EESD2021: Engineering Education for Sustainable Development Conference

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https://hdl.handle.net/10468/11458

Engineering Education for Sustainable Development (EESD2021) is the 10th iteration of a biennial international conference which attracts engineering educators and academics from all over the world with an interest in embedding sustainability in the curriculum.

University College Cork hosted EESD2021 in June 2021, the first time in Ireland (and for the first time in virtual format), on the theme 'Building Flourishing Communities'.

EESD2021 Proceedings

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Now showing 1 - 5 of 16

Teaching sustainable design through simultaneous evaluation of economics and environmental impacts
(University College Cork, 2021-06-14) Yenkie, Kirti M.; Chea, John D.; Aboagye, Emmanuel A.; Savelski, Mariano J.; Slater, C. Stewart; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Rowan University
The ever-increasing human population and industrial growth have posed a considerable burden on existing resources and have led to an increase in environmental pollution and climate change. The Engineering Clinics offered at the Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering at Rowan University is the hallmark of our program that enables our undergraduate students to actively participate in solving real-world problems through collaborative activities. Our graduate students get an opportunity to engage in stakeholder (i.e., industries, federal and regional funding agencies) interactions and student mentoring in conjunction with developing their research ability. Thus, through these synergistic undergraduate-graduate-faculty- stakeholder collaborations this work envisions to develop awareness about sustainable design and environmental impact in the community. The clinic problems include; (i) solvent recovery in process industries, and (ii) systematic synthesis of wastewater treatment (WWT) networks. These problems are important because imprudent use of industrial solvents and water resources have exacerbated the challenges relating to availability, quality as well as safe disposal of harmful solvents and wastewater. Through these challenging and relevant problems, we can teach our students multiple skills such as information collection, selective extraction of valuable content, economic and sustainability evaluation of multiple pathways through mathematical modeling, computer programming, technical writing, and presentation. The overall impact of these efforts is evident in the peer-reviewed conference and journal publications, oral and poster presentations at regional and national conferences, as well as our students choosing careers which value sustainability.
A tool for introducing Social Life Cycle Assessment of products and feedback from its users
(University College Cork, 2021-06-14) Vakhitova, Tatiana V.; Ashby, Mike F.
Product design involves the choice of materials, the processes used to shape them, transport modes, characteristics of the way the product is used and of its disposal at end of life. All of these influence the environmental impact of product life, now much studied using sophisticated (environmental) life-cycle assessment (E-LCA) tools. They also have social impacts that can be negative or positive contribute to either negative or positive social and environmental impact. The study of these is much more recent, stimulated initially by the UNEP / SETAC "Guidelines for Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) of Products" (UNEP/SETAC Guidelines) of 2009, and now gathering traction across the LCA community. We have developed an Excel-based Social Impact Audit Tool (the Tool) following the UNEP / SETAC guidelines. Its primary aim is one of education, introducing students to the UNEP / SETAC methodology, providing data about social norms and practices in the Nations of the world, and allowing case studies for activity-based learning. The Tool flags social hotspots, highlighting the points in the life of a product at which potential harmful practices or opportunities to enhance well-being exist. The Tool is accompanied by a White Paper explaining its use and providing examples of its use. In a real world this type of analytics can be used, for instance, for CSR strategies on how to improve local conditions in locations in which a company operates. The paper describes feedback from trialling the Tool at several universities, reporting on the expected and received learning outcomes; the ease of use and the clarity of the information provided; and how well the expectations were met.
Challenging practice traditions to embed education for sustainable development within the engineering curriculum
(University College Cork, 2021-06-14) Trad, Sloan; Goldsmith, Rosalie; Hadgraft, Roger; Gardner, Anne
There has never been a more pressing time than now for Engineering Education for Sustainable Development (EESD). However, Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) remains invisible in most Australian engineering curricula. A common narrative from engineering academics is that ESD is covered by someone else, elsewhere in the curriculum. A similar narrative prevails among 20 interviewed engineers working on an infrastructure project in regional Australia - it’s someone else’s responsibility. This paper builds on the authors’ previous work, which identified a striking resemblance between engineering perceptions of sustainability in an Australian university and on an infrastructure project. The Theory of Practice Architectures (TPA) is used as a conceptual framework to examine the sayings, doings and relatings of 20 engineers and 10 engineering academics interviewed as part of this study. The study found that practice traditions, including masculinity, hierarchical workplaces, and an emphasis on technical competence, constrain sustainability integration in engineering curriculum and in engineering practice. These practice traditions also enable the continuation of narrowly defined engineering work practices, which resist the incorporation of a more holistic approach. Changing practice traditions is not an easy task; however, it is a necessary first step to incorporating ESD within the engineering curriculum.
Excellence in education requires excellence in collaboration: learning modules in circular economy as platforms for transdisciplinary learning
(University College Cork, 2021-06-14) Sandström, Niclas; Nevgi, Anne; Betten, Thomas
Circular economy (CE) is drawing attention in the fields of sustainable science and engineering. The aim of the paper is to describe how a consortium of 6 European universities or research institutes (Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology, Finland; Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands; Fraunhofer, Germany; Technical University of Denmark; Università degli Studi di Padova, Italy; University of Helsinki, Finland) that build new co- created learning modules in CE based on modern collaborative pedagogical approaches that include flipped learning (Bergman & Sams, 2012). In the modules a feed-forward toolkit for student engagement and participation was applied. The paper also discusses student and teacher experiences and perceived benefits of using the pedagogical engagement approach.
Challenging energy engineering undergraduates with diverse perspectives on nuclear power
(University College Cork, 2021-06-14) Rogan, Fionn; Daly, Hannah E.; Deane, Paul; Glynn, James; Leahy, Paul G.; Byrne, Edmond P.
As part of an introductory energy engineering undergraduate module at University College Cork, student presentations on a zero-carbon energy plan for Ireland have shown a high preference for nuclear energy, despite a complete absence of nuclear energy from the same module curriculum. Nuclear power has never been built or generated in Ireland, is currently illegal, and faces high levels of public opposition. The origins of a high preference for nuclear energy among undergraduate student engineers is therefore unclear. In response to this high preference for, but critically unengaged view of nuclear power, the authors developed a participatory learning activity for first year undergraduate engineering students to engage with a range of maximally different perspectives on nuclear power. Four different perspectives on whether Ireland needs nuclear power were presented to this year’s class: definitely yes; definitely no; maybe yes; maybe no. These perspectives involved a number of different framings of nuclear power and ranged across a spectrum from techno-economic to socio-technical. They emphasised to a greater or lesser degree issues around risk, cost, system impacts, timing, social acceptability, and sustainability. The activity took place in a room divided into four quadrants with each quadrant representing one of the four different perspectives on nuclear power. At the start of activity, students were invited to go to the quadrant that best represented their initial views. Each perspective on nuclear power was then delivered in a short expert presentation by one of the co- authors. Throughout these presentations, students were invited to remain in or move from their quadrant as they were persuaded or not by the arguments advanced. At the start of the activity, an overwhelming majority (96%) of the students indicated a yes preference with the majority of these being maybe yes (79%); at the end of the debate the total yes share had significantly decreased (to 54%), with the largest share of the lost vote moving to the maybe no category which finished at 36% (having started at 0%). Overall, there was a greater distribution of students across all four categories than at the start. Evaluations on the activity format were largely positive. Student reasons for changing their views were mostly socio-technical points specific to Ireland that included the electricity system, overall energy needs, costs and expert availability. Closing reflections introduced the idea of a wicked problem and highlighted the importance of values to questions such as “Should Ireland Go Nuclear”, i.e. avoiding an exclusively narrow scientific framing.

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