Geography For Schools

What does sustainability mean to a company these days? When making decisions do you consider the impact over the next year? Three years? Ten years?

Many multinational companies are now making decisions to safeguard their existence well into the future. When thinking sustainably you have to look to the horizon.

For example, Volvo cars are following design, distribution, recycling and maintenance procedures which will see them as an industry leader well into this century. Personal mobility is here to stay and they are equipping their company to lead the environmental revolution in motoring.

Energy companies are looking increasingly at alternative technologies as reliance on fossil fuels becomes unpredictable.

The recent leap in energy prices and the scare stories over the reliability of supplies has brought resource management sharply into focus for many businesses. For the first time environmental management has reached boardroom level and the ability to reduce the environmental impact of your company could be the difference between profit or loss.

Businesses who have been pro-active in their environmental management should be better placed to make savings – in both economic costs and resource use.

Focusing on the long term ensures that investment in equipment and skills is done well in advance of legislation and there is less chance of unforeseen costs.

Lean production – reducing waste and maximising efficiency at every stage in the manufacturing process – is allowing companies to identify real savings in energy and materials.

Quality Assurance Audits such as ISO14001 and EMAS are increasingly being sought by companies. These allow a company to show others that it is operating in an environmentally responsible manner which is important in itself. Once these audits are embarked upon, however, the financial savings associated with good material and energy efficiency become an important payback.

European Directives on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control, Landfill, End of Life Vehicles and Waste Electrical Equipment are set to drive design for recycling, the use of recycled materials and efficiency to the forefront of industrial and commercial practice.

The emphasis is now clearly on efficiency – for economic and environmental gain. Are you ready for the changes increased efficiency will bring to your industry? If not it might be time to seriously consider the benefits that attention to detail can bring – and join the companies looking to press home their environmental advantage.

SAC, on the Craibstone Campus at Aberdeen and Riverside Campus in Ayr are currently offering an HNC, HND and Degree in Sustainable Environmental Management.

Students study Environmental Management and Environmental Science in detail as well as modules in Waste Management, Ecology, Resource Economics and Contaminated Land Remediation. They are encouraged to take up summer student environmental placements during their course to learn practical skills to supplement their studies.

All the modules are offered for individual part-time study and students are able to attend as many half-day sessions as they can fit in with their other commitments. Several current students are in full time employment and attend the course on day-release. There is the facility for an employer to combine a group of modules to create a CPD (Continuous Professional Development) Award tailored to the particular to the needs of a business or industrial sector.

SAC are committed to the Environment and have a long history of education, research and consultancy in the land-based sector. Over time our environmental activities have grown and we have been established in the provision of degrees in Environmental and Countryside Management for over fifteen years.

Our courses are externally verified by Glasgow and Edinburgh Universities who are the awarding bodies. They aim to produce environmental practitioners with good analytical, decision making and communication skills to deliver environmental objectives in a variety of industries and business sectors.

John Macdonald