CHAPTER 14: Introducing Green Chemistry into Graduate Courses at the Brazilian Green Chemistry School

The Brazilian Green Chemistry School was established with well-defined purposes. Among them are projects to raise the competitivity of local industry through innovation in processes and products based on renewable starting materials. Thus new courses that are being designed for the school must provide basic knowledge of green chemistry as well as of the tools that are used to compare different alternatives and evaluate their chances of success. Brazil has a unique position as a tropical country with regions that face problems common to developing countries, as well as large and highly industrialized sectors of the economy that suffer from lack of international competitivity. The Graduate Program on Chemical and Biochemical Processes at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro was chosen as a base for the school and began introducing the new courses in 2012. We believe that our experience in preparing green chemistry courses that address local needs may be of interest to colleagues who work on similar initiatives or plan to do so in the near future.