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Page 1: Four years of experience with Erasmus University's “International Off-Campus PhD programme on cleaner production, cleaner products, industrial ecology and sustainability”

Journal of Cleaner Production 8 (2000) 425–431www.cleanerproduction.net

Four years of experience with Erasmus University’s “InternationalOff-Campus PhD programme on cleaner production, cleaner

products, industrial ecology and sustainability”

L.W. Baas*, D. Huisingh, W.A. HafkampErasmus University, Erasmus Centre for Environmental Studies, P.O. Box 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Abstract

This paper describes the first four years’ experiences with Erasmus University’s “International Off-Campus PhD Programme onCleaner Production, Cleaner Products, Industrial Ecology and Sustainability.” The proposal for this innovative, off-campus pro-gramme was made in 1992, in response to expanding needs for providing environmental professionals the opportunity to continuetheir employment and to simultaneously work toward fulfilling the requirements of a PhD.

After receiving approval and initial financial support from the Board of Deans of Erasmus University, the first INTENSIVE(INTENSIVE is the term used to describe the annual, two-week long training programme within which the new PhD candidates,as well as those who have been in the programme for a year or more, meet to learn more about the rapidly evolving areas addressedby the programme and to report on progress made in each candidate’s PhD thesis research. The Erasmus faculty and invitedsupportive co-advisors and other visiting scholars contribute to the scholarly input and candidate guidance.) of the new InternationalPhD Programme was held in October 1995. Since then the programme has expanded and progressed. As of the academic year1998/1999, twenty-one PhD candidates from eleven countries in five continents were actively pursuing their PhD research andthesis development within the Programme. Six new candidates were admitted during the November 1999 INTENSIVE. 2000Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:PhD research programme; Cleaner production education; Education format; Sustainable development

1. Introduction

In 1992, the proposal for the International PhD Pro-gramme was made by Prof. D. Huisingh of Erasmus Uni-versity, to provide the opportunity for “environmentalprofessionals” to continue their employment while pur-suing their PhD research and thesis preparation. Initially,the concept was viewed very sceptically by academiccolleagues as well as by industrial and governmental lea-ders. However, due to the persistence, hard work, andvision of many colleagues at Erasmus University, theprogramme was launched in November 1995, with therecognition that there is a significant and expanding needto provide environmental professionals the opportunityto simultaneously continue their employment and theiracademic studies towards their PhD degrees.

* Corresponding author.E-mail address:[email protected] (L.W. Baas).

0959-6526/00/$ - see front matter 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.PII: S0959-6526 (00)00046-9

Thus was undertaken the development of the design,structure, and formal and informal procedures of whatis now the “International PhD Programme on CleanerProduction, Cleaner Products, Industrial Ecology andSustainability” [1] at Erasmus University in Rotterdam.The faculty designed the Programme to provide prospec-tive PhD candidates with the opportunity to identify theirprofessional objectives and to design a programme tail-ored to their individual needs in order to facilitate theirefficient progress towards achieving them. The goal wasto provide environmental professionals with a flexibleand part-time yet structured framework to continue theiremployment and at the same time make significant newcontributions to scientific knowledge in the interdisci-plinary area of Preventive Environmental Managementand Sustainable Development as they earned their PhD.

There were several important catalysts for the newPhD programme. First, the planning group found a rap-idly increasing need and interest expressed by prospec-tive PhD candidates for access to educational opport-

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426 L.W. Baas et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 8 (2000) 425–431

unities in Sustainable Development and CleanerProduction at the PhD level. Existing Cleaner Productioncourses that have been developed and implemented sincethe mid 1980s do not meet this need because they areoffered at the undergraduate and MSc level [5]. More-over, leaders of public policy making organisationswithin The Netherlands, Canada, and the US had ident-ified a need for PhD level study, and interest had beendocumented at the academic, scientific, and industriallevel in many countries. A second important catalyst forthe new PhD programme was the rapid evolution ofindustrial environmental management systems such asBS 7750, EMAS, and ISO 14001. It is becoming evidentthat as these systems are being implemented, predomi-nantly by larger companies, many scholars, policy mak-ers and corporate leaders are questioning the costs andbenefits for corporate usage of such tools to help themmake progress towards more sustainable production.These environmental management systems challengedseveral professionals to explore their personal interest inCleaner Production beyond those systems.

The decision was made to proceed with the develop-ment and implementation of a Programme designed tofulfil the following criteria:

1. It should enable the candidate to continue her/hisemployment while pursuing the PhD;

2. It should be integrative, multi-disciplinary and on the“cutting edge” of Cleaner Production and SustainableDevelopment issues;

3. Each candidate should be advised and supported byErasmus faculty members;

4. Each candidate should be advised and supported bya faculty member or team of faculty members froma university geographically near the candidate’s work-place;

5. The faculty support should be provided in-personand/or via distance learning at a location designatedby the candidate. The support should be providedthrough regular communications via e–mail, phone,video–conferences, fax, mail, and face-to-face meet-ings whenever and wherever possible;

6. The long-distance communications should be aug-mented by annual, two-week INTENSIVE meetingsduring which all candidates meet with each other andwith the Programme’s faculty to review new scientificand policy advances, the candidate’s research pro-gress and insights he/she has gained into methods andapproaches for applying his/her research findingswithin industrial, governmental and academic con-texts;

7. It should help the candidate build upon learningexperiences they have had through their work as wellas through special courses, self–study, conferences,workshops and activities on Cleaner Production and

Sustainable Development projects within industry,consultancies, government or academia;

8. It should provide a regular and structured frameworkfor interactive reflection upon new literature and uponeach researcher’s findings; and

9. It should provide the formal framework for the devel-opment, assessment and defence of the “candidate’s”PhD thesis within a reasonable length of time underthe auspices of Erasmus University’s formal require-ments and official setting.

2. The design of the Erasmus UniversityInternational Off-Campus PhD programme

Based upon these criteria, the new PhD Programmewas developed for participants with a Master of Sciencedegree in a scientific discipline related to some aspectof Cleaner Production, Cleaner Products, IndustrialEcology, or Sustainability. In addition to such formalacademic requirements, prospective candidates shouldhave five or more years of working experience in theenvironmental field after having received their MSc.

A model for the interdisciplinary relationships of aca-demic disciplines that may inform the International PhDProgramme is presented in Fig. 1. It is evident from thisdiagram that the programme developers were convincedof the need to work in an inter-disciplinary/multi-disci-plinary context in characterising and in attempting tohelp society solve the problems and thereby contributeto progress toward Sustainable Development. Such aprogramme must have a diversity of faculties to facilitateand support candidates’ work in these diverse disciplin-ary perspectives. Fig. 1 illustrates the connection of sev-eral scientific disciplines with the Cleaner Productionresearch field. The participating PhD candidates bringexpertise in additional scientific disciplines such as eth-ics, ecology, psychology, environmental economics, andindustrial ecology.

Fig. 1. Interaction between various scientific disciplines within thenew International PhD Programme’s research domain.

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427L.W. Baas et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 8 (2000) 425–431

2.1. Initiation of the international PhD programme

This new PhD programme is a division within theGraduate School of Environmental Management atErasmus University in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. TheBoard of the University granted the organisation its for-mal structure in 1997.

The PhD programme was formally initiated inOctober 1995. The first class of candidates learned ofthe programme via mailings, announcements in journalsand information disseminated at conferences and roundt-ables on Cleaner Production and Sustainable Develop-ment. Each interested person submitted an application tothe evaluation committee of Erasmus University. Afterthorough evaluation, each person that was accepted intothe programme was invited to participate as a PhD can-didate in their first INTENSIVE education programme.Some prospective candidates were invited to participatein the INTENSIVE on a provisional basis, pending theUniversity’s completion of the assessment and/or pend-ing the prospective candidate’s decision to proceedwithin the programme.

The announcement for the initiation of the “secondclass” in November 1996 was publicised more broadlyat conferences, via journals and e–mail. Additionally, theinitial year’s candidates communicated their positiveexperiences and expectations of the programme basedupon their experiences with the first two-week INTEN-SIVE education programme. This method of spreadingthe word about the programme has proven to be an effec-tive approach.

During subsequent years, each new class of candidatesapproved by Erasmus University has entered the pro-gramme in November. As of 1999, four classes of candi-dates were in various phases of their research and thesispreparation. The fifth class was initiated into the pro-gramme in November 1999.

2.2. Background of the current PhD candidates

The first intake of candidates included people fromEurope, Latin America and North America. During thesecond year, candidates from Africa and Asia joined theprogramme. During the third year, a candidate from NewZealand joined the programme along with other candi-dates from Europe, the Americas, and Africa. Thus, bythe beginning of the third year, all continents except Ant-arctica were represented. During the fourth year,additional candidates from North America, Asia, andEurope entered the programme.

From the point of view of the academic backgroundof the candidates, there are currently candidates in theprogramme with degrees in biological, chemical, andsocial–political sciences as well as in various engineer-ing areas. Candidates are employed by universities,industry, consultants, governmental organisations, andinternational environmental and financial institutions.

Fig. 2 presents information about the home countryof the twenty-four candidates that enrolled in the pro-gramme during the first four years. It also contains infor-mation about their academic backgrounds. Unfortu-nately, three candidates (still included in Fig. 2) havediscontinued the PhD programme because they could notsuccessfully combine their thesis work with their pro-fessional jobs or because they lacked sufficient financialmeans to cover the tuition expenses.

2.3. The PhD intensives

The PhD programme revolves around the annual two-week training and review sessions involving PhD candi-dates and Erasmus University faculty. These pro-grammes are called INTENSIVES, both because of thepace and of the intensity of interactions between studentsand faculty, as well as among students. The INTEN-SIVES consist of:

O Lectures by programme faculty and by guest pro-fessors from other Dutch (Delft and Amsterdam) andinternational universities (among others, DalhousieUniversity in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada; LundUniversity in Lund, Sweden; the University of Massa-chusetts, Lowell, Massachusetts; MIT, Cambridge,Massachusetts; Trondheim University, Trondheim,Norway; the University of Bologna, Italy; and theUniversity of California, Santa Barbara, California);

O Participation in simulation games addressing environ-mental problems at the national and global levels;

O Presentations by all PhD candidates on the progress,problems and questions they have in their researchand thesis writing. All other candidates are simul-taneously co-learners and co-advisors to all other can-didates (this co-learning is underscored throughout allINTENSIVES and through the discussions that arefostered among the candidates via an Internetlistserve);

O Consultations among each candidate and several ofthe Erasmus University faculty (these discussionsfocus upon the research and thesis writing issues thatrequire clarification, re-focus, or alternativedirection);

O Presentations by (new) candidates of their initialresearch plans (as with all other activities within theINTENSIVES, other new and advanced PhD candi-dates serve as co-advisors and always provide manyvaluable suggestions and questions for the candidateswho are just embarking upon their PhDprogrammes); and

O Participation in a major environmental conference inconjunction with the INTENSIVE. During the first,second and fourth INTENSIVES, the group co-par-ticipated in the European Roundtable on Cleaner Pro-duction. During the third and fifth INTENSIVES, the

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428 L.W. Baas et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 8 (2000) 425–431

Fig. 2. Nationality and academic background of the twenty-four PhD candidates currently enrolled in the programme.

group participated in the Greening of Industry Net-work (GIN) Conference.

3. PhD programme requirements and performancecriteria

The PhD programme is designed for participants withfull-time jobs. The basic agreement that each candidatemakes with her/his employer is that he/she will beallowed to pursue research and writing on their thesison average of one workday per week. This agreement isusually obtained because employers see that theiremployees’ PhD research contributions will provideimproved status to their employees and to their organis-ation. The programme is designed based upon an averageinvestment by each candidate of twenty hours per weekto pursue the PhD. This is broken down into one work-

day per week, one day during the weekend, and fourhours of “free time” during the workweek. Regular inter-actions between the candidate and his/her advisor isaccomplished through regular e–mail contacts, periodicconference calls, and submission of quarterly progressreports.

The programme is very flexible and has a structuresimilar to taking individual course modules through theOpen University system1 [6]. This includes the freedomof Place (the research may be done where the candidateswishes) and Pace (the research may be accomplishedaccording to the candidate’s own pace and timetable, butthe programme organisers anticipate that it will be poss-ible for most to complete their work within four to five

1 The Open University system in the Netherlands and the UnitedKingdom involves an off-campus correspondence education system forundergraduate students who can mould education modules to theirprivate time frame.

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years). The programme also incorporates the candidate’sown interests (the research topics are selected by thecandidate in close consultation with the Erasmus Univer-sity faculty, the employee’s work supervisor, and a fac-ulty advisor from a university in the geographic vicinityof the candidate’s work location).

3.1. Communications between and among candidatesand their supervisors

As the programme has evolved, especially after 1997,increasing reliance has been placed upon Internet com-munication with individual candidates and/or with allcandidates as a group. Additionally, tele- and video–con-ferencing tools are being used to help bridge the physicaldistances between candidates and their professors. Ofcourse, fax and traditional mail service are also used.

3.2. Methodology

Because the empirical research field of environmentalsciences is complex, the interrelation of the many vari-ables can only be addressed via co-operation amongscholars in different disciplines. History has shown thatdevelopments within narrowly defined scientific disci-plines can result in unanticipated consequences. Oneexample was the shocking break-through of awarenessof widespread pesticide poisoning of many levels of thefood-chain from compounds such as DDT [2]. Morerecently, awareness of the ubiquity of endocrine disrup-ters within a vast array of intermediate and consumerproducts has further weakened the trust and confidenceof the public in the results of narrowly defined, disciplin-ary research [3]. As a consequence, some of the multi-disciplinary work within environmental technology andenvironmental public policy management were basedupon short-term or crisis response research that consti-tuted an ebb and flow modality rather than a consistentand integrated approach [4]. Since these and relatedbreakthroughs in awareness, it has become increasinglyevident that ecology, endocrinology, physiology, toxi-cology, and related disciplines must be utilised alongwith others in defining thenature and sources ofenvironmental problemsand in attempting to developsound interdisciplinary approaches tosolving them.

This programme is designed with this inter-disciplin-ary focus as central to the PhD research of the candi-dates. The methodology is designed to support theresearch within the following conceptual and philosophi-cal framework:

O Environmental science, by its very nature, must haveboth basic, mono-disciplinary, in-depth explorationsas well as inter-disciplinary explorations that providebreadth and facilitate societal applications of find-ings; consequently,

O The research must integrate mono-disciplinary andinter-disciplinary approaches.

This perspective supports the importance and validity ofthe integration of two approaches: the mono-disciplinaryapproach, which providesvertically in-depth insightsinto problems and issues but at the same time does notusually provide solutions to societal relevance; and theinter-disciplinary approach, which by providing ahori-zontally in-depthintegration can potentially provide sol-utions with a more direct societal relevance.

Within this PhD programme, the research field of Cle-aner Production, Cleaner Products, Industrial Ecology,and Sustainability provides the same framework forevery participant. However, the methodology, point ofentry and approaches each uses are “tailored” on an indi-vidual basis. In order to ensure such a “tailored”approach, faculty members from the Erasmus team workinitially with new candidates to help them focus theirresearch problem and research hypotheses so that thework will help them to build upon their formal edu-cational experiences and upon their work experiences.The programme is also designed to help them facilitateimprovements within the organisations within whichthey are employed.

In order to facilitate personal assistance that is geo-graphically close to each candidate, all candidates areurged to find a faculty co-advisor within an academicinstitution that is in close geographic proximity to theirplace of work. This faculty advisor should have an aca-demic and experiential background which complementsthat of the candidate and of the Erasmus faculty. Whensuch a faculty advisor is selected, the Erasmus Univer-sity faculty makes a formal appointment of this personto that candidate’s committee. This faculty memberofficially works with the candidate and with the ErasmusUniversity faculty team to guide the candidate throughthe multi-year process of research, writing, and defenseof the PhD thesis. This external advisor is provided fin-ancial remuneration for her/his assistance.

3.3. Regional networking

Co-operation with regional universities on a bilateralbasis is being expanded to increase the academic depthand breadth of the programme and for methodologicalreasons. Inter-institutional agreements are in placebetween Erasmus and institutions in Europe, NorthAmerica, Asia and Australia. Additional ones are beingsought with leading universities in other parts of theworld. The objective is to develop a world-wide networkof academic colleagues with whom faculty and candi-dates can co-operate as they proceed with their researchand writing.

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4. Experiences in the programme

The original design of the PhD Programme was basedon a workload of approximately 20 hours a week forthree years. In practice, these assumptions have provento be overly optimistic for most of the candidatesbecause the workload of professionals does not accom-modate this time-frame. This does not mean that the can-didate’s organisations do not support their employees’involvement in the programme. Because most of theparticipants have a job which includes normal work,numerous meetings, extensive travels and other activitiesthat require more than 40 hours per week in total, it isoften difficult to take time off each week to devote totheir thesis work. Consequently, most candidates “save”their days and devote week-long or month-long blocksof time to their PhD work, rather than investing a dayor half-day per week throughout the year. When candi-dates can combine activities like data collecting withtheir professional work, however, a 4-year time frame isfeasible. The first PhD candidate defended his thesis inDecember 1999, and others are scheduled to follow in2000. Several of the second and third year candidatesare also making very good progress. Others are pro-gressing more slowly, but intensive work with them ishelping to improve the focus, tempo and quality of theirwork. Fig. 3 summarises the subjects examined in thePhD dissertations.

The diversity of topics and ethnic and disciplinarybackgrounds helps to make the annual INTENSIVE atruly rich experience for sharing international compari-sons of approaches, concepts and results. Also, smallworking groups of PhD candidates benefit from mutualinformation exchange on similar subjects.

5. Evaluation of the PhD programme experience

The PhD Programme supervisors at Erasmus Univer-sity consider the programme to be very good, based uponthe following results from the first four years:

O As of the academic year 1999–2000, the PhD Pro-gramme has 27 candidates from 13 countries in fivecontinents. Currently, Americans, who make up 33%of the group, are the largest fraction of the candidates;

O The motivation of the candidates is very high;O New PhD candidates enrol at an average rate of five

per year;O EAEME2 graduates have been enrolling at an average

rate of one per year since 1997;

2 The European Association for Environmental Management Edu-cation (EAEME) is an association of 16 European universities provid-ing a post-graduate one year European Master Degree in Environmen-tal Management.

O The currently enrolled candidates have a wide diver-sity of academic backgrounds, including engineering,natural and social sciences. The organisations withinwhich they are currently employed are also diverse,including universities, industries, consultancies, andinternational agencies;

O The candidates who are making the most rapid andeffective progress towards completion of their thesisresearch and thesis writing are doing this because theyhave successfully integrated their day-to-day workwith their special thesis work, which allows them thepossibility to collect data in conjunction with theirdaily work;

O Six staff members are involved as direct (co-)advisorsin the programme, with an additional ten academicsinvolved as indirect or part-time advisors; and

O As the programme evolved, the accent changed fromCleaner Production education to Cleaner ProductionPhD research supervision.

The PhD candidates’ evaluations of the programme arealso very positive. They believe that their needs for theexpansion and improvement of their expertise on variousfacets of sustainable development are being met throughthe programme. The design of the programme makes itpossible, although the combination of “overloaded” pro-fessional jobs and doing a PhD is not easy. Theyespecially appreciate the possibilities, afforded throughthe programme, of new pathways to Sustainable Devel-opment which are created by:

O the insights gained through the diverse approachesfrom different scientific perspectives;

O the sharing of information about environmental issuesamong different cultures;

O the support obtained from each other in discussiongroups during INTENSIVES and throughout the yearvia internet, phone and mail;

O the possibility to work with similar research topicstogether with other researchers in different parts ofthe world;

O the possibility of being a co-learner and co-teacherwith other candidates; and

O the diversity of faculty support from Erasmus Univer-sity, other Dutch Universities, and the regional uni-versities geographically near to the candidate’s homemakes this programme uniquely suited to professionalenvironmental leaders who wish to continue theireducation through completing the requirements fortheir PhD

6. Conclusions

With its off-campus format, this PhD programme isbeginning to fulfil an important niche in the on-going

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Fig. 3. Examples of PhD topics studied in the international Erasmus PhD programme on cleaner production, cleaner products, industrial ecologyand sustainability.

education of a certain category of environmental pro-fessionals. The academic credibility of the Erasmus Uni-versity programme is growing, but it will need to beproven as candidates successfully complete and defendtheir theses. Of course, publication of the results of theirtheses in peer reviewed journals is also essential. Theinitiators of this programme believe that it is makingimportant contributions to the rapidly expanding societalneeds for qualified professionals to assist in catalysingthe transition to sustainable societies.

References

[1] Brochure International Off-Campus programme on cleaner pro-duction, cleaner products, industrial ecology and sustainability.

Erasmus Centre for Environmental Studies, Erasmus UniversityRotterdam, PO Box 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlandshome page: www.eur.nl/fsw/gsem/phd/index.html, 1999.

[2] Carson R. Silent spring. Boston: Houghton Miffin, 1962.[3] Colborn T, Dumanoski D, Peterson Myers J. Our stolen future;

are we threatening our fertility, intelligence and survival? — Ascientific detective story. New York: Dutton, Penguin Books USAInc, 1996.

[4] Downs A. Up and down with ecology — the “issue–attention”cycle. The Public Interest 1972;28:38–50.

[5] Jørgensen MS, Po¨yry S, Huisingh D, Borup M, Leskinen A, edi-tors. Inventory on cleaner production education and training. Hel-sinki: UNEP, UETP–EEE, IACEE, TEK, DTU, 1995.

[6] Sloep PB. Running a virtual classroom: progress and problems.Arbeitsgruppe III: Innovative Ansa¨tze im Fernstudium, In: Sym-posium Deutsches Institut fu¨r Fernstudienforschung an der Univer-sitat Tubingen, Tubingen, 6./7.11.1995, 1996.