Environmental disciplines taught to foreign students participating short term exchange programs in RUDN University: experience and approach

The article examines experience and approaches of teaching to foreign students who came to the Institute of Environmental Engineering of the RUDN University for short-term exchange programs (2-3 months). The short duration of the exchange programs imposes additional restrictions on the order of studying the material - it is necessary to give an idea not only about the requirements of environmental protection legislation applied, for example, in Russia and the European Union, but also to give students the opportunity to actively participate in the classes during the workshops, taking into account the adaptation period when in their thoughts they are still at home, but are already in the host country. As an example, the courses conducted at the RUDN for students from Indonesia who arrived to participate the program “Sustainability management” and studying Environmental Impact Assessment and Management of Environmental Risks courses. The experience of teaching these disciplines shows the expediency of practical tasks related to the homeland of students - this allows them not only not to miss their homeland, but also to study in more detail the requirements of their country legislation related impact assessment on the environment, but also the impact of various types of industries on the environment. Thus, the students not only does not fall out of the educational context in home country for several months, but also independently receive more in-depth knowledge. As an exam at the end of the course, it is advisable not to give a traditional test with questions, but to prepare a project that can be carried out jointly with colleagues who have remained at the university in their homeland and allows applying the knowledge gained through the exchange program to create a visually evaluated result (project) on environmental protection in their homeland.