Highlights international expert panel report (sept 2007)

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The panel has found an engaging curriculum of one year, divided into three blocks, with a clear educational concept.

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The curriculum strongly combines theory with practice. Besides the courses, the case-work and research projects are organised interactively and the students are assessed in various ways.

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The curriculum is deemed strong in the development of students’ knowledge through the interaction between education and research. Within the curriculum the panel found an intelligible build-up towards the research project.

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Additionally, the panel clearly sees the curriculum’s correspondence with current developments in environmental and energy management.

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The lectures of the master programme are interactive and students deliver input by giving presentations and participating in class discussions. Students are challenged throughout the curriculum to apply content knowledge to case studies. In their thesis students must demonstrate their capacity to confront knowledge and theory with its practical applications.

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The objective of the programme is indeed to deliver graduates with the qualifications to conduct independent research and to operate in a professional field for which academic higher education is required or useful.

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According to the panel graduates will be able to operate in companies, government and NGOs as a policy advisor, as consultants, environmental and energy (project) team members, civil servants and researchers in the domain of environmental and

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In short the programme is deemed adequate to train for professional roles that require specialised knowledge in environmental and energy management.

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The panel found a programme based on many years of experience and expertise covering both the academic as well as the professional field.

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The programme focuses on issues in public and private environmental and energy management.

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It was impressed by the highly motivated and qualified staff running the programme. It is thereby convinced of the quality of the teaching staff, both in terms of teaching and research.

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The panel is particularly positive about the close interaction between teachers and students in the curriculum, and about the close connections between teaching, cases and thesis.

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The panel is convinced that the teaching staff consists of excellent researchers and professionals in the field of environmental and energy management. The panel is also confident about the high academic standards that apply to the staff. The courses offered by them enable students to approach environmental and energy issues in an analytical way that meets the standard of academic education.

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The staff involved in the MEEM programme has an excellent reputation in the field of research and education that is relevant for this curriculum. The students (and alumni) were also positive about their didactical capacities and their educational approach.

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The panel has been able to establish that the staff deployed is more than sufficiently qualified to offer the proposed programme. The panel has seen several positive alumni and student evaluations regarding the teaching capacities of the staff.

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The open-door policy and the personal approach of the staff, as well as their system of group meetings with students, is seen by the panel as a positive contribution to the ability of the students to progress through the programme.

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The curriculum strongly combines theory with practice.

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It also found a programme based on many years of experience and expertise, with sufficiently strong links to both the professional and academic tools.

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The panel is positive about the involvement of professional colleagues and guest lectures, the use of relevant real-life cases and excursions, the fact that the experiences of the students are taken into account, as well as the three-stages learning approach of the programme (courses-cases-thesis).

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The panel found that the MEEM programme has a clear focus on application and integration of models, theories and tools, as well as on bringing about a critical attitude. The teaching staff has a strong research background, which enables them to link the intended learning outcomes to the requirements of the academic field. Of particular significance is the strong link with CSTM and the quality of its ongoing research.

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The panel has found that the programme documents stress both the professional and the academic orientation of the MEEM programme. The panel deems that the programme is sufficiently rooted in academic research and regards its professional linkages as a plus. The academic requirements are assured by the strong research focus of the staff of the programme.

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The panel is confident that the connection with the research done at CSTM is a productive one for both students and researchers/staff.

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the panel was pleased to find that the theses dealt with concrete topics and problems in environmental and energy management.

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…. the proposed programme is an ambitious two semester programme.

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During the interviews students appreciated the one-year duration and challenging quality of the programme,

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Relying on the interviews with the students the panel tends to confirm that they seemed well-equipped for the programme and strongly motivated. Although the schedule is tight, most of the students succeed in finishing the curriculum in time or within a reasonable time-span from the minimal duration.

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The panel considers the following elements as essential to justify a programme of 65 (ECTS) credits: the level intended by the programme, the quality of the teaching staff, the international profile, the strong academic and professional aims, the link between theory and practice as shown by the connection of the programme with CSTM, the three-stages and research oriented approach of the curriculum, the fact that students often have some professional experience and links with appropriate agencies in their home country.