2025 ENGR 202 Exam Final Review everything
you need to know (Sustainable Development and
Environmental Stewardship) Concordia
University
Lecture 1:
Introduction to Sustainable Development
Definitions of Sustainable Design
❑ Brundtland: Sustainable development is seeking to meet the needs of the present without
compromising those of future generations.
Thus, sustainability is about
◦ human beings → Human Wellbeing
◦ the environment, the ecosystem in which we live → Environmental Wellbeing ◦ the economy, which
enables us to do what we do → Economic Wellbeing
Human activities and impact on the environment
1. Human Population and Economic Activity
● The process begins with human population growth and economic development,
which drive demand for resources, goods, and services.
● These activities directly influence land use, industrial output, energy consumption,
and emissions.
2. Land Use, Resource Consumption, and Emissions
● Industrial processes, transportation, buildings, and agriculture consume resources
and release pollutants into the environment.
● This stage links economic activity to environmental pressure through emissions and
waste generation.
3. Pollutant Transport and Transformation
, ● Released pollutants move and change chemically or physically within air, water, and
soils, spreading their impact across ecosystems and regions.
4. Environmental Changes
● These pollutants cause physical, chemical, and biological changes in the
environment, such as altered climate, water quality degradation, or biodiversity loss.
5. Valuation of Environmental Changes
● The consequences of these changes are then evaluated in terms of impacts, costs,
risks, and damages.
● This step bridges scientific assessment with economic and social understanding.
,6. Economics, Culture, and Values
● Society’s values, cultural attitudes, and economic priorities influence how
environmental changes are perceived and how much importance is placed on
addressing them.
7. Political Process and Public Policy
● These values and assessments feed into the political process, shaping laws,
regulations, and standards aimed at mitigating or managing environmental
impacts.
● Public policy measures provide feedback to earlier stages, guiding land use,
emissions, and resource management.
8. Technology Development
● Technological innovation can reduce resource use, emissions, and waste or
improve monitoring and mitigation efforts.
● It both affects and is influenced by economic activity, policy decisions, and
environmental feedback.
Overall Concept
The framework emphasizes that environmental impacts are interconnected with human,
technological, and policy systems.
Solid arrows represent the main flow of cause and effect—from human activity to
environmental change—while dashed arrows show feedback loops, where environmental
outcomes and policies influence future human behavior and technological advancement.
In essence, sustainable environmental management depends on integrating science,
economics, technology, and governance into a continuous cycle of evaluation and
response.
Human activities:
Land and water use for housing, agriculture, industry, transportation, and recreation
Emissions or discharge of chemical substances to air, land, and water
Physical Changes:
, Deforestation and other alterations of landscapes (e.g., changes in terrain slope, vegetation coverage,
Pavement); alteration of waterways (e.g., flooding, dams, changes in river channels, drainage of
wetlands)
Changes to the built environment (Structures such as buildings, bridges, monuments, etc.) from
deposition and chemical attack caused by emissions such as soot deposits, acid gases, and liquid
chemicals
Chemical Changes:
Changes to chemical constituents of soils and sediments (e.g., increased acidity and turbidity of
waters, removal of nutrients from soils)
Increases in the concentration of emitted substances in the air, water, and soil; other chemical
changes resulting from secondary reactions (e.g., ozone buildup in urban areas )
Biological Changes:
Changes in the viability of plants, fish, animals, and microorganisms due to altered habitat and
chemical constituents or concentrations, possibly leading to species succession, extinction, migration,
or disease
Injury or illness to people, plants, and animals from exposure to and/or accumulation of chemicals and
their derivatives
Environmental crises and challenges in today's world
● Rapid growth of cities with poor planning
● Reduction of resources, water and food
● Pollution
● Reduction in biological diversity
● Increase in hunger and poverty
● Global environmental changes
Sustainable development
Sustainable development must encompass the following measures:
● Reusing and circulating waste materials within the system;
● Minimizing the amount of material utilized in products to fulfil a specific purpose;
● Preventing or reducing the release of hazardous substances;
● Minimizing energy consumption and waste heat discharge into the environment.
Sustainability vs Resilience
● Sustainability and resilience are not the same thing, yet they are connected.
● Resilience is a system's ability to tolerate disruption while maintaining its core function and
structure; it is the ability to deal with change.
● The notion of resilience is central to many sustainability activities.
● A sustainability strategy defines long-term objectives, investigates solutions for reaching
those goals, and analyzes them systematically using indicators.
Some useful definitions
Carrying capacity: The number of individuals that can be supported by a system.
Ecological footprint – Stress placed on the ecosystem by an individual or group.
Resilience – ability of a system to adapt to new circumstances without collapsing.
Tipping point – a critical threshold, beyond which an irreversible change occurs.
you need to know (Sustainable Development and
Environmental Stewardship) Concordia
University
Lecture 1:
Introduction to Sustainable Development
Definitions of Sustainable Design
❑ Brundtland: Sustainable development is seeking to meet the needs of the present without
compromising those of future generations.
Thus, sustainability is about
◦ human beings → Human Wellbeing
◦ the environment, the ecosystem in which we live → Environmental Wellbeing ◦ the economy, which
enables us to do what we do → Economic Wellbeing
Human activities and impact on the environment
1. Human Population and Economic Activity
● The process begins with human population growth and economic development,
which drive demand for resources, goods, and services.
● These activities directly influence land use, industrial output, energy consumption,
and emissions.
2. Land Use, Resource Consumption, and Emissions
● Industrial processes, transportation, buildings, and agriculture consume resources
and release pollutants into the environment.
● This stage links economic activity to environmental pressure through emissions and
waste generation.
3. Pollutant Transport and Transformation
, ● Released pollutants move and change chemically or physically within air, water, and
soils, spreading their impact across ecosystems and regions.
4. Environmental Changes
● These pollutants cause physical, chemical, and biological changes in the
environment, such as altered climate, water quality degradation, or biodiversity loss.
5. Valuation of Environmental Changes
● The consequences of these changes are then evaluated in terms of impacts, costs,
risks, and damages.
● This step bridges scientific assessment with economic and social understanding.
,6. Economics, Culture, and Values
● Society’s values, cultural attitudes, and economic priorities influence how
environmental changes are perceived and how much importance is placed on
addressing them.
7. Political Process and Public Policy
● These values and assessments feed into the political process, shaping laws,
regulations, and standards aimed at mitigating or managing environmental
impacts.
● Public policy measures provide feedback to earlier stages, guiding land use,
emissions, and resource management.
8. Technology Development
● Technological innovation can reduce resource use, emissions, and waste or
improve monitoring and mitigation efforts.
● It both affects and is influenced by economic activity, policy decisions, and
environmental feedback.
Overall Concept
The framework emphasizes that environmental impacts are interconnected with human,
technological, and policy systems.
Solid arrows represent the main flow of cause and effect—from human activity to
environmental change—while dashed arrows show feedback loops, where environmental
outcomes and policies influence future human behavior and technological advancement.
In essence, sustainable environmental management depends on integrating science,
economics, technology, and governance into a continuous cycle of evaluation and
response.
Human activities:
Land and water use for housing, agriculture, industry, transportation, and recreation
Emissions or discharge of chemical substances to air, land, and water
Physical Changes:
, Deforestation and other alterations of landscapes (e.g., changes in terrain slope, vegetation coverage,
Pavement); alteration of waterways (e.g., flooding, dams, changes in river channels, drainage of
wetlands)
Changes to the built environment (Structures such as buildings, bridges, monuments, etc.) from
deposition and chemical attack caused by emissions such as soot deposits, acid gases, and liquid
chemicals
Chemical Changes:
Changes to chemical constituents of soils and sediments (e.g., increased acidity and turbidity of
waters, removal of nutrients from soils)
Increases in the concentration of emitted substances in the air, water, and soil; other chemical
changes resulting from secondary reactions (e.g., ozone buildup in urban areas )
Biological Changes:
Changes in the viability of plants, fish, animals, and microorganisms due to altered habitat and
chemical constituents or concentrations, possibly leading to species succession, extinction, migration,
or disease
Injury or illness to people, plants, and animals from exposure to and/or accumulation of chemicals and
their derivatives
Environmental crises and challenges in today's world
● Rapid growth of cities with poor planning
● Reduction of resources, water and food
● Pollution
● Reduction in biological diversity
● Increase in hunger and poverty
● Global environmental changes
Sustainable development
Sustainable development must encompass the following measures:
● Reusing and circulating waste materials within the system;
● Minimizing the amount of material utilized in products to fulfil a specific purpose;
● Preventing or reducing the release of hazardous substances;
● Minimizing energy consumption and waste heat discharge into the environment.
Sustainability vs Resilience
● Sustainability and resilience are not the same thing, yet they are connected.
● Resilience is a system's ability to tolerate disruption while maintaining its core function and
structure; it is the ability to deal with change.
● The notion of resilience is central to many sustainability activities.
● A sustainability strategy defines long-term objectives, investigates solutions for reaching
those goals, and analyzes them systematically using indicators.
Some useful definitions
Carrying capacity: The number of individuals that can be supported by a system.
Ecological footprint – Stress placed on the ecosystem by an individual or group.
Resilience – ability of a system to adapt to new circumstances without collapsing.
Tipping point – a critical threshold, beyond which an irreversible change occurs.
