Overview

Welcome to the Environmental Issues, Policies, and Practice course! By the end of this course, you will understand environmental issues in the larger context of public health, public policy, and sustainable development. You will explore how humans interact with their environment and how exposure to prominent environmental issues affects human health. You will be introduced to the concepts of risk, exposure, and mitigation practices and why it is pertinent to study them. You will also explore why adopting sound environmental practices and following environmental rules and regulations (law) adequately are required for sustainable development. The discussions will include examples and case studies from local and global levels. You will review the scientific literature on environmental issues, various interventions and practices, and the space in which policy decisions are made, influenced, and implemented.

Syllabus

Environmental Issues and Sustainable Development

This module will introduce you to the concepts of the environment, current issues related to our environment, and sustainable development. You will learn about types of environments, how environmental agents determine our health and popular ways to estimate the burden on human health due to environmental factors. We will conclude this module by exploring the linkages between environmental issues and sustainable development.

Environmental Issues: What Their Exposure Does and Why and How Should We Observe Them?

This module will introduce you to the concepts of exposure, dose, and response and the need to study them. You will also learn about the dose-response model (DRM). You will be able to ask relevant questions when you are interested in observing what exposure to environmental issues does to humans. You will also explore prevalent study designs and how to select the correct type of study designs.

Risk Assessment and Management (RAM)

This module will introduce you to the concept of risk and the need for assessing risk in the larger context of public health and public policy. You will learn about popular risk assessment and management frameworks and the importance of risk communication. You will also learn how risks vary based on perceptions, what are various intervention strategies, and some useful sources of data.

Climate Change and Air Pollution

This module will introduce you to the idea of climate change, which is one of the greatest threats to all forms of life. You will conceptualize climate change, its impact on humans, and ways to mitigate it. You will also learn about air pollution, which is becoming a global issue, particularly in developing nations. This module will also help you identify ways to tackle air pollution.

Issues Related to Water and Sanitation

This module will discuss the topic of water, sanitation, and related aspects of hygiene in the context of the environment. You will understand the concept of water and sanitation as sectors and the interconnections between water, sanitation, and health. You will also learn about Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG-6) related to water and sanitation and recommended action points.

Environmental Disasters

This module will discuss environmental disasters and their types, contextualizing them from 1950 to the present. You will examine some case studies of environmental disasters and their health implications. You will also explore population vulnerability to such exposures and discuss related health implications.

Environmental Law, Policy, and Governance

This module will discuss the concepts of institutions, law, policy, and governance, which are interlinked and form the basis for environmental law and policy. You will learn about the development of international environmental law and policy and the backdrop against which they emerged. You will also explore some international policy instruments and conventions and their significance.

Term–End Staff Graded Assignment

This module describes the learning objectives, project brief, review criteria, grading criteria, and submission instructions for the Staff Graded Individual Assignment for the course.