Engineering education for sustainable development: A review of international progress

Byrne, Edmond P.; Desha, Cheryl J.; Fitzpatrick, John J.; Hargroves, Karlson

Engineering education for sustainable development: A review of international progress

Files

EPB_EngineeringPV2010.pdf(304.78 KB)

Published Version

Date

2010-06

Authors

Byrne, Edmond P.

Desha, Cheryl J.

Fitzpatrick, John J.

Hargroves, Karlson

Publisher

International Symposium for Engineering Education

Abstract

Since the late 1980s there have been increasing calls around the world for embedding sustainability content throughout engineering curricula, particularly over the past decade. However in general there has been little by way of strategic or systematic integration within programs offered by higher education institutions (HEIs). Responding to a growing awareness towards the issues surrounding sustainability, a number of professional engineering institutions (PEIs) internationally have placed increasing emphasis on policies and initiatives relating to the role of engineering in addressing 21st Century challenges. This has resulted in some consideration towards integrating sustainable development into engineering curricula as envisaged by accreditation guidelines. This paper provides a global overview of such accreditation developments, highlighting emerging sustainability competencies (or ‘graduate attributes’) and places these in the context of relevant PEI declarations, initiatives, policies, codes of ethics and guideline publications.

Keywords

Engineering education for sustainable development , Curriculum renewal , Graduate attributes , Accreditation

Citation

Byrne, E.P., Desha, C., Fitzpatrick, J.J. & Hargroves, K. (2010). 'Engineering Education for Sustainable Development: A Review of International Progress', workshop paper for the 3rd International Symposium for Engineering Education, Cork, 30 June - 2 July 2010.