Ecological engineering taught at ENGREF for watercourse management

Abstract

Conventional engineering divides professionals into set of jobs. Each job gets its tools, its language, its criteria for decision making. Such a division of work cannot take into account the complexity of the environment. Different points of view on the environment often compete with each other. Ecological engineering tries to interface several disciplines to handle complexity. But such an attempt may worry students because they experience diffi culties to promote their skills. Being between disciplines they miss identifi ed jobs. ENGREF (French Institute of Forestry, Agricultural and Environmental Engineering) is a 2 years post MSc program which addresses this issue by developing specifi c teaching methods. Study cases dealing with river management are promoted to enhance the needed dialogue between disciplines. Two exercises are presented here. The fi rst one uses a hydraulic model to support interactions between ecology, toxicology and geomorphology. The second one challenges the cognitive frame of each student by confronting students of different countries on a same study case. We ask them to make a common diagnosis and to set a common vision for the future. Such an intercultural negotiation questions certitudes and classical approaches. Students are bound to explicit their beliefs
and to leave prejudices. Both examples enlighten the link between social recognition of engineers and their environmental accountability.