Workshop: "Integrating Economic and Financial Principles into Environmental Engineering Research and Education, January 2011, Washington DC Metropolitan Area

摘要：Pi：Gregory W.Characklis建议编号：1041730机构：Univ.北卡罗来纳州？教堂山标题：将经济和金融原理融入环境工程研究和教育关于社会的决策？S最具挑战性的环境问题是同时关注科学和经济论证的，经济标准发挥着越来越大的作用。经济术语和概念现在在环境政策辩论中随处可见，关于缓解气候变化的讨论往往围绕着贴现率，而对公平的担忧？在考虑旨在促进可持续性的活动时，经常发挥突出作用。即使在讨论更传统的监管主题(如饮用水标准)时，成本效益分析也已成为监管决策的一个常见部分，在某些情况下，还是联邦授权的部分。经济原则在制定新的监管制度方面也发挥着越来越大的作用，以市场或激励为基础的方法受到更多关注。同样，在发达国家(如项目融资)和发展中国家(如小额信贷)，金融理论正越来越多地被用于制定和部署应对环境挑战的创新解决方案。环境工程界更充分地参与这一范围不断扩大的环境活动的能力将大大增强，因为能够将经济和金融原则纳入其研究，以及能够用经济学术语描述研究成果。社会对研究人员的需求越来越大，他们需要能够同时考虑给定行动过程的工程、经济和财务影响的研究人员，但很少有研究和教育项目来满足这种需求。这种跨学科研究的机会很多，每个学科都极大地促进了领域之间的交流--S依赖于逻辑框架和数学基础。这些领域也是相辅相成的，因为工程知识在确定减轻环境影响的成本时往往至关重要，而经济学提供了评估环境质量改善的好处的方法。与此同时，财务理论往往可以有效地应用于改善对实现特定环境目标的最佳实施路径的理解。更好地理解经济和金融原理将为环境工程师提供工具，以解决不断扩大的研究机会，以及更有效地描述他们对政策制定者和整个社会的贡献的价值。拟议的研讨会是将环境工程领域扩展到新领域的重要的第一步。它将涉及广泛和多样化的研究人员、专业人员和其他利益攸关方(例如，监管机构)，旨在为讨论涉及环境工程、经济和金融的跨学科研究提供一个论坛。研讨会的具体目标将是：1.探索和评估环境工程界可以通过更好地理解经济和金融原则来更有效地解决的机会的范围；2.确定使环境工程界利用这些机会最有用的原则和工具；3.就如何调整环境工程和科学课程以向学生介绍经济和金融原则和工具提出建议；以及4.考虑如何使用经济和金融概念来突出环境工程界创造的智力和经济价值，同时增加其对社会的影响力？S环境选择。将围绕这四个目标制定一份最终项目报告，并增加一些章节，确定后续行动的建议，以促进新的研究机会，以及进入这些领域所需的工具和技能。最终报告将通过环境工程与科学教授协会的网站在线传播，并在环境工程与科学教授协会2011年S会议期间进行宣传。

AbstractPI: Gregory W. CharacklisProposal Number: 1041730Institution: Univ. of North Carolina ? Chapel HillTitle: Integrating Economic and Financial Principles into Environmental Engineering Research and EducationDecisions regarding society?s most challenging environmental problems are made with attention to both scientific and economic arguments, with economic criteria playing an ever-larger role. Economic terms and concepts are now ubiquitous in environmental policy debates, with discussions over climate change mitigation often revolving around ?discount rates?, while concerns over ?equity? frequently play a prominent role when considering activities designed to promote sustainability. Even when discussing more traditional regulatory themes (e.g., drinking water standards), cost-benefit analysis has become a common and, in some cases, federally mandated part of regulatory decisions. Economic principles also play an increasing role in the development of new regulatory schemes, with market- or incentive-based approaches receiving more attention. Similarly, financial theory is being increasingly employed in the development and deployment of innovative solutions to environmental challenges in both the developed (e.g., project finance) and developing world (e.g., microfinance). The ability of the environmental engineering community to more fully engage in this expanding range of environmental activities will be greatly enhanced by the capacity to incorporate economic and financial principles into its research, as well as the ability to describe research outcomes in economic terms. There is a growing societal need for researchers that can simultaneously consider the engineering, economic and financial implications of a given course of action, yet few research and educational programs are set up to meet this demand. Many opportunities for such interdisciplinary research exist, with communication between the fields greatly facilitated by each discipline?s dependence on a logical framework and mathematical underpinnings. These fields also complement each other well in that engineering knowledge is often critical in determining the costs of mitigating environmental impacts, while economics provides methods of valuing the benefits of environmental quality improvements. Financial theory, meanwhile, can often be effectively applied to improve understanding of the best implementation paths by which a particular environmental objective might be realized. A better understanding of economic and financial principles will provide environmental engineers with the tools to address an expanding range of research opportunities, as well as the means to more effectively describe the value of their contributions to policymakers and society at large.The proposed workshop represents an important first step toward expanding the environmental engineering field into new areas. It will involve a broad and diverse set of researchers, professionals and other stakeholders (e.g., regulatory agencies), and will be designed to provide a forum for discussing interdisciplinary research involving environmental engineering, economics and finance. The specific objectives of the workshop will be to: 1. Explore and evaluate the range of opportunities that could be more effectively addressed by the environmental engineering community with an improved understanding of economic and financial principles; 2. Identify the principles and tools that would be most useful in allowing the environmental engineering community to take advantage of these opportunities; 3. Develop suggestions regarding how environmental engineering and science curricula might be adapted to introduce students to economic and financial principles and tools; and, 4. Consider how economic and financial concepts can be used to highlight the intellectual and economic value created by the environmental engineering community, while increasing its influence on society?s environmental choices. A final project report will be developed around these four objectives, with additional sections identifying recommendations for follow-up to promote new research opportunities, as well as the tools and skills necessary to move into these areas. The final report will be disseminated on-line through the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP) website, and promoted during the AEESP?s 2011 meeting.