Problem Based Training Program on Industrial Ecology and Environment for the Sustainability Management of Industry

The training program on industrial ecology and environment hosted by Mahidol University is designed to provide an understanding of the principles concept and practice of industrial ecology, which had a benefits directly to the sustainable development of industrial sectors in Asia. In 2011, the problem based training was firstly applied as a main idea for designing the course structure of the 3rd international training course on industrial ecology. Three modules, which are in class learning, field study (learning by doing), and group discussion (analysis and synthesize idea), were offered as a framework for this course. There are 14 participants from 9 participating countries in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East that joined this training program. Sustainability management of the Northern Region Industrial Estate (NRIE) and community area were delivered as a project study, which referred to the three main issues of the focused area including water quality of the Kuang river, soil contaminated problem, and community feedback to the NRIE. The results from the training program revealed that industrial activities in the NRIE did not affect the water quality of Kuang river and soil quality around NRIE area. In addition, the local people who live within or near that area have positive attitude towards the NRIE. This training approach was a challenge for the majority of participants who had not previously been exposed to it. Participant feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Participant satisfaction with the training program had a mean score of 4.92 (out of 5) with all participants agreeing or strongly agreeing with using the problem based training methodology, which can delivered the transdisciplinarity between academics and practitioners, self-regulated learning, and collaboration.