Interview with Duván Javier Mesa Fernandez - Colombia
Duván Javier Mesa Fernandez - At the time of the interview he is Dean of the Facultad de Ingenieria Ambiental of the Universidad Santo Tomás.
Tell us about the degree
The Environmental Engineering Program is a higher education program aimed at training professionals who work for the protection and management of resources: air, water, soil and energy, capable of qualitatively and quantitatively analyzing the effects that inevitably result from human activities and of designing technical strategies to remedy these problems and minimize impacts. Thus, in accordance with Thomist philosophy, the program's mission is the comprehensive training of high-quality engineers with creative capacity, scientific rigor and social sensitivity, broadly prepared for the study and analysis of problems related to the environment, its sustainability, the human-nature relationship as the basis of productive systems, aware of the rights and duties enshrined in the Constitution, the law and the Codes of Ethics, and in a permanent search for and generation of knowledge to build and propose efficient, effective and timely solutions to the environmental problems facing society in the current context.
What motivated you to study Environmental Engineering?
Studying Environmental Engineering has truly become one of the fundamental aspects for the development of industry, territorial entities and nations, because it adds value to each of the productive systems, reducing pollutant loads, fostering low-carbon economies, generating green marketing and therefore this degree has gained a great deal of strength on a regional, local and global scale.
What satisfactions has this career given you?
Basically being able to coexist with the environment, understanding that natural, human and economic systems can coexist in an economic dialectic that allows for that sustainable development which is the new order posed by resources; the basis of natural resources for us but also for third-generation rights.
And what disappointments?
Some difficulties still persist from the regulatory aspect, the applicability and implementation of some legal elements that have not allowed the environmental dimension to be incorporated as desired in industry and in land-use planning, however it becomes a great opportunity to achieve new standards of environmental, institutional and quality-of-life quality.
Do you think Environmental Engineering could be the key to improving the relationship with the environment?
Of course, Environmental Engineering allows you, from the basic sciences, from the exact sciences and from the social and economic sciences, to reconcile many of these development interests with conservation interests, which enable that same sustainable development we have talked about.
What advice would you give to a person who is considering this degree for their future?
Really, don't think twice, it is a degree with enormous potential, of the highest importance. Renewable energies, bioprocesses, wastewater treatment systems, air pollution control systems, waste recovery and the management of natural areas toward payments for natural services and economic valuation, are strategic and essential topics that will allow them to work in research, teaching, in industry, in the productive sector and in State agencies.
Anything you would like to add?
We have to seek integration as South America, we have a lot of learning and collaborative platforms. Each of the countries in the area of environmental sciences and in Environmental Engineering, allow one to move forward toward a new development in which we are planetary fellow citizens, in equity with inclusion and with great solidarity toward a new culture of development.
Many thanks to Universidad Santo Tomás and to Duván Javier Mesa Fernandez for the interview.
