The environment, natural resources, and higher education in Poland

Changes in the government and economy in Poland, beginning in the early 1990s, have had dramatic and sometimes unanticipated effects on the environment and natural resources of Poland. Higher education in Poland has responded by offering courses of study in the environmental sciences and natural resources management. These courses have emphasized physical and biological aspects of the environment and natural resources but not the social aspects. Collaboration between faculty at Ohio State University and at the University of Warmia and Mazury (UWM) in Olsztyn, Poland, has led to a cooperative effort to teach an Ohio State course, titled Society and Natural Resources, at UWM Olsztyn. This article provides an overview of the collaborative efforts between Ohio State and UWM Olsztyn, changes in higher education in Poland, and environment and natural resources issues in the Warmia and Mazury regions in Poland where Olsztyn is located.