Journal of Cleaner Production 7 (1999) 307–311www.elsevier.com/locate/jclepro

Notes from the field

Transferring cleaner production to Eastern Europe: experiencesfrom Cleaner Production Training Programme in Roslavl, Russia,

1998

Oksana Monta,*, Andrius Plepysa, Mikhail Durkin b,1

a The International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics, Lund University, P.O. Box 196, Tegnersplatsen 4, Lund, Swedenb The State Committee for the Protection of Environment of Kaliningrad Region, 6, Ofitserskaya str., RF-236000 Kaliningrad, Russia

Abstract

Environmental issues still have low priority within industries and universities in countries from the former Soviet Union. Thereis a weak link between academic R&D and industrial application, which leads to innovative retardation and economic backwardness.A short course conducted by IIIEE in Russia introduced Cleaner Production (CP) to both audiences and helped to gain somevaluable insight into these problems. CP is a discipline that should be introduced to all universities. It gives an opportunity toestablish an industry-university link and has many attractive features for both academia and industry. CP, as a discipline, has littledependence on students’ background, requires multidisciplinary group work, motivates personal responsibility, provides an abilityto analyse problems and synthesise solutions and it is appreciated in all industrial sectors since it has substantial potential foreconomic benefits. This paper proposes an example of how CP can bring together academia and industry and lead to mutual benefits. 1999 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:Cleaner production; Education; Capacity building; Environmental awareness; Greening university curricula; Industry involvement;Sustainable development

1. Introduction

Building local capacity in cleaner production (CP) isan important activity in order to mitigate already existingenvironmental problems by preventing them at thesource. To support a more sustainable development pro-cesses through raising overall environmental awareness,different stakeholder groups have to be tackled.

This paper presents a successful model of raisingknowledge in CP, bringing academia, industry and regu-latory organisations together in a CP training course. Ashort course taught Cleaner Production to engineers froman enterprise, students and a representative of a StateCommittee for Environmental Protection. Based on thisexperience, several suggestions are given on how to

* Corresponding author. Tel.:1 46-46-222-02-00; fax:1 46-46-222-02-30; e-mail: oksana.mont@iiiee.lu.se

1 Tel./fax: 1 7-0112-212438; e-mail: mikke@eco.koenig.su

0959-6526/99/$ - see front matter 1999 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.PII: S0959-6526 (99)00083-9

incorporate the CP concept into academic curricula inEastern Europe.

2. Background

Recent recognition of sustainability challenges posedby the Rio Declaration placed preventative environmen-tal strategies on a top priority as an approach fordecision-making. The Declaration also highlighted theimportance of the CP concept as a tool to approach thesustainability vision. This development naturally led toa more respectful attitude towards environmental edu-cation, recognising it as one of the most powerful factorsto support the idea of sustainable development.

From the experiences of industrialised countries it isclear that environmental protection and economics arepositively linked. Low priorities towards environmentalissues have strong economic implications in the longrun. Setting right priorities and utilising preventativeapproaches in environmental protection usually leads to

308 O. Mont et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 7 (1999) 307–311

economic gains and numerous examples already exist.The economics–environment symbiosis is becomingwidely recognised among universities and preventativeenvironmental solutions are realised as the best meansto utilise the symbiosis.

Unfortunately, in the Central and Eastern European(CEE) countries the situation is different. Currently,many planning and decision-making institutions andofficials still do not consider environmental issues seri-ously. The solutions of environmental problems, if incurricula at all, are still end-of-pipe oriented. This putsenvironmental protection into the category of a costlyand luxurious utility, for which the economies in tran-sition do not have enough room.

Similarly, environmental education in Eastern Europeis still in many places considered as an activity of mar-ginal importance. A common feature of the CEE coun-tries is still a certain distance for co-operation betweenthe industry and academic institutions in all scientificfields, including the environmental. The distance has his-toric roots. For example, in the former USSR an enor-mous part of industry and scientific research worked formilitary purposes. Covered with secrecy, the practicalscience was isolated from universities as special scien-tific institutions attached to each industry sector perfor-med the research instead.

After the political restructuring and during the on-going economic transition the state support for militaryresearch institutions was severely limited, leading to adrastic reduction of research activities. Given that littleinvestment in industrial R&D was made, it secludedindustry from technological innovation and weakened itsability to adopt quickly to market changes.

Therefore, in the countries of transition, there is anurgent need to bring universities and industry closer. Itis also important to demonstrate that the environmentand the economy are closely connected. Industrial inno-vations in environmental protection give economic bene-fit and support competition in a free market economy.These changes are possible by expanding environmentaleducation and tackling decision-makers, industry andacademia.

Education of students is one way of taking the chal-lenge. Seeking for the ultimate goal of sustainable devel-opment the change of people’s behaviour, encouragingpersonal environmental responsibilities, is veryimportant. The behavioural change can be utilised moreeasily by experience-based educational curricula, wheretheoretical knowledge is supported by practical assign-ments. Students must try practically to identify and ana-lyse environmental problems and generate solutions forenvironmental improvement and sustainable lifestyles.In this way the practical exercises involve students per-sonally and mobilise their sense of responsibility.

3. Experience of environmental education in Russia

Introduction of the CP concept as a subject into a uni-versity programme was accomplished at one of the Rus-sian universities. This section presents our experience ina more detailed way, suggesting several recommen-dations on how to proceed with a similar assignment.

3.1. The CP course in Russian university

In 1998 the International Institute for IndustrialEnvironmental Economics (IIIEE) at Lund University(Sweden) conducted a CP course at the Roslavl Affiliateof the Moscow State Industrial University (Russia) com-missioned by IIIEE. The project goal was to introduceuniversity students and industry professionals to the CPconcept and tools to implement preventative environ-mental strategies. The methodological approach was tointegrate theoretical lectures and practical assignmentsby relying on group work.

One of the most important project conditions wasclose involvement of the local company (Roslavl’ Auto-aggregate Plant, ZIL subsidiary) hosting the Affiliate.The company permitted practical exercises on-siteinvolving the plant’s engineers who attended our lecturestogether with students. This allowed the course tobecome a unique combination of lecturing and practicalin- and off-class assignments. Eventually, 28 plantengineers and 47 undergraduate students accomplishedthe 38 h course.

The course addressed the following topics: under-standing of anthropogenic impacts, the CP concept andauditing, hierarchy of environmental technologyapproaches, introduction to environmental managementsystems and basics of environmental economics. For amore detailed description see Appendix A.

The course attendees participated actively in the lec-tures and practical exercises. Many showed deep under-standing of the subjects and proposed interesting ideasto solve certain environmental problems. For one of thepractical on-site exercises, the students had been givenan assignment together with the plant engineers to inves-tigate the environmental problems of the company andto suggest preventative measures. The study groups per-formed peer-reviews in different parts of the plant andfound a number of simple cost-effective CP solutions.

For example, one group identified water overuse inthe drinking water fountains for company employees.The water loss from a single fountain was equivalent tothe current daily water consumption of an average Rus-sian kindergarten. By the installation of a simple auto-matic tapping device the company was able to save aboutUS$350 per unit annually.

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4. Discussion

In this section we should like to present some view-points that stemmed from our experience during thecourse.

4.1. Academia–industry links

It often is perceived that students have a low potentialfor advanced technical innovation in industry and thatthey generally lack practical knowledge and experience.Nevertheless, our practice shows that students do havelarge potential for innovation as it comes to CP sol-utions, since the low-hanging fruits (simple improve-ments with no or little investment) are abundant. Thesolutions are not always visible to plant personnel intheir everyday routines and a fresh look from outsidecan easily bring fruitful results. This gives the studentsa great chance to make practical suggestions with unex-pectedly large environmental improvements and econ-omic gains.

The problem described above of loose academia–industry connection can be reduced by utilising similarCP courses where industry and university are workingtogether. By utilising these types of activities, the indus-tries could gain larger potential for quick adaptation tochanges in legislation and the market. In our case thepartnership allowed both sides to see mutual benefits andto continue the established collaboration withoutforeign support.

4.2. Pedagogical values

According to the Deming cycle (plan, do, check, act),CP strategies require personal involvement, motivationand creative group work. These demands were stimu-lated in our exercise-oriented exercises. From the resultswe noticed that the assignments demanded personalresponsibility from the students that was not as evi-dent before.

CP projects in every case are unique. The problemsidentified after environmental audits often need non-standard solutions, which demands a high degree of cre-ativity from the students. The CP concept gives onlytheoretical background for further creative ideas whensolving these problems. The CP activities also requiretools, such as brain storming to stimulate the creativeprocesses. The brain storming sessions strengthen thetheoretical knowledge gained by students during the lec-tures.

Our course also provided a certain grade of self-esteem, when the company implemented the suggestionsproposed by students. This encourages the students tokeep their interest in CP and continue working with itin their real-life assignments. We believe that this gaveour course a high pedagogical value.

4.3. Interdisciplinary nature

Every university curriculum covers different scientificfields that are poorly linked to each other. For example,economics, technology and environmental science con-tain several elements of each other, but a student spe-cialising in one of the fields does not have extensiveknowledge about the others. In real life the subjects aremuch more interconnected than it might be perceived.Without understanding of the connections, one can facedifficulties when solving environmental problems in thereal world.

The CP concept presents an ideal possibility for inter-disciplinary links between political, economic, technicaland environmental issues. The interdisciplinary nature ofCP gives students the possibility of seeing environmentalproblems in their complexity and interdependency. Thishelps to find optimal solutions for environmental prob-lems and minimises conflicts in a socio-economic sys-tem.

When implementing a CP project a person can hardlywork alone. Owing to their complexity, environmentalproblems have to be addressed by a multidisciplinarygroup. This is an advantage for CP courses—they canbe multidisciplinary, since the understanding of the CPconcept does not require a specific background frompeople.

The ‘background independence’ of the CP conceptmakes it easier to promote a CP course in a university.In general, each university covers essential areas ofscience so it is able to form multidisciplinary studentgroups. This feature should make CP-oriented coursesmore attractive to universities and give a good prerequi-site for introduction into university curricula. At thesame time it is not very easy to convince the universitiesto do so, since “Who will pay for that?” is their typicalquestion. Practice shows that the most successfulimplementations are the ones with foreign support.

4.4. Recommendations

One of the aspects that we would like to alter in thenext similar course is the optimal number of course part-icipants. Their number and practical experience are veryimportant parameters to consider for highest courseefficiency. Large groups hinder personal teacher–studentcommunication. We would expect highest courseefficiency with 25–30 participants, each group consistingof five to seven people.

The content of the lectures is another important aspectto address. In our case, with the ratio students to techni-cal engineers being 3:1, the course for first acquaintancewith the topics presented included more basic theoreticalmaterial (see Appendix A). Therefore, the engineers per-ceived the course as directed more for students underengineers’ supervision, rather than help for themselves.

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A more even group composition in terms of practicalexperience would allow us to use more applied teachingmaterial. In the case of equal numbers of students andpractitioners, the teaching material should be more care-fully designed to suit the level and expectations ofboth groups.

A wide range of course participants’ interests andbackgrounds should be taken into account in the durationand content of a course. Training materials, lectures andpractical exercises must be adjusted to the course objec-tive. For example, preparing students in auditing for CP,more practice in teamwork (problem-solving, managerialrole games and problem-based learning exercises)should be included to develop good contacts in theteams.

Another aspect that we shall consider strongly in thefuture is the knowledge level of the participants. Weshall design our future lectures to be more flexible, giv-ing us the possibility of altering the complexity of thecourse during its presentation. An introductory test, per-formed at the beginning of the course, should be aimedto support course adjustments to a specific audience. Itshould give answers on the importance of certain partsof the course and time allocation.

Our course was attended by the Director of the Train-ing Centre at the State Committee for EnvironmentalProtection in Smolensk. He provided useful inputs oncourse improvements and redirected engineers. He alsoobtained the course materials for critical review andfurther usage in teaching at the Centre. The IIIEE agreedto supply the Centre with updated educational materials,information about CP demonstration projects and otherenvironmental information.

It is our advice to involve the representatives of localenvironmental authorities in similar courses. This willfacilitate their acquaintance with educational methods,the CP approach and will help to realise the particulardemands of industry. The representatives might be ablealso to provide local case studies and help to suit thecourse content for local needs.

In order to sustain such courses it is necessary to builda certain local capacity in the form of knowledge,materials and staff. In our case, four students having thebest results in the final test were invited to IIIEE. Here,in a group of other students, they were given an intensive11 day long advanced course. In the future the studentswill be expected to assist the Environmental Managerof the Roslavl Plant, who has started to teach CleanerProduction at the Affiliate. The IIIEE is also planningto provide the Affiliate with teaching materials andother assistance.

Moreover, the IIIEE is preparing a 3 year project pro-posal to conduct similar courses in CP, EnvironmentalManagement Systems and Environmental Economics in10 universities of northern Russia.

5. Conclusions

Cleaner Production is an excellent subject to be taughtin universities. It has little dependence on the students’background, requires multidisciplinary teams andrequires group work, motivates personal responsibility,promotes the ability to analyse problems and synthesisecreative solutions, is applicable everywhere (from pro-duction to the service sector), and allows visible econ-omic gains to be achieved.

There are several CP barriers:

I low appreciation by the universities, since funds arenot initially allocated for that;

I there is still little demand from industry—becausethey are both not aware about the economic potentialof CP strategies and not interested in CP due to thestrategic aspects;

I there is lack of local capacity (knowledge, materials,teaching experience and knowledge of modern teach-ing methodologies); and

I student interest in the topic can cease if they mightnot necessarily see their CP ideas implemented—noresulting self-esteem for practical improvements.

It is not enough to conduct rare courses and even notenough to incorporate CP into universities’ curricula.What is needed is to guarantee that the relevant teachertraining, resources and the necessary pedagogical toolsand teaching materials in local languages are available,to ensure significant progress and development.

Student motivation to keep their interest in the CPapproach is strongly supported by practical exercises, inwhich they can see their suggestions being implementedin practice.

Educational programmes need to be more long-sighted. They should include continuous improvement ofthe quality of teaching and gaining a critical mass ofteachers educated in CP, as there is now a definite short-age of necessary competencies in environmental andespecially CP education.

Appendix A.The course description

First day: Introduction to Cleaner Production

Test of the audience’s background knowledge. Theteaching methodology was adjusted accordingly.

Lecture: ‘Anthropogenic Impacts on the NaturalEnvironment’—a brief review on the environmentalproblems caused by human activities.

Lecture: ‘Cleaner Production Concept’—principle,role of government, economic benefits, 15 examplesgiven including video material.

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Second day: Environmental Technology

Lecture: ‘Waste Management Hierarchies’—‘end-of-pipe’ and pollution prevention approaches, hierarchicapproach in waste management, wastewater treatment,waste separation, landfilling, incineration, recyclingand reuse.

Exercise: to determine the possibilities for utilisationof a particular multilayer packaging.

Lecture: ‘Efficient Energy Management’—moreefficient energy production and consumption (co-gener-ation, energy conservation in steam production anddelivery systems) stressing the importance of goodhousekeeping; CP examples from Eastern Europe.

Third day: Environmental Management Systems

Lecture: ‘Environmental Management Systems’—what is EMS, why companies need it, presentation ofISO 14 001 standard.

Exercise: ‘The Use of EMS in Companies’—presen-tation of the Bhopal case. Task: solve the problem facedby Union Carbide at the time of the accident. Outcome:presentation of contingency plans, discussion of thenecessity of an EMS.

Exercise: ‘The Environmental Policy’—presentationof the ABB example. Task: formulate an environmentalpolicy for a fictitious Russian pulp and paper mill.

Lecture: ‘Introduction to CP Opportunity Assess-ment’—advice and recommendations on how to collectnecessary information for the assessments.

Fourth day: Plant visit and Environmental Economics

Exercise: ‘Initial Environmental Review’—a one-dayvisit to the plant. Groups: seven or eight students headed

by one or two plant engineers. Task: find the mostimportant environmental aspects, motivate the choice.Outcome: oral presentation of the findings by eachgroup.

Lecture: ‘Environmental Economics’—basic prin-ciples of environmental economics, traditional and alter-native methods of environmental regulation, PolluterPays Principle and internalisation of external costs.

Exercise: ‘Methods of Financial Analysis’—evalu-ation of investments into CP projects (including presen-tation of long-term financial indicators: NPV and IRR).

Fifth day: Cleaner Production Programme

Lecture: ‘The Cleaner Production Programme’—thenecessity of a CP programme from a systemic point ofview was underlined.

Exercise: ‘Brain Storming’—use of the tool to gener-ate CP ideas solving the environmental problems ident-ified during the initial on-site review.

Lecture: ‘Decision Making’—the weighted-summethod for comparison of different CP options quan-tifying most important factors that affect these options.

Assignment: presentation of further work to be con-ducted during the next two weeks (CP OpportunityAssessment, reporting on the results and the layout ofthe final report).

Finally, the participants were asked to fill in a feed-back form.

Final report and test

All groups prepared reports on Cleaner ProductionOpportunity Assessment. A final test was conducted thatembraced all topics given in the course with specialfocus on Cleaner Production and Cleaner ProductionOpportunity Assessment.