We had a very enjoyable day yesterday facilitating the JBM Excellence in Engineering Education Conference at the Institution of Structural Engineers. The afternoon of presentations and workshops prompted lively debate in response to the question, what’s the best way to embed sustainability in undergraduate engineering courses?
Three basic requirements emerged as necessary for teaching sustainability: motivation; knowledge; and confidence. The working groups discussed broad-ranging solutions for meeting these requirements, with a number of key themes emerging including: the challenge, or even the irrelevance of testing sustainability; the need to create a multidisciplinary discussions to help engineers take a holistic view to sustainability in construction projects; and how to develop an ethical understanding of sustainability, as profound as the Hippocratic oath. We will shortly be publishing the findings of the workshop.
