ASSESSMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING EDUCATION IN THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Environmental awareness has received higher priority in the UAE agenda in recent years. In addition to the recently developed governmental structures, many non-governmental environmental groups have been established over the last decade. A clear assurance exists now amongst federal bodies, individual agencies and non-governmental organizations, together with their domestic and international alliances, of the need for environmental protection and sustainability. Environmental legislations have been recently passed or currently underway either at a federal level or at an individual emirate level. This fast growing environmental awareness coupled with the necessary legal support is not accompanied with a similar pace of improving the environmental engineering education (E3) in the country. Higher education institutes in the UAE do not yet have academic programs with the sole purpose of offering E3. This is obviously essential to provide the local market with the appropriate UAE graduates needed for pursuing a career in this field. In this paper, the current status of E3 in the UAE higher education institutes will be reviewed through an administrative survey. This will then be compared with other similar programs in developed countries. In light of the survey results and the comparative study, a strategy for capacity building of E3 that meets the future needs of the UAE will be proposed.