Environmental Management & Sustainability - BSc (Hons)

Abertay University

Practical application of civil and environmental engineering skills, techniques and knowledge. Indicative Content - Land Surveying: Learn a range of land surveying techniques, including topographical surveying using total stations and electronic data capture. You’ll process data using specialist software, produce survey plots, and perform calculations for plan positioning and setting out small projects. - Survey Reporting and Plans: Apply your surveying skills to real-world fieldwork. Prepare professional reports and detailed plan diagrams that demonstrate your understanding of surveying techniques and good practice. - Construction Practice: Gain experience in planning, executing and evaluating a civil engineering project. Explore temporary works, material and equipment selection, method statements, and resource management. Assess the role of health and safety and sustainability throughout. - Professional Reporting: Develop your ability to communicate engineering practice clearly through structured, professional reports. - Risk Assessment: Understand and apply the principles of risk assessment and health and safety management across engineering activities. - Sustainability Considerations: Explore how sustainability underpins modern engineering practice and learn how to integrate sustainable thinking into project design and delivery. - Conceptual Design: Learn how to interpret client requirements, create initial design concepts, and evaluate potential design solutions.

In this module, you’ll explore the fundamental principles of hydrology and hydrostatics and learn how to apply them to real-world problems in water resources and civil engineering. You’ll examine how water behaves as both a natural and managed resource, and assess how engineering solutions can impact the environment and society. Indicative Content - Hydrology: Explore the hydrological cycle and the key principles that govern it. Learn how to measure and analyse rainfall and evaporation, and understand how these influence water movement and availability. - Water Use and Quality: Study how water is used, reused, and conserved across human and environmental systems. Learn about water quality parameters, the factors that affect quality, and the importance of sustainable water management. - Water-Related Disasters and Sustainable Water Management: Examine the causes and impacts of floods and droughts. Discover approaches to sustainable catchment management and learn how sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) are used to manage water effectively. - Fluid Properties: Understand how fluids behave under different conditions. Explore concepts such as flow types, velocity gradients, Reynolds numbers, and the differences between laminar and turbulent motion. - Fluid Statics: Learn how pressure varies within fluids and how to calculate hydrostatic and buoyancy forces on submerged surfaces. Explore stability and metacentric height in floating and submerged bodies. - Fluid Dynamics: Apply key fluid mechanics equations — including continuity, conservation of mass, Bernoulli’s and momentum equations — to analyse steady flow and solve practical problems in water systems.

This module applies the principle of environmental engineering in the analysis and management of environmental pollution. Indicative Content - Water Quality: Overview of the principles of air, water and land interaction and surface water quality management: Introduction of water quality and management; Fate of water pollutants in rivers and lakes; Drinking Water Quality standards, UK and EU Directives; Fundamentals of self-purification; Models used as quality predictive tools: Streeter Phelps equation. - Water Treatment: Coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation, filtration and disinfection process. - Groundwater quality and management: Surface Water and Groundwater Interaction, Stream- Aquifer Interaction. Aquifer management. - Air quality and pollution management: Overview on sources of air pollution and monitoring and control of emissions of air pollutants; Dispersion of air pollutants in atmosphere; Air pollution modelling approaches and Indoor air pollution. - Environmental impact Assessment (EIA): EIA procedure. Preparation of Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Case studies and EIA of developments.

Please note: If you are a Direct Entrant (new student) to this year of study and have not previously taken module ABE101, then you MUST take ABE201 as your Term 2 microcredential module. If you have previously taken ABE101, then you are NOT permitted to take ABE201 in Term 2. Starting university brings new opportunities and challenges, and every student’s journey is different. This microcredential helps you settle into life at Abertay and build the habits that lead to success. You’ll hear from current students sharing their own tips, and reflect on the areas you most want to develop. You’ll get to know Abertay’s systems, explore what makes a successful student and practise core skills such as time management, referencing, academic writing style and using support services. By the end, you’ll have the tools and strategies you need to thrive at university. Indicative content - Navigating Abertay Systems: Get to know the key systems you’ll use at Abertay—such as MyLearningSpace, MS Teams, OASIS and MyAbertay—and learn how to use them effectively. - Expectations of University and You: Explore what’s expected of you as a student and what you can expect from the university. Topics include the code of conduct, independent and blended learning, how courses are structured, health and safety, and the Abertay attributes. - Abertay Discovery Tool: Complete the Discovery Tool to identify your strengths and areas for development across five themes: studying at university, academic skills, digital skills, careers and employability, and wellbeing. - Fundamentals of University: Learn how modules work, how assessments are set, and how to use assignment briefs and feedback to improve your work. - Understanding, Searching and Evaluating Information: Develop strategies for finding and assessing reliable information, building your confidence in research and study skills. - Successful Student Behaviours: Practise the habits that help you succeed: managing time, avoiding procrastination, effective note-taking, preparing for classes, developing a growth mindset, and making use of student support services. - Referencing: Understand academic integrity and why referencing matters. Learn how to avoid plagiarism, create in-text citations and reference lists, and use digital tools to manage your sources. - Sounding Academic: Discover what lecturers mean by “academic style” and how to use the right language in your writing. Learn the rules of academic writing, how to paraphrase effectively, and how expectations differ between school/college and university. You’ll also explore how assessments, marking and feedback work.

The tools and techniques associated with managing projects. You will carry out an investigation into a project failure and recommend alternative actions which could have been taken. Indicative content - Project management and project teams: Interpreting project specifications and objectives, and the requirements of project stakeholders; Key project challenges for individuals and groups: reviewing the key priorities of time and project management; Understanding the role of a project leader; Understanding team work and how effective teams function; Creating and contributing to effective project teams; Managing teams through project delivery; maintaining goal focus, and managing problems. - Project analysis and planning: Analysing project requirements and sub-tasks; Estimating timelines; deadlines and milestones and activity durations; Constructing a project schedule; Resourcing projects; Allocating and smoothing resources; Using Gantt charts to allocate and monitor resource allocation; Project management tools; Using project management software. - Managing projects: Dealing with project risk; Evaluating the probability and potential impact of risk; contingency planning for risk management; project tracking and revision to completion; Evaluating project delivery and management: Analysing the effectiveness of project management processes and the impact of project delivery and non-delivery. - Project management methodologies: Understanding the use of project management methodologies such as Prince2 and SCRUM; their benefits and challenges; adjusting your methodology to the size of the project.

Explore the wide range of career paths available within the engineering profession and build the knowledge and skills needed to work effectively in engineering project management. You’ll learn how engineering projects are planned, organised and delivered, and develop the professional and managerial skills required to contribute confidently within the workplace. Indicative Content - Health and Safety: Learn about the key health and safety legislation relevant to engineering, including CDM regulations. Understand the roles, obligations and responsibilities of professionals in maintaining safe working environments. - Procurement Strategies, Tendering and Construction Contracts: Explore how engineering projects are procured and managed — from design and tendering through to contract formation and delivery. Discuss common contractual challenges and current issues in procurement. - Project Control Tools: Develop practical skills in project planning, programming and control. Learn to use tools such as PERT to manage time, cost and quality, and understand how to deal with uncertainty in project delivery. - Economic and Sustainability Assessment: Examine methods used to assess project value and sustainability, including life cycle costing, cost–benefit analysis and tools such as CEEQUAL and BREEAM. Explore how sustainability indicators and multi-criteria analysis guide decision-making. - Professional Employability Skills: Build essential professional skills for the workplace. Learn about employer expectations, interview techniques, equality and diversity, and professional ethics — including how to apply codes of conduct and handle ethical dilemmas.

In this module, you’ll explore the properties and uses of a wide range of construction materials, gaining an understanding of how they perform in real projects. You’ll be introduced to the core principles of highway design and discover how Building Information Modelling (BIM) is transforming the way engineers plan, design and manage construction. Indicative Content - Construction Materials: Properties and Uses of Materials: You’ll explore where different construction materials come from, how they’re identified and classified, and their key properties. You’ll also look at how materials are manufactured, processed and used in practice. Alongside this, you’ll learn how to test, select and specify materials, with a strong focus on sustainability. - Materials Testing: You’ll gain hands-on experience testing and evaluating common construction materials, helping you understand how they perform and why testing is essential in real engineering projects. - Highway Engineering: Road Alignment: You’ll study the theory and practice behind road alignment, including vertical and horizontal curvature. You’ll work on a road realignment project with sustainability in mind, use computer-based road design software, and consider how safety influences design decisions. - Highway Intersections: You’ll learn how to design and analyse different types of intersections, including priority junctions, roundabouts, signal-controlled junctions and grade-separated interchanges. You’ll also explore the materials and methods used in pavement construction, looking at flexible and rigid pavements, mix design, material specifications, and the impact of loading. Sustainability and recycling will be key themes throughout. - Highway Pavements: You’ll focus in more detail on pavement design and construction, comparing flexible and rigid pavements. You’ll study the use of bound and unbound materials, mix design, and specifications, while also considering pavement loading, performance, and the importance of sustainable and recyclable solutions. - BIMs: You’ll be introduced to Building Information Modelling (BIM) in practice, exploring how it’s used in cost estimation, project control and decision-making. You’ll see how BIM is transforming the way construction projects are planned and managed.

In this module, you’ll be introduced to the key stakeholders involved in environmental management and explore the important roles they play at local, national and international levels. You’ll research and report on their responsibilities, with opportunities to learn directly through site visits and guest speakers (delivered in person or online). By the end of the module, you’ll use this knowledge to develop a strong understanding of how decisions are made when multiple stakeholders are involved. Indicative Content - Valuing Nature and How it Affects Decision-Making: You’ll explore why nature matters in decision-making and how ecological values influence policies and management strategies. This will help you understand the importance of balancing environmental priorities with human needs. - What Actors are Involved in the Process and How: You’ll identify the key stakeholders in environmental decision-making, from local communities to international organisations, and examine how collaboration and influence shape outcomes. - Dealing with Uncertainty and Risk: You’ll look at how decision-makers handle uncertainty and risk, exploring strategies to manage unpredictable situations and reduce potential negative impacts on the environment. - Examples of Decision-Making in the Environment: You’ll study real-world case studies that show how environmental decisions are made in practice, giving you insight into the challenges and successes of different approaches. - How to Gather and Value Different Forms of Knowledge: You’ll learn how to collect and assess different types of knowledge, from scientific research to traditional and community-based wisdom, and see how each contributes to better decision-making. - Role Play in Multi-Stakeholder Decision-Making: You’ll take part in role-play activities that simulate real stakeholder interactions, helping you experience first-hand the challenges of reaching decisions when multiple perspectives are involved. - Evaluation of Multi-Stakeholder Decision-Making: You’ll evaluate how effective collaborative decision-making can be, considering both the benefits and the difficulties of involving multiple stakeholders in environmental management.

This module provides students with an in'depth understanding of relationship building and customer experience management, highlighting their significance for business performance. Students will develop the skills to design and implement strategies that strengthen customer relationships, enhance loyalty, and create value through effective use of data, insights, and digital tools. Emphasis is placed on aligning customer management with organisational objectives and applying creative solutions to real'world challenges. Indicative Content - Defining Customer Relationship Management: Explore the strategic, operational and analytical aspects of relationship management, using data and insights to align customer relationships with organisational goals. - Understanding Customer Relationships: Analyse the benefits of strong customer relationships for both customers and organisations, and apply technology to evaluate the customer lifecycle, build loyalty and enhance value. - Customer Portfolio Management: Use data and insights to segment, target and profile customers, assessing segment value and developing tailored acquisition and retention strategies. - Customer Experience Management: Examine digital tools that support customer experience delivery, explore how value is determined, and distinguish between customer experience management and customer relationship management.

Placement is a planned part of your education and training, designed to build on what you’ve already learned. It gives you the chance to take responsibility for your own personal and professional development, while gaining real-world experience that extends your learning beyond the classroom. Indicative Content - Introduction: You’ll prepare for the workplace by covering essential health and safety guidance and exploring why developing professional attributes is so important for your future career. - Placement: Your placement experience will depend on the organisation you’re working with, giving you the chance to apply your learning in a real-world setting. You’ll gain valuable work experience, and during this time your academic supervisor will visit you at least once to support your progress. - Debriefing: After your placement, you’ll take part in a debriefing session designed to help you reflect on your experience. This will give you guidance on how to build on what you’ve learned and encourage you to think about your ongoing personal and professional development as part of life-long learning.

Increasingly many organisations have recognised that the environment is a management issue and not just a matter of legislative compliance. This module presents a series of practical management tools with which environmental issues can be managed, within both the public and private sector. This module enables those interested in the role of project management to examine the policy, legal & ethical framework in which projects operate and to develop the necessary skills to manage diverse teams in a sustainable manner. Indicative Content - Sustainable Development: You’ll explore what sustainable development really means, the different approaches to achieving it, and the frameworks used to assess and improve sustainability. You’ll also look at the policies, legal requirements, and ethical considerations that shape this field, comparing EU environmental legislation with other regions such as Asia, the USA, and Africa. - Management Systems: Learn about the key systems and tools used to manage environmental impact, including Environmental Management Systems (EMS), Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA), and Life Cycle Analysis (LCA). You’ll also examine carbon management strategies and the role of carbon sequestration in reducing emissions. - The Future of Transportation: Discover how transport is evolving with shared, electric, and automated solutions. You’ll explore the growing shared mobility ecosystem, which includes services like carsharing, micro-transit, for-hire options, and shared micro-mobility, and consider what this means for sustainability. - Carbon Capture and Storage: Understand the science and practice of capturing and storing carbon dioxide (CO') before or after it enters the atmosphere. You’ll learn about different storage methods—gas, liquid, and solid—and their role in tackling climate change. - Project Leadership: Develop the skills to lead projects effectively, from making strong decisions and solving complex problems to building teams and leading people. You’ll learn what makes a great project leader and how to make a real difference in this role. - Health and Safety: Explore the responsibilities of employers and employees when it comes to health and safety. You’ll learn about risk assessments, method statements, and the ethical issues involved in managing health and safety in the workplace. - Project and On-Going Management: Gain insight into managing projects and maintaining efficiency over time. You’ll look at business efficiency projects such as PPC Permitting and ISO14001, giving you practical knowledge that’s highly valued in the industry.

This module gives you the chance to bring together knowledge from across different areas of your course and apply it to a realistic construction project. You’ll work on a series of practical design problems, developing your ability to integrate theory with real-world practice while building the skills needed for professional civil engineering. Indicative Content - Review of Client Brief: You’ll review the client’s brief, justifying different design options and producing outline design solutions that respond to the project’s requirements. - Project Analysis and Design: You’ll carry out detailed project analysis, including calculations and the technical detailing needed to develop a robust design. - Review of Solutions: You’ll evaluate your proposed solutions by considering sustainability, measuring quantities, and preparing risk assessments and method statements. You’ll also explore costing, including bills of quantities and carbon costing, to understand the financial and environmental impact of your design. - Building Information Management: You’ll examine how Building Information Management (BIM) supports both the design and operation of a project, and reflect on its role in improving collaboration, efficiency, and project outcomes.

In this module, you’ll gain the essential foundations to carry out an in-depth investigation into a research topic of your choice. You’ll explore both qualitative and quantitative research methods, discover a range of analysis techniques, and develop the project management skills needed to plan and deliver your work successfully. It’s your opportunity to combine theory with practice and take real ownership of your research journey. Indicative Content - Introduction to Research: You’ll explore the nature and purpose of research, looking at different approaches such as quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, developmental, and practice-based research. You’ll also see how these fit within wider philosophical perspectives like positivism, interpretivism, and pragmatism, and consider the strengths and weaknesses of each. - Dealing with Practical Issues: You’ll learn how to take a research idea from concept to completion. This includes identifying a topic, setting clear objectives, and developing a research strategy. You’ll also explore what makes a strong project, address ethical issues, and identify the most suitable research methods for your chosen study. - Appraisal of Current Subject-Specific Knowledge: You’ll develop the skills to carry out a literature review, from searching and evaluating sources to organising and synthesising information. You’ll practise writing a review, managing bibliographic records, and creating strong research questions for both quantitative and qualitative projects. - Data Collection and Analysis: You’ll explore different approaches to collecting and analysing data, including quantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods, and iterative designs. You’ll also learn about questionnaire design, sampling methods, and data modelling, giving you the tools to handle data effectively and draw meaningful conclusions. - Writing Your Research Proposal: You’ll learn how to identify a research problem, define its purpose, and frame your main research question(s). You’ll then choose appropriate strategies and methods to design your proposal. You’ll also practise discussing findings, drawing conclusions, making recommendations, and reporting your work, preparing you for planning, writing, and submitting a dissertation. - Ethics and Risk Assessment: You’ll engage with Abertay University’s ethics and risk assessment processes, developing a clear understanding of how to conduct research responsibly and safely.

In this module, you’ll put the fundamental principles of fluid dynamics into practice by applying them to real-world challenges. You’ll learn how to analyse and design water infrastructure, developing the skills to tackle projects that are vital for communities and the environment. Indicative Content - Fluid Dynamics: You’ll review the core principles of fluid motion, including continuity equations, conservation of mass, and steady flow. You’ll also explore the Bernoulli equations and their applications to real devices, as well as the momentum equation, helping you understand how fluids behave in engineering contexts. - Pipeline: You’ll study pipe flow and the importance of the Reynolds number in determining flow conditions. You’ll examine frictional effects in pipe systems using the Darcy head loss equation, and learn how to analyse gravity flow systems. You’ll also look at pumps and their applications in non-gravity systems, linking theory to practical engineering solutions. - Drainage Systems: You’ll investigate different types of sewer systems, including combined and separate designs, and explore how urban stormwater pollution is managed. You’ll study Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) and Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SuDS), focusing on how engineers design effective systems for water management and climate adaptation. - Open Channel Flow: You’ll explore the fundamentals of open channel flow and channel design, including how rivers form and function through process and planform interactions. You’ll also study critical flow conditions and their applications, giving you insight into how engineers design and manage natural and artificial channels.

In this module, you’ll take charge of your own research journey. You’ll develop your thinking skills and strengthen the way you communicate, all while working towards research goals that you’ve defined yourself. It’s an opportunity to grow as an independent learner, express your ideas with confidence, and take ownership of your academic development. Indicative Content - Project Work: You’ll carry out a focused project on a specific aspect of your discipline, working under the guidance of an academic supervisor or team. This is your opportunity to apply your knowledge, explore your own ideas, and develop as an independent researcher. - Project Log / Lab Book: You’ll keep clear and accurate records of your work in a suitable format, helping you stay organised and track your progress. This will also give you valuable experience in maintaining professional research documentation. - Communication of Findings: You’ll produce a final project report that follows discipline-specific guidelines, showcasing your ability to write in a professional academic style. You’ll also present your research outcomes through a poster presentation, building confidence in sharing your work with others.