Education for attainability through engineering I.W. Gunn · 2014. 5. 16. · Education for...

Education for attainability through engineering

I.W. GunnDepartment of Civil and Resource Engineering, The University of

, AW

Abstract

The goal of achieving a sustainable future for all humankind has set a newcontext for professional engineering activity, and has resulted in national andglobal engineering organisations evolving policies and action plans forsustainability through engineering. Engineering education has thus to redirectitself into sustainability mode. An eight element strategy for implementingeducation for sustainability through engineering includes a declaration ofprinciples plus a foundation course in "environmental principles" forengineers. The challenge for engineering educators is to ensure that theiracademic and professional activities are directed toward achieving asustainable future through engineering.

1 Introduction

International and national responses to major environmental and resourcemanagement issues has seen in recent years a significant shift in the focus ofhuman endeavour toward sustainable use of earth resources and betterenvironmental management practices. The setting up of the WorldCommission on Sustainable Development to implement Agenda 21 arisingfrom the Rio Earth Summit of 1992, the formation of international industryand business associations (such as the World Industry Council for theEnvironment, and the Business Council for Sustainable Development), and theestablishment of the World Engineering Partnership for SustainableDevelopment (WEPSD) illustrate the flowering of international cooperation infacing up to the challenge of sustainable management of earth resources. InNew Zealand, the 1991 Resource Management Act has brought together keyelements of some 54 pieces of separate legislation (all repealed) into a singlepurpose Act centred on the sustainable management of natural and physical

Transactions on Ecology and the Environment vol 11, © 1996 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541

42 Environmental Engineering Education

resources.The critical future objective for all humankind is to move toward the

implementation of ecologically sustainable development, that is, developmentwhich is appropriate to the culture, history and social systems where it takesplace, and where economic and social objectives are achieved within the limitsof ecological systems. Given that a sustainable society is thus one that liveswithin the limits of its environment, sustaining itself on the earths ecologicalinterest, and not its capital, all this has set a new context in which professionalengineering activities at both international and national levels are to be carriedout for the future.

2 Engineering and Sustainability

The global professional engineering community has responded positively to thechallenge of sustainability. At the international level the most significantdevelopment has been the formation of the World Engineering Partnership forSustainable Development (WEPSD) by the World Federation of EngineeringOrganisations (WFEO), the International Federation of Consulting Engineers(FIDIC) and the International Union of Technical Associations ]. WEPSDsees the engineering profession as a multidisciplinary partnership which canhave a significant role in defining and solving global problems of resourceutilisation and environmental management[2]. That partnership is to be basedon the concept of global stewardship of resources, on the expansion ofenvironmental and social education of engineers, on creative research, and ontechnology transfer between developing, redeveloping and developedcountries.

At the national level the Australia and New Zealand professionalengineering bodies have maintained close liaison in pursuing sustainabilityobjectives. The Institution of Engineers Australia (lEAust) has definedSustainability as -

"the ability to maintain a high quality of life for all people, both nowand in the future, while ensuring the maintenance of ecologicalprocesses on which life depends and the continued availability of thenatural resources needed".[3]

In its policy on sustainability lEAust requires that its members shall,in their practise of engineering, act in a manner that accelerates achievementof sustainability, and subsequently is setting in place a framework of nationalan<J international information links, practice guidelines, educationalprogrammes, and communication with scientific, technical, administrative andcommunity organisations.

The New Zealand Institution of Professional Engineers (IPENZ)approved and endorsed at its 1995 annual conference a SustainableManagement Action Plan centred around five objectives -


Environmental Engineering Education 43

"# to conduct all Institution affairs in a manner which promotessustainable management of natural and physical resources andto encourage others to do likewise;

• to promote an ethic of sustainability within the Code of Ethics;

• to increase member's competency in sustainable management;

• to promote the development and application of technologies andprocesses which will promote sustainable management ofnatural and physical resources;

• to promote the concept of sustainable management in thecommunity."

Given the commitment of professional engineering organisations to theconcept of sustainability and the importance of the contribution that can bemade by engineers to achieving community objectives for a sustainable future,a key question becomes, what direction for engineering education?

3 The Sustainability Imperative for Engineering Education

David Thorn, as Chairman of the WFEO Committee on Engineering andEnvironment, has presented a compelling argument for urgent change in bothEngineering practise and engineering education[4]. The key to this change heclaims is "understanding the concept and implications of sustainability" suchthat a new technical culture arises to give effect to the vision of the WEPSDfor "creative application of technology to achieve sustainable development" inwhich "the ethics, education and practises of the engineering profession willbe redirected to shape a sustainable future for all generations of humankind."

The components of the redirection of engineering education towardssustainability are seen by the WFEO and the WEPSD as[2] -

• adoption of the sustainability concept within all stages ofengineering education from entry to engineering school tocontinuing education of career engineers

• positioning engineers to be facilitators of sustainabledevelopment by education and training for involvement inparticipatory and decision making processes

• creating engineers who are superb generalists, able to take theconventional problem solving skills of analysis, and, viainterdisciplinary education, to combine these analytical skills



with synthesis skills which incorporate complex social, cultural,legal and economic factors into developing integrated solutionsto resource management and development issues

• providing an understanding of ecosystem cycles, includingnatural and built ecosystems and their inter-relationships

• understanding the role that engineers can have as a unifyingdiscipline in managing the factors in any project that interlinkeconomics, culture, environment, and technology.

Don Roberts of CH%M Hill in the USA argued at the 1991 IPENZConference[5] that the challenge of educating engineers for the new era ofenvironmentally sustainable development can be achieved in two parallelways. First, by all engineers becoming better environmental generalists whilemaintaining their specialist field of practice. This will require, during theformal training process, time spent on the study of history, economics,literature, environmental sciences, and the development of writing skills andpublic speaking. Second, Roberts argues for a radical review of recruitmentand curriculum development. He suggest that around one-quarter of futureengineers should be trained as an elite of "environmental generalists" byproviding them with a broad education, combining technical engineering skillswith a range of environmental disciplines, these being integrated with abackground in history, literature, economics, law, political science, alloverlain by special leadership training, including communications skills.

The need for a new kind of engineer as a highly skilled generalistcombining the knowledge of traditional engineering in a particular disciplinewith a greater breadth of knowledge in systems complexity and understandingof the natural environment, and in exhibiting skills in interdisciplinarycommunication with other professionals and the community, was seen asdesirable by the 1994 international workshop on the fundamentals ofenvironmental education in engineering held in Christchurch, NZ[6]. In theoverview of the workshop outcomes David Elms noted the workshop'sconfirmation of Roberts' view that 25% of engineers should have such aspecialised generalist education while the remainder receive education inenvironmental issues in supplementation of their traditional engineeringeducation.

4 Implementing Education for Sustainability through Engineering

Engineering education cannot shrink from the urgent and overwhelmingchallenge presented by the profession, the international community, and theenvironmental imperatives of global and national resource management issues.Two constraints to redirection of engineering education into sustainabilitymode must be tackled head-on. Firstly, it is often argued that curricula are



too crowded to accommodate new material without understanding that it is notnew material per se that is the key to sustainability education, but the wayexisting material is presented. For example, the shift of emphasis from "end-of pipe" procedures in design courses to "cleaner production" concepts anddesign for waste minimisation.

Secondly is the compartmentalisation of academic disciplines inuniversity education, when in fact sustainability issues require multi-disciplinary treatment. In large measure this compartmentalisation is onlybroken down at present via the goodwill and cooperation of individualacademics reaching across academic boundaries to assist each other inbroadening the educational experiences of each others students. Structuralchange will inevitably flow from these current initiatives, but perhaps onlyslowly given the nature of University departmental organisation.

5 Environmental and General Education in The University of AucklandEngineering School

In 1973 during a restructuring of the academic year in engineering from aterm system to a semester system, two new papers titled General Studies I(GSI) and General Studies II (GSII) were introduced. GSI currently coverstopics in history, politics, philosophy, anthropology, art, medicine, music andpsychology. GSII began as an environmental awareness course but evolvedinto an engineering and society paper dealing with topics such as history oftechnology, professional ethics, economics, environment, Maori culturalvalues, industrial relations, resource use and engineering, and the engineeroverseas. In 1986 the Faculty of Engineering set up a fully representativeinterdisciplinary Committee on Environmental Education in Engineering withthe objective of developing environmental content within degree programmes.Rather than introducing a new core paper on environmental management forengineers (as recommended by the Committee) Faculty decided to increase theenvironmental content of GSII (taken by the full final year as one classinclusive of all disciplines) and introduce an "environmental management"elective in the final year. This was accomplished in 1991, the year that theResource Management Act came into force. In 1993 the Department of Civiland Resource Engineering introduced a new core course on "resourcemanagement" which introduces final year students to the concept ofsustainability and to the sustainable management of natural and physicalresources.

These measures have all laid a foundation for change of direction intosustainability mode, but in themselves only go but part way toward thatobjective. Environmental education via enhancement of existing courses at thefinal year of a degree programme does not infuse sustainability principlesthroughout the educational experience of the undergraduate student body.Such infusion requires centering teaching programmes on a foundation ofsustainability.



6 A Strategy for Implementing Education for Sustainability throughEngineering

In November 1993 Faculty incorporated into its School Plan for 1994 goalsand objectives which addressed the issues of "sustainable management of theplanet", "increasing knowledge and understanding of engineering, technologyand science and their role in achieving a sustainable future", and committeditself to reviewing "the content of the BE degree courses so as to ensure thatthe curriculum is relevant and responsive to the needs of sound environmentaland resource management and the goals and aspirations of the NZ and globalcommunities". Through 1994 and into 1995 the Faculty undertookdevelopment of a new Bachelor of Engineering degree programme forintroduction from 1996 in conjunction with a University wide move into aSemester system. This provided opportunity to re-direct the educationalprocesses in the School into "Sustainability mode", and the EnvironmentalEducation in Engineering Committee placed before Faculty an implementationstrategy comprising the following elements -

Element 1: That all staff within the School commit themselves toincorporating into teaching and research (where relevant,appropriate, and practical) concepts, information and guidelinesconsistent with moving toward an ecologically sustainablefuture, and that such commitment be formalised within aDeclaration of Principles - Education for Sustainabilitythrough Engineering (Appendix A).

Element 2: That an environmental and Sustainability audit be undertaken toall existing and proposed new courses for the New BE tofacilitate the development of relevant and appropriatesupporting concepts, guidelines, and materials to assist all staffin implementing Element 1.

Element 3: That a programme of environmental/sustainability workshopsbe organised in an ongoing process of supporting staff inincorporating Sustainability issues into teaching and research.

Element 4: That a course in "environmental principles" for engineers beintroduced within Year 1 of the New BE to complement theteaching of "engineering principles", and to provide thefoundation for subsequent environmental and Sustainabilitycontent throughout Years 2, 3 and 4.

Element 5: That where relevant, appropriate and practical, design teachingacross all disciplines be enhanced and/or restructured toincorporate Sustainability principles, including (inter alia)



cleaner production, life-cycle-assessment, industrial ecology.

Element 6: That the School promote and encourage research activity in thearea of sustainability in engineering practise.

Element 7: That a special Award be established to recognise innovationwithin the School in teaching and research in sustainabilitythrough engineering.

Element 8: That the School Plan be reviewed annually to ensure thateducation and research in engineering is centred on thesustainable management of natural and physical resources.

Faculty did two things with the Committee's recommendation. First,the implementation strategy has been referred to all five Departments in theSchool (Chemical and Materials Engineering; Civil and Resource Engineering;Electrical and Electronic Engineering; Mechanical Engineering; EngineeringScience) for review. Second, Faculty accepted, in its deliberations on thecontent of the New BE, Element 4, i.e. the introduction of a foundationcourse on "environmental principles" in Year 1 for all disciplines. Thiscourse is to complement the teaching of "engineering principles" (engineeringmechanics, materials science, electrical engineering, mathematical modellingand computing) and "engineering design" and provide the base on whichsubsequent environmental and sustainability content is built throughout Years2, 3 and 4 of the BE degree. Appendix B outlines the topic areas beingdeveloped within the "environmental principles" course.

The New BE also provides a significant professional developmentcontent including material from the present General Studies I and II courses,together with communication skills training so that the social and culturalcontext of the engineering interaction with community is well coveredthroughout the degree programme.

Faculty's response to Element 1, the "Declaration of Principles -Education for Sustainability through Engineering" is as yet uncertain - it hasnot to date been adopted. Commitment statements meet with varying reaction,and to expect it to be endorsed universally by all staff may at this point intime be somewhat ahead of the general understanding of the need for urgencyin achieving ecological sustainability through engineering. However, in thesame way that the profession is being led by IPENZ via its sustainablemanagement action plan for engineering, the Engineering Faculty has aresponsibility to determine, in the context of its School Plan, what strategy itshould adopt in achieving education for sustainability through engineering.This responsibility applies to all schools of engineering everywhere.



7 Concluding Comment

The global and national challenges of achieving ecologically sustainabledevelopment profoundly affect the way professional engineering practice is tobe carried out both now and for the future. Engineers, as key agents ofchange affecting the natural, physical, social and cultural environment havea particular responsibility in ensuring that ecologically sustainable developmentis practically and economically achievable within a reasonable time-span. Theurgency of the environmental and resource management problems facing theworldwide community requires an immediate and proactive response fromengineering educational institutions. The School of Engineering at TheUniversity of Auckland has over several years laid a foundation for such aresponse via its general studies and environmental content within its degreeprogrammes, and is now poised to move into sustainability mode. Thesuccess with which the School achieves implementation of education forsustainability through engineering will depend upon the understanding byindividual staff and Departments of their separate and collective academic andprofessional role in contributing to a sustainable future. Such a challengefaces all engineering educators everywhere.

References

1. Prendergast, J., Engineering Sustainable Development, CivilEngineering, ASCE, October 1993, 39-42.

2. Carroll, W.J., World Engineering Partnership for SustainableDevelopment, Charter Meeting, New York, March 1992.

3. The Institution of Engineers Australia. Policy on Sustainability, 8November, 1994.

4. Thorn, D. The new technical culture, in Aiming for Quality inEngineering Education (ed. R.M. Sharp, H. Silyn-Roberts) pp. 430-439, Proceedings of the 5th Annual Convention and Conference,Australasian Association for Engineering Education, Auckland, NewZealand, 12-15 December 1993.

5. Roberts, D.V. Sustainable development - a challenge for theengineering profession. IPENZ Annual Conference, Auckland, NewZealand, February 1991.

6. Elms, D. & Wilkinson, D. (ed). The Environmentally EducatedEngineer - Focus on Fundamentals, Pro. Wkshop on Fundamentals ofEnvironmental Engineering Education, Centre for AdvancedEngineering, University of Canterbury, New Zealand, March 1995.



Appendix A:

Declaration of Principles - Education forSustainabilitv through Engineering

We, the teaching and research staff of the School of Engineering, recognising thevital role that ecologically sustainable development will play in achieving asustainable future for the planet and for all humankind, and understanding thesignificant contribution that professional engineering can make towards that goal,commit ourselves through the educational and research activities within the Schoolto the following principles -

1. Recognise the ecological foundation for technology and economy, and thatinterdependence and diversity within natural and human ecosystems form thebasis for securing a sustainable future.

2. Ensure that professional engineering is taught and researched within aframework of sustainable management centred on efficiency in the utilisationof renewable and non-renewable material and energy resources, and onactions to improve, sustain and restore the physical and natural environment.

3. Incorporate the concepts and techniques of cleaner production, wasteminimisation, pollution prevention, energy efficiency, resource recovery andconservation, risk reduction, and environmental protection into all relevantand appropriate teaching and research programmes.

4. Interact with other academic disciplines in architecture, planning, communityhealth, law, commerce, natural/physical/environmental sciences, thehumanities and the social and cultural sciences, and such sustainability andenvironmental programmes and initiatives as the University may from timeto time undertake.

5. Assist the world of business, commerce, industry, government, and theprofession of engineering in achieving sustainable paths towards economicdevelopment, resource management, and environmental protection within theNew Zealand and wider global community.

6. Develop and enhance skills and techniques in oral, written and visualcommunication to facilitate effective interaction with other professions andthe wider community in participatory decision making regarding the activitiesof engineering in contributing to sustainable management of resources andenvironment.

7. Ensure that social, cultural, stewardship and ethical values relevant toachieving sustainability through engineering are identified and incorporatedwithin the educational and research programmes within the School.



Appendix B;

Environmental Principles

Year 1 Semester 1 24 hrs lectures6 hrs tutorials

Topic Areas: Earth Systems [3 hrs]Introduction to geology, ecology, economy

Geosphere, biosphere, ecosystem cycles.

Sustainability Concepts [4 hrs]Ecosystem function, entropy, and the laws of thermodynamics.

Ecosystem stability, biodiversity and ecological sustainability.

Ecosystem Dynamics [5 hrs]Community structures; diversity and stability; food webs and biomassenergy; population growth and management; carrying capacity; bioticpotential and environmental resistance.

Ecosystem responses to disruption and change; human impacts andecosystem adaption; ecosystem models.

Human/Ecosystem Interactions [6 hrs]Urban, agricultural, forest, ocean and industrial ecosystems and theirinteractions.

Introduction to ecological implications of resource use; conservationand preservation.

Strategies for sustainable living.

Engineering and Environment [6 hrs]Assessment of environmental effects; social and cultural views of theenvironment.

Design with nature; sustainable cities; energy, water, minerals andbiological resource use; residue management.

Case studies in environmental impacts of engineering activity.


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