Specialization: Environmental Planning and Management
Environmental planning focuses on the critical ways in which human actions affect the natural
environment and the ways by which communities and regions can best integrate human and natural
environments. Environmental planners combine public policy with urban design, land use and other
planning strategies to mitigate the effects of human activities on air, water, land, and ecological systems,
and to promote sustainable use of energy, water and other natural resources. Contemporary examples of
environmental planning include sustainable community design, green building, land conservation
planning, industrial symbiosis, brownfield redevelopment, renewable energy planning, urban agriculture,
and sustainable transportation systems. In light of the highly interdisciplinary nature of environmental
planning, coursework is designed to emphasize the functioning of natural and human-generated
environmental systems, the design and implementation of environmental policies, and the physical and
spatial design of sustainable communities.
Program graduates with expertise in environmental planning and management are employed in a number of areas. Traditional areas of employment include private firms, as consultants to a range of land development activities, and all levels of government, as policy analysts and regulators. Environmental planners are also commonly employed in non-governmental organizations with a diverse range of missions focusing on land conservation, public health, energy conservation, natural resource protection, and environmental justice.
The environmental planning specialization requires a minimum of 12 units of coursework, with two required courses.
Policy Tools for Environmental Management
Urban Environmental Planning and Design
These two courses provide a critical foundation in environmental impact assessment and in policy formulation, analysis, and implementation. There are no prerequisites for these courses, so they can be taken by students within the environmental planning specialization or by students in other specializations wanting to understand impact assessment or environmental policies.
Faculty members with expertise in environmental planning and management include Professors Contant, Elliott, and Stone.
Students must also choose two additional courses from the list below or approved by their advisers:
Air Pollutant Formation and Control
Climate and Global Change
Computer-based Environmental Policy Analysis
Earth Systems
Economics of Environmental Policy
Environmental Law
Environmental Analysis Using GIS
Environmental Issues
Environmental Organizations and Political Process
Environmental and Technological Risk Management
Environmental Values and Policy Goals
Environmental Policy and Implementation
Environmental History
Environmentally Conscious Design and Construction
Goals and Objectives in Environmentalism
Hazardous Waste Planning and Management
Land Conservation and Preservation
Land Use, Transportation Interactions
Negotiation, Facilitation, and Conflict Management
Sustainable Systems: Concepts and Measures
Sustainable Urban Development
Transportation, Energy, and Air Quality
Water Quality Engineering
Water Resources Management
In addition to these courses, there are many other environmental science or engineering courses available at Tech in the schools of Civil and Environmental Engineering or Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.
Courses are also available at Georgia State University, in the Department of Geosciences and in the College of Law. Emory University has courses in Anthropology, in Environmental Studies, and in the Rollins School of Public Health. Many of these courses have important prerequisites, so please check these in advance to ensure that you have the proper background for these courses.
Students interested in environmental justice issues may want to contact the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark-Atlanta University for more information.
Integrating Environmental Planning and Other Specializations. Environmental planning is highly interdisciplinary. As such, students with an interest in environmental planning may also wish to fulfill requirements toward a second specialization. In particular, the curriculum is designed to encourage integration of environmental planning with land use planning and transportation planning. Careful selection of course work will allow students to integrate specializations in environmental planning and either of these other specializations with a minimum of six or seven courses.