Education for hydrogeologists of the future: serving to ensure an environmentally secure world

Abstract

A b s t r a c t. What kind of Hydrogeologists will be required for an environmentally secure future world? Noting that Poland is on the threshold of a new future, in which economic and social benefits have fundamentally transformed society from its constraints of three decades ago, this might be a valid question. This paper outlines the tradition of classical geological education from the 18th century, through to the needs of present millennium. In the course of this time span social and economic upheavals have caused an astonishing „roller coaster” ride for educational institutions. These institutions of Poland are reacting in various ways to the most recent stimuli, and geological education is no less changing and developing. There are excellent opportunities for providing contemporary educational opportunities for national and foreign students. Given that groundwater resources in aquifers are a hidden yet utterly indispensable water resource, which will help the planet get over its forthcoming stresses, Poland’s hydrogeological institutions can benefit significantly by placing themselves in strategic positions to train regional candidates as well as international candidates in the forthcoming decades, when the role of aquifers in environmental sustainability is increasingly recognised by governments and by global developmental agencies