Education, sustainability and cleaner production

Successful integration of cleaner production concepts and technologies into businesses and industries will require that professionals in those industries receive adequate training and knowledge. Yet at present, most university programs outside mainstream environmental programs cover little in the way of environmental issues or sustainability and few show how environmental concepts such as cleaner production should be integrated into management, design, engineering, marketing and service. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the need for including sustainability in professional practices and education and, using engineering as an example, discuss how the University of Auckland is undertaking this task.