Integral curriculum on noise control in Spain: a cooperative task

Abstract

Since the European Directive on Environmental Noise 2002/49 came into effect requiring strategic agglomeration and infrastructure noise maps to be made, the demand on environmental Acoustics knowledge has been boosted in Spain. Currently several groups and companies are available to carry out noise surveys and pointing out the noise causes in different streets or areas of a city. However, a second stage is starting now: once the noise causes are identified, control noise techniques needs to be applied. This fact is supported in the Spanish adaptation of this regulation known as Ley del Ruido (2003) that states that noise control techniques should be applied to minimize the acoustic emission of municipal work activities, municipal devices, infrastructures, road work…This means that a demand on noise control knowledge is arising. This knowledge is scarcely provided in the bachelor degrees currently available in Spain, but there are some master degrees focused in Acoustics. However, it is difficult to find an institution that can cover all the topics needed for a complete Acoustics curriculum. This work analyses the feasibility of creating an integral curriculum in noise control involving different Spanish research groups in order to take benefit of the expertise of each one to cover the legal and industrial needs of Acoustics knowledge. In that way, the teaching effort would be optimized and the appropriate facilities would be available, however funds would be necessary for the mobility of teachers and students.