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Despite an emerging emphasis on the role of engineers in achieving the SDGs, there is still a lack of agreement on which competencies should be prioritised to prepare them to tackle future sustainability challenges. By formulating a theoretical framework of key sustainable competencies based on prior studies, this study investigated engineering students’ subjective views on which competencies they considered as the most important to support them in becoming sustainable engineers/designers. Using Q methodology, views were collected from 26 master students in a Sustainable Design programme in a Danish systemic problem- and project-based (PBL) context. Three key competencies were identified: collaboration, interdisciplinarity, and systemic thinking. Competences within the ‘doing’ and ‘being’ dimensions were represented the strongest. There is a hierarchy between the competencies, with collaboration being the highest level, as it demonstrates that it is transversal to the others. These results emphasised the role of PBL in developing competencies for sustainability and in reinforcing the value of Education for Sustainable Development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Engineering education is pivotal in driving sustainable development forward, yet many engineers encounter hurdles stemming from insufficient preparation for sustainability challenges. A major factor contributing to this is the lack of a structured and practical framework to guide the integration of sustainability into engineering education. This study addresses this gap by presenting a system-based framework tailored to ‘engineering education as sustainable development.’ The framework outlines a dynamic and inclusive organisational system, incorporating inputs from key stakeholders, a value-and-belief subsystem, throughput processes, and resultant outcomes. These outcomes encompass the cultivation of a new cohort of engineering graduates equipped with sustainable development knowledge, skills, and values/attitudes, thereby fostering the sustainable well-being and prosperity of all stakeholders involved. Additionally, the study examines the intricate relationships, including feedback loops, among system components and concludes by offering insights for practitioners to consider for future action and implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability issues are increasingly important in engineering work all over the world. This article explores systematic differences in self-assessed competencies, interests, importance, engagement and practices of newly enrolled engineering students in Denmark in relation to environmental and non-environmental sustainability issues. The empirical base of the article is a nation-wide, web-based survey sent to all newly enrolled engineering students in Denmark commencing their education in the fall term 2010. The response rate was 46%. The survey focused on a variety of different aspects of what can be conceived as sustainability. By means of cluster analysis, three engineering student approaches to sustainability are identified and described. The article provides knowledge on the different prerequisites of engineering students in relation to the role of sustainability in engineering. This information is important input to educators trying to target new engineering students and contribute to the provision of engineers equipped to meet sustainability challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of Earth environmental destruction by human activities is becoming dangerous. Engineers responsible for the production of any goods should be well aware of the negative influence of their activities on the state of the planet. This is why the understanding of ecological problems is essential for people responsible for production and industrial design. The energy, which they consume, is increasing the greenhouse effect and the waste poisons the environment. So far, most courses on ecology are offered to specialists in environmental engineering. These courses are filled with many details. The Warsaw Academy of Computer Science, Management and Administration teaches students in the direction of management and production engineering. Upon completion, the students receive the degree of ‘engineer’. Their future work will mainly concern management of different types of industrial enterprises and they will be responsible for organising it in such a way as to avoid a dangerous contribution to environmental pollution and climate change. This is why it was decided to introduce a new course entitled ‘Principles of Ecology and Environmental Management’. This course is quite broad, concerning almost all technical, law and organisational aspects of the problem. The presentation is made in a spectacular way, aiming to convince students that their future activity must be environmentally friendly. It contains information about international activities in ecology, legal aspects concerning pollution, technical and information methods of monitoring and, finally, the description of ‘green’ solutions. Altogether, 27 hours of lectures and 15 hours of discussions and students’ presentations complete the course. Details of this course are described in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Since 2001, the International Institute of Women in Engineering (IIWE) at EPF, Ecole d'ingenieurs generaliste, Sceaux, France, has conducted a 3 week short course for culturally and discipline diverse, recently graduated and final year engineering students. The aim of this course is to introduce young engineers to broad global concepts and issues relating to their future professional practice, through intercultural learning. The initial course programme provided examples of engineering practices in various countries throughout the world. However, to achieve an intercultural, multidisciplinary learning outcome, a specific course theme and a project focussing on sustainable engineering and the inclusion of a variety of industrial visits were introduced in 2006. This paper will discuss the success of the strategies used to engage international students in the IIWE course activities, and after consideration of the results of participant surveys, the curriculum initiatives that followed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In addition to developing deep knowledge of a single discipline, engineers must also be able to collaborate across disciplinary boundaries and develop interdisciplinary expertise to successfully address the complex challenges of the contemporary workplace. While numerous descriptions of interdisciplinary courses and projects appear in the literature, educators still lack rigorous research about learning barriers, outcomes, and concrete interventions to support this interdisciplinary development. This paper addresses that gap by pairing a review of the literature with a case study of students in a sustainable engineering program to identify the key challenges to success in interdisciplinary contexts. The findings suggest that students (1) lack the ability to connect interdisciplinary subjects to their own more narrowly defined fields of expertise, and (2) fail to identify and value the contributions of multiple fields to complex problems. This paper concludes with possible teaching interventions to address these barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]