What about sustainability? Investigating engineering students’ sustainability awareness and attitude

Engineers have a growing contribution towards attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Thus, graduate engineering students’ awareness and attitude will be crucial for dealing with these complex societal challenges. The purpose of this study is to investigate the sustainability awareness (SA) of engineering students from a developing country in comparison to that of those published from developed European countries. It also aims to explore engineering students’ attitudes and willingness to consider sustainability challenges as an important part of their future professional role. We have conducted a quantitative online survey (n=253) with the participation of engineering students from different majors at Bachelors and Masters levels. The data concerning students’ awareness and attitude underwent quantitative statistical analysis and was compared to that in the literature. The data was analyzed using SPSS to investigate differences and similarities between majors and validate its quality. The findings show good levels of SA and lower levels of knowledge in SDGs among engineering students compared to that presented by European studies. Thus, a gap in SDGs’ awareness exists between students from developed and developing countries. However, students’ positive attitudes and willingness to be involved in SDGs’ practices were remarkably high in understanding the leading role of engineers toward achieving the SDGs. Our results confirm engineering students’ motivation and strong positive attitude for resolving sustainability issues in developing countries despite challenging lifestyles. Our findings could be further used by engineering faculties in developing countries to minimize the gap and enhance future engineers’ contribution towards a more sustainable society

Report on the Future Role of Engineers in Society and the Skills and Competences Engineering will Require

This literature review outlines the current state of the art knowledge in relation to the influence of diversity, attractiveness of the engineering profession and the skills and competencies required of engineers to achieve the SDGs. We aim to answer the overall research question: How do engineering educators develop new learning and teaching approaches (methods) that will attract a diverse group of students (and mature learners) whilst achieving the SDGs in 2030? The main objective of the A-STEP 2030 project is to create an attractive and fascinating learning environment to encourage young people with diverse backgrounds to engage in engineering studies and the profession as a whole

Sustainable Development and Diversifying Competencies Curricula

This paper explores the question how to approach thinking about curriculum construction for European engineering schools in the age of sustainable development. We present a theoretical argument that curriculum thinkers need to broaden their focus from the “restricted competences” paradigm (RCP) in curriculum thinking to consider how to make curricula within a diversifying competences paradigm (DCP). We claim that the best response to the challenge of sustainability is to produce more skill-diversity among engineers while simultaneously training engineers to make the most of this diversity. We support this claim with two arguments. First, we explore the problem-solving power of diversely skilled collectives, suggesting that this increases relative to homogenous collectives when confronting complex problems. Then we show that sustainable development is not only a complex problem, but an extremely complex or wicked problem. Based on these two conclusions, we propose a mixed-medium curricular model which illustrates how engineering schools might be reformed in order to produce greater student competence diversification

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT COMPETENCIES FOR ACHIEVING THE SDGS: ENGINEERING STUDENTS AND INDUSTRY REQUIREMENTS

This paper will provide an insight into how French engineering students and employers perceive the competencies needed to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). It draws on the findings of two exploratory focus group studies carried out in the context of the A-STEP 2030 European Project. Our results indicate significant differences in the awareness of sustainability goals among respondents, but a relatively high level of convergence around the skills and competencies that appear most necessary for attaining sustainable development. The respondents considered that technical knowledge and skills were adequately included within French engineering school curricula, yet they felt that achieving the SDGs would demand that more emphasis be placed on the development of transversal skills. According to our results, engineering schools need to more comprehensively integrate transversal skills and competencies. Our findings also suggest that this may best be achieved via interdisciplinary teaching and an increased use of project-based education (PBE) and learning carried out in a real work context

Insights into the integration of the SDGs in engineering program curricula as seen through the prism of the perceptions of engineering students and educators

In this paper, we offer insight into how the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are being integrated into engineering programs. We investigate the question: “what opportunities and barriers should we take into consideration in order to better integrate the SDGs into engineering programmes?” We undertook two exploratory focus group studies with engineering students and academic participants that explored their perception of SDGs’ integration to their programs. Our results show significant differences between the perceptions of students and academics, and this indicates the need for a more comprehensive and balanced integration of the SDGs into engineering curricula. We particularly recommend a transdisciplinary teaching approach involving a close relation between technical and human disciplines

THE A-STEP 2030 SUMMER SCHOOL

This report outlines the design and evaluation of the Learning and Teaching Activity which forms part of the A-STEP 2030 (Attracting diverSe Talent to the Engineering Professions of 2030) project. This project is an EU Erasmus+ project funded under call number 2018-1-FR01-KA203-047854. The document begins by explaining the purpose and aims of the overall research project and more specifically, the background to the design of the Learning and Teaching Activity. The report provides a detailed description of the organisation of the learning and teaching activity and a summary of the feedback received from participants. Exemplars of the future scenarios co-created as part of the learning and teaching activity are included in Appendix 2. These can be used by engineering educators to engage students in conversations about the future of engineering education. The report is completed with recommendations for future learning and teaching activities which can build upon this pilot project

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND THE SDGS: REVEALING ENGINEERING ACADEMICS, STUDENTS AND EMPLOYER VIEWPOINTS

As the world’s focus turns to the future and not the present, the engineering profession must respond to the ever increasing need to bring about a sustainable future. The objective of this paper is to support the reform of engineering education by acknowledging and building upon the current awareness and understanding of sustainable development held by key stakeholders in the process. This paper presents the outcomes of a study involving twelve focus groups with Academics, Employers and Students in four European countries (Denmark, Finland, France and Ireland) as part of the A-STEP 2030 European Project. Based on the findings, it is clear that the key stakeholders closely associate the theme of the environment with Sustainable Development. There is also mention of the pillar of economy, but less so, that of society. The findings also reveal differences in the awareness of specific Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with SDG 13 (Climate Action) being most widely noted. The findings allow educators to engage in discussion with students to build a more complete understanding of aspects of sustainable development and to act in redesigning curricula to ensure engineers can contribute to a sustainable future

REPORT ON THE METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK OF NEW PEDAGOGICAL APPROACHES – SCENARIOS OF FUTURE ENGNEERING EDUCATION

This report summarises the methodology used to create scenarios as part of the innovative teaching pedagogies proposed in the A-STEP 2030 (Attracting diverSe Talent to the Engineering Professions of 2030) project. This project is an EU Erasmus+ project funded under call number 2018-1-FR01-KA203- 047854. The report begins by describing the overall project and the organisation of the learning and teaching activity. The scenarios were co-created with student participants and academic staff in the learning and teaching activity - A-STEP 2030 Summer School which was held in August 2021. The specific scenarios created by participants are described in this report and can be used by engineering educators in delivery of engineering programmes. More detailed videos are also included on the project website (www.astep2030.eu