Introduction

The Center for Sustainability Shanghai in direct cooperation with UNEP – Tongji Institute of Environment for Sustainable Development is offering a semester/year abroad opportunity for university students. The focus of the program will be for students to gain a deep understanding of sustainable development practices in China, the curriculum will be composed of university courses, Chinese language courses, company and cultural visits. 

Highlights

The Sustainable Semester Abroad in China will provide students with the opportunity to engage in the local culture and promote personal growth. Highlights of the semester abroad in China opportunity include:

·       Live on campus and share experiences with both international and local Chinese students
·       Highest level of education with the backing of the Center for Sustainability Shanghai and UNEP – Tongji Institute of Environment for Sustainable Development.
·       Perfect location for traveling around China
·       Attend an internationally recognized University in China
·       Take advantage of all campus activities such as Tai Chi, Kung Fu, Soccer, Tennis, etc.
·       Experience the most exciting city in China

Curriculum Fall Semester 2013

-   Chinese Language Course:
During this course, students will study and learn the Chinese phonological system, basic conversational topics, vocabulary and grammar. They will also gain a basic understanding of how to read and write Chinese characters.

-   Sustainable Development in China:
It is essential for students to know that sustainable development is not only an environmental subject of natural science, but also a mixture of both natural and social sciences. The issue must be dealt in coordination with both social science and natural science/technology.

Fundamentally, the solution of the issue should be made by political and social economic ways with the assistance of appropriate technology. As the issue of sustainable development is no longer limited within the borders of one nation, it has become an issue of conflict between nations, resulting in an urgent need for international diplomacy today. It is, therefore, crucial to understand the policies and practice of sustainable development in both the developed and developing nations. China’s experience and lessons of sustainable development will be highlighted in the course. How China’s economy grew at a fast pace and how the issue of sustainable development came to people’s attention.

-   Environmental Economics:
The Course of Environmental Economics includes two parts: ecological economics and circular economy. The latter is a theoretical and practical extension of ecological economics with special academic features. This course tries to introduce a true trans-disciplinary science which applies ecological, ethical and economical approaches. The course also aims at demonstrating the basic principles and practices for students to learn and question; interacting with students’ learning to inspire critical thinking and further study of the economics of the circular economy; fostering students to become wisdom seekers not information vessels.

-   Environmental Management and Policy:
The course is intended to provide students with a comprehensive knowledge of environmental management and policy, both domestic and global, which serves to enable sustainable development.  History of environmental management, relevant important concepts and theory, policy-making process, theory and practice of international environmental diplomacy and international environmental law will be discussed. The concept of sustainable development will be emphasized throughout the whole course.  After completing the course, the students would have mastery of the subject that equips them with the ability to contribute to environmental management, discussions on strengthening global environmental governance, as well as knowledge of financial resources, technology transfer and capacity building for sustainable development.  The course would provide students with the ability to take part or lead in multilateral environmental negotiations, and in organizing implementation schemes in compliance with international agreements.

-   Framework and Tools for Sustainable Development
Modern specialists in the area need to be able to apply sophisticated analytical and action frameworks to the challenges of sustainable development. Any action could be assessed at different levels:
·       Organizational level includes cleaner production, Environmental management system (EMS) and eco-designing for products and services, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Green supply chain management (GSCM)
·       Regional level focus on Eco-cities and their planning & management
·       Global level such as global cooperation on Sustainable Development, from strategies to actions
The above content will be carried out from different perspectives – policy tools, economic mechanisms, material flow analysis (MFA), etc.

The design of the course familiarizes the students with multiple tools and frameworks that assist internalizing sustainable development principles into practices of government, private sector or civil society organizations.

Curriculum Fall Spring Semester 2014

-   Chinese Language Course:
During this course, students will learn and study the Chinese phonological system, basic conversational topics, vocabulary and grammar. They will also gain a limited understanding on how to read and write Chinese characters.

-   Sustainable Development in China:
It is essential for students to know that sustainable development is not only an environmental subject of natural science, but a mixture of both natural and social sciences, with social science playing the dominant role. The issue must be dealt with through the coordination of both social science and natural science/technology.

Fundamentally, the solution of the issue should be made by political and social economic ways with the assistance of appropriate technology. As the issue of sustainable development is no longer limited within the borders of one nation, it has become an issue of conflict between nations, resulting in an urgent need for international diplomacy today. It is, therefore, crucial to understand the policies and practice of sustainable development in both the developed nations and developing nations. China’s experience and lessons of sustainable development will be highlighted in the course. How China’s economy grew at a fast pace and how the issue of sustainable development came to people’s attention.


-   Global Environmental Changes:
The course is designed to provide an overview of the global environmental situation, analyze the relationship between environmental factors and development issues, and to develop an understanding of what is meant by sustainable development. It provides a basis for the development of values, ethics and personal engagement in a globalized world. At the end of the course, students will have the ability to describe major global environmental assessment processes, give differing viewpoints on the interaction between the environment and development in the global context, and discuss inter-relatedness of the specific elements of the environment. They will have developed skills in collaborative work with peers by sharing ideas, analyzing problems and finding solutions, and building professional networks in the environment and development fields, balancing and integrating different points of view in the decision making process.

-   Environmental Project Management:
This course is designed to educate the student on the key elements of an integrated approach to environmental project management that requires expertise in scientific, engineering, legal, public policy, and project management disciplines. Emphasis is placed on critical factors that are often unique to a major environmental project, such as the uncertainty surrounding scope definition for environmental cleanup projects and the evolving environmental regulatory environment. The student will learn to develop environmental project plans, establish project organization and staffing, define management functions, develop time management approaches, resolve project conflicts, determine project effectiveness, implement integrated project management techniques as they relate to environmental project management, perform pricing and cost estimating, establish cost control, set priorities, and perform tradeoff analyses. The course uses environmental project case studies to examine the integrated nature of environmental project management. Examples of topics to be covered in this case study format include pollution prevention/waste minimization projects and environmental technology deployment projects.

-   Atmospheric Science and Climate Change:
Study the fundamentals of atmospheric science: weather and climate, greenhouse effect; understand climate change phenomena and the progress of climate change studies; know international agreements and negotiations on climate change; understand the essence of the challenges in climate change response. Based on IPCC Assessment Report 4, to study the science of climate change, impacts on the natural environment and human society, approaches and challenges in climate change mitigation and adaptation. Introduce the situation of climate change in China, the measures taken and progress to combat climate change in China.

Final Report
Throughout the semester, students will be required to engage in a practical research exercise where they will take the lessons learned in the classroom and apply them to a current global issue with the guidance of their supervisor.

Trips and Sightseeing
During their stay in China students will take part in numerous cultural and sightseeing excursions to nearby cities, and some optional weekend trips.

·   Day trip to Hangzhou
·   Trip to Yuyuan Garden
·   Visit water towns

Company visits
Throughout the program participants will visit several Chinese and International businesses that are current leaders in their specific industries for the development and implementation of sustainable practices. Moreover, networking events will be arranged offering students a platform to meet and discuss with both local and international industry professionals currently working in China or closely involved with the Chinese market.

Dates
Term: Fall 2013
·   Arrival - August 24
·   Classes start – September 2
·   Classes end – December 20
·   Departure – December 21
·   Application Deadline – June 10

Term: Spring 2014
·   Arrival - February
·   Classes start – February
·   Classes end – July
·   Application Deadline – December

Academics
·   GPA Required: 2.5
·   Workload: Students will be required to participate and approve 4 or 5 classes (12 to 15 credit hours)

Prices and fees:

·   Fall semester: USD 13,450
o   Tuition and accommodation
·   Spring Semester: USD 13,050
o   Tuition and accommodation
·   Academic Year: USD 24,340
o   Tuition and accommodation
·   Semester + 4 month Internship: USD 17,550
o   Tuition, accommodation and internship placement

Tongji University:
Tongji University is one of the leading universities directly under the State Ministry of Education in China. It offers degree programs both at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The university has School of Sciences, School of Architecture and Urban Planning, School of Civil Engineering, Mechanical School, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, School of Material Science and Engineering, School of Electronics and Information Engineering, School of Traffic and Transportation, Medical School, School of Liberal Arts and Law, School of Foreign Languages, School of Economics and Management, School of Software Engineering, School of Ocean and Earth Science. In addition, there are Institute of Further Education, Institute of Higher Technology, Institute of Vocational and Technical Education, Institute of E-Education, Women's College, Institute of Automobile Marketing and Sino-German Institute which is authorized by Chinese and German governments to run postgraduate courses. There are also six university hospitals located on different campuses.

The university has over 50,000 students registered on programs ranging from certificate and diploma courses to Bachelor’s Degrees, Master’s, PhD programs and postdoctoral attachments. There are over 4200 academic staff for teaching and/or research, among whom there are 6 Members of Chinese Academy of Science, 7 Members of Chinese Academy of Engineering, over 710 professors and 1500 associate professors. The university offers diverse courses in its 82 Bachelor’s Degrees, 218 Master’s, 94 PhD programs and 16 postdoctoral mobile stations. As one of the state leading centers for scientific research, the university has 22 state key laboratories and engineering research centers.

Housing:
Student accommodation will be provided in the form of the International Dormitory of the University. Students will be paired either with international or Chinese students in order to promote the intercultural experience. Students will have access to all of the cafeterias, library and all of the sporting and entertaining facilities.

Contact:
Institutions will designate a point of contact to serve as a platform for sharing information between the center, the institution, and the student. This person will be in charge of collecting and screening all applications before sending the final applications for the center to review.

www.sustainabilityinchina.com
info@sustainabilityinchina.com