Nordic-Russian University Network for Successful Cooperation in Higher Environmental Education

Project Partners Description

Russian State Hydrometeorological University (RSHU)

is the leading Higher Educational University in the Russian Federation in the field of Environmental and Earth Sciences established in 1930 with more than 20 departments. It is a Regional Training Centre of the World Meteorological Organization ( www.wmo.ch ) for Regional Association – Europa, the aim of which is meeting the requirements of the European labour market. RSHU offers educational programmes leading to BSc, MSc, Diploma Specialist, PhD and Doctor of Sciences in environmental studies. RSHU research programmes include study of atmospheric and oceanic processes, atmosphere-ocean interaction, weather forecasting, climate change, numerical weather prediction models, ecology and economics.

Arkhangelsk State Technical University (ASTU)

is a leading technical higher educational institution in the North-West of Russia having great experience in providing training in 51 study programmes, mostly related to forestry, wood-working, pulp-and-paper, chemical technology, power engineering, civil engineering, petroleum engineering branches. One of the degree programme realized at ASTU is Environmental Protection and Rational Use of Natural Resources with Environment Management course entering the curriculum. The University performs training in the framework of the Management of Organization degree programme. The University has an experience of participation in the international projects, including network ones. The Joint Nordic-Russian project on Environmental Management is of great interest for ASTU as it allows to start specialization that will help the University to gain necessary experience for easy transfer to a two-level system of education.

The Nansen International Environmental and Remote Sensing Centre (NIERSC)

was established in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1992 as a non-profit joint venture and reorganized as a Scientific Foundation in 2001. The NIERSC vision is to understand, monitor and predict climate and environmental changes in the high northern latitudes for serving the society. NIERSC is involved in long-term institutional cooperation within the framework of various joint national and international research projects (notably with the Nordic Countries) in the areas of both climate change and remote sensing monitoring with a special focus on high northern latitudes. Together with its co-founders Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center (Bergen, Norway) and Max Plank Institute for Meteorology (Hamburg, Germany) NIERSC was elected the 2005 EU Descartes Laureate in Earth Sciences for the attainments achieved during more than 10 years of joint research activities under the project “Climate and Environmental Change in the Arctic – CECA”. Being also co-founded by the Bergen University Research Foundation and the St. Petersburg State University, NIERSC has also established fruitful research cooperation with these educational centers known worldwide. Apart from pure and applied research, NIERSC is also involved in educational activities at PhD level performed under the NANSEN Fellowship Program (NFP) and is also working with graduate students. Since 1997, 17 Russian PhD candidates have successfully defended their Doctoral dissertations under the NFP. The NIERSC staff in 2008 is about 40 employees including core scientists, associated staff, PhD students (notably from RSHU) and administrative personnel.

The Department of Physics at the University of Helsinki (UHel)

has over 25 years tradition in atmospheric and environmental research. 80 scientists and doctoral students and 60 master students are currently engaged in this area. The main research and education subjects are aerosol and environmental physics, micrometeorology and dynamic meteorology. The basic theoretical resources consist of detailed computer codes. The basic experimental resources consist of three field stations (SMEAR I and SMEAR II and Urban SMEAR III) and a state-of-art aerosol laboratory. In the field stations e.g. aerosol dynamics, atmospheric chemistry, micrometeorology, gas exchange between forest and atmosphere, soil chemistry and forest growth are measured continuously. The Department coordinates the Nordic Master’s Degree Programme in Atmosphere-Biosphere Studies (ABS), a Nordic Graduate School CBACCI (Biosphere – Carbon - Atmosphere - Cloud - Climate - Interactions), and a National Graduate School in Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Meteorology of Atmospheric Composition and Climate Change.

Royal Institute of Technology (KTH)

accounts for one-third of Sweden’s technical research and engineering education capacity at university level. Education and research cover a broad spectrum – from natural sciences to all the branches of engineering as well as architecture, industrial engineering and management, urban planning, work science and environmental engineering. In addition to the research carried out by KTH’s Schools, a large number of both national and local Competence Centres are located at KTH. Various research foundations also finance a number of research programmes. KTH offers programmes leading to a Master of Architecture, Master of Science in Engineering, Bachelor of Science in Engineering, Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, licentiate or doctoral degree. The university also offers a technical preparatory programme for non-scientists and further education. There are a total of just over 12,000 full-year equivalent undergraduate students, more than 1,400 active postgraduate students and 2,800 employees. KTH was founded in 1827 and the main campus has been located in attractive, and now listed, buildings in central Stockholm since 1917. In addition, KTH and Stockholm University jointly offer study programmes and carry on research in biotechnology and physics at AlbaNova University Center, located at Roslagstull. KTH has extensive international research and educational exchange programmes with universities and colleges, mainly in Europe, the USA and Australia, but also increasingly in Asia. The university participates actively in various EU research programmes and also cooperates with Swedish and international development agencies. Industrial Ecology is a new multidisciplinary area of research, which aims at increasing our understanding of the interactions between technical, economic, social and ecological systems and processes. The aim is to increase our knowledge about and develop strategies for integrating environmental considerations and sustainable development into our human activities. The staff at the Department of Industrial Ecology (IE) at KTH is a mix of engineers, ecologists and biologists. IE operations are highly integrated due to the interdisciplinary nature of the research area in which it is active.

The Department of Physical Geography and Quaternary Geology, Stockholm University

established, already 1968, the first multi-disciplinary environmental course at the university level in Sweden. Currently it offers a wide range of environmental science programmes, including an applied programme in Bio-Geo Science, several masters programmes e.g. a Master's programme in Environmental Analysis and Management and a Master's programme in Environmental and Health Inspector’s Programme, as well as several specialised courses in environmental planning, international environmental issues and politics, environmental management, EIA, remote sensing, environmental analysis etc. Further, the department have been at the forefront in developing remote sensing and GIS in the Swedish context as well as successfully transferring competence in these fields to actors outside academia; thereby contributing to the wider use of these techniques in environmental monitoring, analysis and planning. Based on this expertise the department ran a UN course in remote sensing for non-Swedish students for 14 years. Personnel at the department have experience of TEMPUS supported Master’s Programme development in Poland, Latvia and, as co-ordinator, in Lithuania. Joint Nordic-Russian project on Environmental Sciences is in the great interest of all partners in both education and research approaches since the project will establish sustainable links between teachers, researchers and students inside of the University Network which will be open for anyone who wish to join our community.