About the Faculty

The Center for Coordination of Environmental Studies of the University of Tehran was founded in 1973, following the United Nation’s Conference on Human and Environment which was held in Stockholm in 1972. Later in 1994, the Center was expanded to the “Faculty of Environment”. At present, the Faculty only offers graduate programs and hosts 30 full-time and 12 part-time faculty members, all with the highest qualifications from highly recognized international and national universities. The Faculty has managed to initiate and rapidly expand its research cooperation with various major players in the field of environment protection in Iran, such as National Organization of Environment, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Industries, Ministry of Oil, and numerous municipalities. The lack of adequate attention to environmental issues, non-essential consumption of natural resources, such as drinkable water and energy resources, irregular growth and immigration of populations, the advent of assembling industries without paying attention to the country’s industrialization trends, and in sum, the destruction and pollution of natural and human environments have made the need for establishing such a Faculty all the more necessary. The underground water supply, air and noise as well as solid-waste disposal management and industrial sewage, the mal-effects of urbanization, building agricultural and industrial complexes, natural and semi-natural ecological problems, national parks and forests, and the misuse of soil and water, are all issues leading the environmentalists towards playing crucial roles in different fields of management, planning and environmental engineering. Although the Faculty of Environment is currently the only such faculty among the state owned universities in Iran, over the past 15 years, more than 200 graduates of the Faculty have taken such positions in industries and local and central governments.