Abstract

Since public concerns about the environmental issues have increased, several universities all over the world have been establishing environmental engineering programs. Environmental engineering programs in Iran at graduate level have been developed since 1990. At the present time, there are ten universities are presenting environmental engineering programs at graduate levels. The environmental engineering education systems of almost all Iran universities are quite traditional. As the environmental engineering problems have become very diverse and complex, it is necessary to define the new scope of environmental engineering, especially in developing countries, to cope with environmental problems and sustainable development concerns. Therefore, the Environmental Engineering programs of Iran Universities must be modified in the near future. For example several courses such as "Green Chemistry", "Energy Management", "Environmental Law", "Environmental Economics" and "Environmental Ethics and Philosophy", " Environmental Sociology" and "Sustainable development" are suggested to add to the curriculum of the all environmental engineering programs in Iran. The aim of this paper is to explain the present situation and  challenges of environmental engineering education in Iran.