbe
January 15, 2008 by
John Morelli | Filed under: Codes of Practice,Overview | No Comments »
Welcome to the discussion!
Researchers working on this important subtopic include:
TBA_________________________
TBA_________________________
TBA_________________________
TBA_________________________
TBA_________________________
TBA_________________________
Listed below are the various postings from the research team. Some will be abstracts of and links to relevant literature. Others will be original work posted here for comments, criticisms, suggestions, questions, etc. from professional environmental managers who visit this site.
If you are interested in participating on this professional research team, or learning more about it, please contact us by clicking here.
January 15, 2008 by
John Morelli | Filed under: Overview,RESEARCH CATEGORY: ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGER QUALIFICATIONS AND CREDENTIALING | No Comments »
Welcome to the Research Collaboratory for ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGER QUALIFICATIONS AND CREDENTIALING. This is one of six principle research topics initially posted on EnvironmentalManager.org. The research team for this topic includes:
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There are seven sub-topics within this collaborative research, each with a research team leader.
Profession vs. Vocation – TBD: __________________
Manager vs. Scientist/Engineer – TBD: __________________
Standards of Competence – TBD: __________________
Codes of Practice – TBD: __________________
Professional Oaths – TBD: __________________
Professional Preparation – TBD: __________________
Certifications and Licenses – TBD: __________________
Please click on the Environmental Manager Qualifications and Credentialing subtopics on the right to learn more about what the research teams are attempting to accomplish.
If you are interested in participating on one of our professional research teams, or learning more about them, please contact us by clicking here.
December 19, 2007 by
amathew ,
Brian Butler ,
amathew | Filed under: Codes of Practice,Literature Review | No Comments »
The article begins with the author’s opinion that the world is in need of economic development that provides benefits to all areas of society, while still sustaining our natural systems. The author continues by explaining that organization that recognize this need and address adequately, will benefit greatly. The article also addresses what the author refers to as the “trinity of sustainable development”: economy, environment and equity. The author believes that an absence in any of the three areas will result in a reduced competitive advantage for a company. The author discusses the idea that public, private and civil sectors, each acting as a division of labor and providing a “checks and balances” system, has done an adequate job of meeting the “trinity of sustainable development”; however, he believes that a more focused and holistic approach will be necessary in the future. The main focus of this article appears to be the idea that sustainable practices by an organization can maximize profits. The author argues that sustainable outcomes must be planned for no differently than a company plans for capital spending, procurement, or safety; and that a single management entity must be accountable for the planning of sustainable practice. The article mentions the idea that a company’s CEO must be its “Chief Environmental Officer” in order to better serve the goal of sustainable practice. The author also discusses the need for ethical behavior when reaching for sustainability, and that corporations vying for the trust of a varied group of sustainability constituents is not likely to do so with unethical behavior.
December 19, 2007 by
amathew ,
amathew ,
Brian Butler ,
John Morelli and
John Morelli | Filed under: Codes of Practice,Competencies of the Environmental Manager [2, 3, 4],Literature Review,RESEARCH CATEGORY: ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGER QUALIFICATIONS AND CREDENTIALING,Standards of Competence | No Comments »
The article begins by examining the relationship between human beings and the biosphere, and raises the argument that every person on earth should be entitle to the same right to enjoy the benefits of this planet, and this idea also extends to future generations. This idea is the basis for sustainability: the right for present and future generations to utilize the earth’s resources. The authors then discuss the impact that current economic and political practices have on the success of sustainability: over-consumption of resources does not support sustainability. The authors also posit that the value we place on the environment is a key factor in the overall success of sustainability and that ethics plays a role in the value we place on nature: if the only concern of a society is the economic value of the environment, sustainability will not be achieved. The authors determine that the idea of Environmental Ethics arose from the framework of the rights and duties between humans and other living and non-living creatures. The article concludes with the idea that the future of the planet depends on the values (both economic and social) that humans place on resources, and that our ethical viewpoint is the driving factor in the success of sustainability.
December 19, 2007 by
amathew ,
John Morelli ,
amathew ,
Brian Butler | Filed under: Codes of Practice,Literature Review,Standards of Competence | No Comments »
The article begins by examining the current state of western economics (capitalism) and how this system attributes to environmental degradation (increased consumption and production, increases waste). The article also discusses how globalization adds to environmental degradation as it encourages the concentration on income, and widens social inequality, and makes the natural environment unsustainable. The authors surmise that the current ethics and values of the western model are incompatible with the sustainability of the environment. Also discussed is the notion that the definition of sustainability must incorporate social, economic and ecological considerations. The overall focus of the article then shifts toward the idea that ethics, when applied to environmental concerns and practices, is a major factor in achieving sustainability. The authors examine the idea of difference between social norms when comparing different cultures, and how these differences, when applied to environmental concerns, create incongruence. Anthropocentrism is also discussed, and how this concept creates arrogance in the human race, especially toward the environment. The authors conclude that ethics is the essence of sustainability and human attitudes in regard to resources and the environment must shift toward a more conscientious state in order to be a sustainable culture.
December 19, 2007 by
amathew ,
amathew ,
Brian Butler | Filed under: Codes of Practice,Environmental Valuation and Accounting [1],Literature Review,Standards of Competence | No Comments »
The article begins by stating that the field of environmental management necessitates various tools and that as relationships are found between these tools, more specific and wider models can be developed to provide integrated solutions to environmental problems. The authors makes the claim that, while most environmental managers use their values as a starting point when making decision, values and ethics can be incorporated into the process throughout. The article goes on to explain that there have been many attempts to incorporate environmental ethics into the economic and policy decision-making process and the authors propose a model that will further help those attempts. The model is called The Concentric Spheres Model and consists of a Technical sphere; that lies within an Economic sphere; that lies within a Political sphere; that lies within an Ethical sphere; that lies within a Philosophical sphere; that lies within an Ontology sphere. The model can be used beginning from the outside spheres or from the inside spheres. The authors conclude that “every decision-making level, or sphere, includes and defines the framework of the process of the interior spheres, lacking themselves all the tools required to solve the environmental conflict if they are not already settled. The decision-maker must look to the superior spheres to solve a problem when uncompromising conflicts appear at one stage.” Essentially, when a decision is being made, the use of the model enables the decision makers to move through each sphere of concern until a final decision can be made that satisfies all of the components.
