Environmental Governance in South Asia

March 3-14, 2014
Two-week course conducted by the Centre for Science and Environment under the Indian Ministry of External Affairs’ ITEC programme

Objective: To be informed and updated about regulatory best practices in South Asia.

Who can apply:
Open to participants from: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
In-service professionals in the fields of pollution abatement and control, municipal and city-level functionaries, representatives from regulatory institutions, including pollution control boards and environment protection authorities as well as policy-makers. Civil society functionaries, students pursuing environment-related courses and industry representatives are also eligible.

Fee
The Ministry of External Affairs will bear the cost of participants selected for the course.

Programme Design:
Module 1 -- Environmental Governance: Laws, Rules and Guidelines
The objective of this module is to make the participants aware about  environmental laws and regulations across South Asia with focus on best-practices

Module 2 --  Urban Air Quality and Mobility
> Emerging concerns in air quality
> Trends in health problems
> Vehicular pollution
> Mobility crisis

Module 3 --  Waste Management
> Comparative waste management frameworks in South Asia
> International conventions on waste management
> Strategies for effective management of municipal and hazardous waste
> E-waste and bio-medical waste – emerging challenges in environmental pollution

Module 4 -- River and Lake Pollution
> Status of river and lake pollution in South Asia
> Legal and institutional frameworks
> Integrated water management
> Decentralised wastewater treatment

Module 5 -- Pollution Monitoring Techniques and Instrumentation
> Water and air quality monitoring: challenges, techniques, sampling protocol, calibration of instruments, quality assurance / quality control procedures
> Use of modern technologies (GIS/GPS) for pollution monitoring
> On-line and continuous monitoring systems
> Laboratory exercise

Module 6: Monitoring, Compliance and Enforcement
> Monitoring and inspection – processes and procedures
> Compliance assurance and administrative actions
> Self-monitoring, self-record keeping and self-reporting, including the tools and techniques for data verification

Module 7: Two-Day Field Trip / Exposure Visit

Medium of Instruction: English

Post-Course Expected Learning:
--> Understanding how environment regulations are working in different South Asian countries with focus on issues related to their implementation.

--> Update on the challenges of clean air and urban mobility in South Asia. The risks and challenges of growth and the strategies for combating air pollution and mobility issues.

--> National and international regimes and best practices to manage waste.

--> Participants will understand the wider concept of river and surface water bodies as ecosystems and not merely water collection systems. Understand existing laws on protecting surface water bodies and value of maintaining water quality and quantity for different uses.

--> Knowledge of existing monitoring techniques and procedures. Visit to India’s Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and CSE laboratories and air quality monitoring station to get hands-on experience of various pollution monitoring techniques, instrumentation, data generation and its analysis.

--> Exposure to administrative tools to perform monitoring and inspection for ensuring compliance. Developing tools and techniques for verification of self-monitored data.

--> The two-day field tour to various industries will allow participants to get hands-on experience on inspection and monitoring in different sectors and sampling procedures

Faculty:
Leaders in the field of pollution control, officials from regulatory agencies, experts on environmental law, policy-makers as well as the Centre for Science and Environment’s staffers.

How to Apply:
Please email your applications with detailed CV to nivit@cseindia.org (Nivit Yadav, Deputy Programme Manager) by February 25, 2014. Participants short-listed for the course will be informed by email. 

Venue:
Centre for Science and Environment
41, Tughlakabad Institutional Area,
New Delhi-110062
Tel: +91 (011) 40616000 (Ext.266)