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Significant efforts have been made to promote gender equality in higher education (HE) in Europe. Examples include the establishment of the Athena Swan Charter in the UK in 2005 and the 2019 launch of the Irène Curie Fellowship scheme by Eindhoven University of Technology. But which initiatives address broader diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) challenges in HE? And which are specifically focused on engineering education? This exploratory study aims to improve our understanding of the ways in which a set of European HE Institutions engaged in engineering education address DEI at an organisation level, and how this is communicated within the public domain. The analysis of online data provided by a purposive sample of institutions is guided by the following research questions (RQ): 1. How is DEI addressed and defined in institution-wide strategic frameworks? 2. How many institutions describe having an institution-wide DEI organization? 3. What specific policies around DEI are being developed, and what areas are mentioned, defined, and prioritized? 4. What structures and resources noted as part of their DEI activities are specific to engineering faculties and departments? 5. What engineering-specific DEI initiatives exist that are not available in the public domain or are not written in English? Our sample is composed of the host institutions of the authors of the paper, and represent different European countries: Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Portugal, Switzerland, and the UK. The findings of this exploratory study will be used to inform the design of a large-scale survey to identify DEI practices across the SEFI community. ispartof: pages:189-193 ispartof: SEFI 49th Annual Conference Proceedings 2021 pages:189-193 ispartof: SEFI 49th Annual Conference: Blended Learning in Engineering Education: challenging, enlightening – and lasting? location:Berlin, Germany date:13 Sep - 16 Sep 2021 status: published

The recent institutional submissions and conclusion of the first phase of the REF, coupled with the announcement of a wide-ranging review of research assessment in the UK, has provided space for renewed thinking on the state of research assessment. In this post, Julie Bayley, Kieran Fenby-Hulse, Chris Hewson and Anne Jolly, present reflections on the wider systemic effects of research and impact assessment within higher education institutions during the most recent round of the REF and discuss how principles derived from these observations might inform an approach to research assessment that is more inclusive, consistent and reduces unintended consequences. 1. We must recognise that impact assessment is an industry, not a harvesting of naturally occurring effects, and that this has resourcing implications which are felt unevenly across the sector 2. A clearer understanding is required of the disenfranchising effects felt by those in the broader research ecosystem, particularly individuals not portrayed as impact leaders within case study narratives 3. The sector must develop a clearer understanding of the risks inherent in instrumentalising and commodifying stakeholder relationships, and how this sits in contradiction to other parts of the research ecosystem (e.g., KEF)

International audience; L'électronique, après avoir été une discipline très prisée par les étudiants, est maintenant l'une des matières d'ingénierie qui les attire le moins. Cela a amené Polytech Orléans à réfléchir à une pédagogie plus adaptée aux étudiants actuels: ce sont le contexte complexe et les modalités de cette réforme: réorganisation et pédagogie par projets qui sont présentées dans l'article

International audience; We have now enough background in teaching of ecodesign to make some conclusion on best practices in this area: in France this is very supported by studies of APEDEC (Association of Experts for the development of EcoDesign) that published in 2006 and 2010 the results of enquiries on those teachings. Curricula concerning ecodesign exist since 1987 but a significant number of graduates exist only since 1995, more often in engineering universities or design institutes In 2006 curriculum including at least 20 hours on ecodesign were 22 in France, they are 80 in 2010. In 2006, 7 of them could be considered as expert dedicated curriculum, 9 as leading to an ability to realize an ecodesign study and 6 as basic educations. One or two days curriculum is considered as only as able to give an idea about the field of ecodesign. At this moment the strong link was between design and ecology: at the beginning, first people to teach in this field were people making also researches in the field, often in link with material sciences (wood, textile, cars, and domestic use devices). In 2009 the threshold of 3000 graduates in ecodesign was gone over in France but only 20 curriculums can be considered as expert dedicated curriculum. At the beginning teachers dedicated much time to tools for environmental evaluation and ecolabels, they were devoted to practical realization of LCA, very often with the use of the software considered as the reference in the domain of application. When ISO 14062 norms appeared, it was also a great tendency to include it in the teaching of integrated management subjects. Now we teach ecodesign for services with a complementary view on usages but in the perspective of economy and societal impact. The development of entrepreneurship educations leads us to include the benefits of ecodesign for development of enterprises that made this choice and the link between ecodesign and innovation. Slow design is a more global view of things it is now considered as a component of ecodesign and taught in this concept integrating ethics consideration. The paper makes a description of those evolutions in teaching ecodesign and present typologies of curricula.

International audience; In the close future, our society and its engineers will have to find solutions for a better management of energy; it can be realized through: the increase of isolation of building with eco-materials, the use of renewable sources of energy, the increase of communication between energetic devices placed inside this building but also with energy production plants more fitted and the increase of the number of inside and outside sensors In the same time, the disaffection of students for electrical engineering led us to define new courses based on concepts linked to electronics, electrical networks, and sensors. We saw that electronics applied to energetic efficiency and home automation could attract students whose current interest lies much more in civil engineering or sustainable development. The teachers of all engineering department designed the course together, taking in account necessary learning outcomes. The idea of a course leading to jobs such as integrator of solutions for energetic efficiency of buildings or designer of systems for smart homes, revealed to be fitted as well with the needs of companies (Schneider, Atlantic-Thermor, Legrand...) as with the interest of young people.

International audience; The disaffection of students for electrical engineering led us to define new curricula based on concepts of electronics that could attract students. The idea of a course leading to jobs such as integrator of solutions for energetic efficiency of buildings, or designer of systems for smart homes revealed to be fitted as well with the needs of companies as with the interest of young people. The point of view of the design of the curriculum is for 2/3 the point of view of the IEEE engineer and for 1/3 the point of view of the building engineer. To go through such a transverse project, methodology of brainstorming and team efficiency is necessary. The result is a curriculum considered by major companies of the domain as necessary, and by the team of researchers-teachers of the engineering school as a project allowing a better knowledge of the fields of each other.

A altura dominante (Ho) de 120 parcelas georreferenciadas (600m² cada) foi estimada através de diversas medidas de distribuição, máximas locais e densidade derivada da varredura a laser com pequena impressão obtida em um povoamento florestal decíduo irregular. As parcelas foram distribuídas de forma a contemplar toda a variabilidade de alturas dominantes e o tipo de regeneração existente nos 112km² da área estudada, localizada na floresta de Haye, França. O modelo construído com variáveis de máxima local (Hmv5) e densidade de retornos (d9) foi capaz de estimar a Ho com alta acurácia, além de ser independente do tipo de povoamento, o que possibilitou sua aplicação em toda a floresta. A validação cruzada do modelo final mostrou que este explicou 98% da variabilidade observada nas parcelas em campo, com um RMSE de 0.77m (3.31%). Nenhum efeito drástico da escolha do MNT, densidade de retornos ou do posicionamento das parcelas foi detectado no modelo, sugerindo grande estabilidade. AbstractThe mean dominant heights of 120 georeferenced field sample plots (600m² each) were estimated from a range of canopy densities, distributions and local maxima metrics derived by a small-footprint laser scanner over various deciduous forest stands using regression analysis. The sample plots were distributed in order to better represent the variability in stand dominant height and regeneration practices throughout a 112km² study areas in Haye forest, France. The model constructed with local maxima (Hmv5) and a LIDAR density metric (d9) was able to estimate Ho with a very high accuracy and was not sensitive to stand types. Cross-validation showed that the final model explained 98% of the variability in ground-truth dominant height, with a RMSE of 0.77m (3.31%). No drastic effects of DTM, echo densities, or positioning errors were found in the models.

National audience

International audience; Europe does not create enough innovative enterprises. Compared to America, the cultural approach of entrepreneurship is quite different in our countries: in USA, the intention of creating an enterprise is very present in young people's head during their studies and they do not fear failure, which is not the case in Europe. So it is necessary to encourage and to accompany young people towards creation. It is the reason why efforts are made for the creation of new curricula, even at secondary school level. It is a fact that the number of enterprises created by Masters and Doctors in Engineering is not very important in France with respect to the number of graduates in these fields. With all the actors of Region Centre we decided to build a one year course inside the engineering school, where people having "an idea" could learn how to lead it towards a new enterprise. This paper presents the genesis and the content of this course with its specificities linked to sustainable development (societal responsibility, eco design) and the demarche to create a consortium of private and public institutions around this curriculum.

International audience; Facing the disaffection of students for electronic engineering studies, we decided to have global brainstorming with students and then with teachers and enterprises to define new engineering courses that could be attractive and useful. The paper describes the problematic addressed, the way we used to build this curriculum and the new course as proposed to the students. We also emphasize all along the text on the problems we had to solve till the attribution of the accreditation.

Very High spatial Resolution (VHR) images like Pléiades imagery (50 cm panchromatic, 2m multispectral) allows a detailed description of forest structure (tree distribution and size) at stand level, by exploiting the spatial relationship between tree structure and image texture when the pixel size is smaller than tree dimensions. This information meets the expected strong need for spatial inventory of forest resources at the stand level and its changes due to forest management, land use or catastrophic events. The aim is twofold : (1) assess the VHR satellite images potential to estimate the main variables of forest structure from the image texture: crown diameter, stem diameter, height, density or tree spacing, (2) on these bases, a pixel-based image classification of forest structure is processed in order to produce the finest possible spatial information. The main developments concern parameter optimization, variable selection, multivariate regression modelling and ensemble-based classification (Random Forests). They are tested and evaluated on the Landes maritime pine forest with three Pléiades images and a Quickbird image acquired under different conditions (season, sun angle, view angle). The method is generic. The robustness of the proposed method to image acquisition parameters is evaluated. Results show that fine variations of texture characteristics related to those of forest structure are clearly identifiable. Performances in terms of forest variable estimation (RMSE): ~1,1m for crown diameter, ~3m for tree height and ~0,9m for tree spacing, as well as forest structure mapping (~82% Overall accuracy for the classification of the five main forest structure classes) are satisfactory from an operational perspective. Their application to multi- annual images will assess their ability to detect and map forest changes such as clear cut, urban sprawl or storm damages., Les images à très haute résolution spatiale (THR) telles que les images Pléiades (50 cm en Panchromatique, 2m en multispectral) rendent possible une description fine de la structure forestière (distribution et dimensions des arbres) à l'échelle du peuplement, en exploitant la relation entre la structure spatiale des arbres et la texture d'image quand la taille du pixel est inférieure à la dimension des arbres. Cette attente répond au besoin d'inventaire spatialisé de la ressource forestière à l'échelle du peuplement et de ses changements dus à la gestion forestière, à l'aménagement du territoire ou aux événements catastrophiques. L'objectif est double: (1) évaluer le potentiel de la texture d'images THR pour estimer les principales variables de structure forestière (diamètre des couronnes, diamètre du tronc, hauteur, densité ou espacement des arbres) à l'échelle du peuplement; (2) sur ces bases, classer les données image, au niveau pixel, par types de structure forestière afin de produire l'information spatialisée la plus fine possible. Les principaux développements portent sur l'automatisation du paramètrage, la sélection de variables, la modélisation par régression multivariable et une approche de classification par classifieurs d'ensemble (Forêts Aléatoires ou Random Forests). Ils sont testés et évalués sur deux sites de la forêt landaise de pin maritime à partir de trois images Pléiades et une Quickbird, acquises dans diverses conditions (saison, position du soleil, angles de visée). La méthodologie proposée est générique. La robustesse aux conditions d'acquisition des images est évaluée. Les résultats montrent que des variations fines de texture caractéristiques de celles de la structure forestière sont bien identifiables. Les performances en terme d'estimation des variables forestières (RMSE) : ~1.1 m pour le diamètre des couronnes, ~3 m pour la hauteur des arbres ou encore ~0.9 m pour leur espacement, ainsi qu'en cartographie des structures forestières (~82 % de taux de bonne classification pour la reconnaissance des 5 classes principales de la structure forestière) sont satisfaisantes d'un point de vue opérationnel. L'application à des images multi-annuelles permettra d'évaluer leur capacité à détecter et cartographier des changements tels que coupe forestière, mitage urbain ou encore dégâts de tempête.

L'aménagement forestier, discipline dont l'émergence remonte à la fin du XVIIIème siècle, repose sur des principes héritiers de siècles de planification forestière à des fins de production de matériau bois. Depuis deux décennies, alors que se développe une société de type tertiaire, la forêt est amenée à contribuer à la satisfaction d'aspirations de plus en plus variées. Tant qu'a prévalu la thèse de l'effet de sillage, l'aménagiste a pu se contenter des principes théoriques en vigueur. La remise en question de celle-ci implique que soient développés de nouveaux principes. La recherche de type empirique a pour objectif d'apporter des éléments de réponse à cette problématique; elle est menée au travers d'analyses croisées via les prismes de l'histoire, du droit, des sciences sociales et de la politique forestière. Elle s'intéresse de plus près au cas de la Région wallonne qui par sa taille, sa situation géographique et son morcellement foncier, constitue un laboratoire intéressant d'un espace rural multifonctionnel et urbanisé. L'étude commence par un état de la question et un exposé des concepts, outils et méthodes émergents. Une étude historique de l'évolution des relations entre l'homme et la nature permet ensuite de saisir la portée de la mutation en cours et d'en comprendre les fondements tant philosophiques qu'économiques et sociaux. L'étude se penche ensuite sur la révision du cadre spatio-temporel de l'aménagement de la nature et des forêts par le service public wallon et ce, compte tenu, entre autres, des contraintes imposées par la mise en place du réseau européen de sites protégés Natura 2000. L'étude se poursuivit par l'évocation d'une solution technologique développée pour répondre aux contraintes de souplesse et d'interopérabilité que requiert la mise en oeuvre de ce cadre. Après une mise en perspective générale, les conditions d'une intégration de l'aménagement de la nature et des forêts, discipline plus que jamais à la charnière des sciences de la nature et des sciences humaines, dans le cadre conceptuel du développement durable sont discutées. (AGRO 3)--UCL, 2005