Sustainability in Software Engineering

The intersection between software engineering re- search and the problems related to sustainability and green IT has been the subject of increasing attention. In spite of that, we observe that sustainability is still not clearly defined, or understood, in the field of software engineering. This lack of clarity leads to confusion about e.g. what is relevant to measure or the research implications over time or space. This paper provides an overview of how the research so far has defined sustainability, and how this definition has been used to guide which research areas. To this end, we carried out a systematic mapping study for selecting, classifying and analyzing relevant publications. In this study, we investigate which knowledge areas and which time scope of sustainability effects are mostly targeted in scientific research. Our analysis shows research trends and discusses gaps to be filled

Analysis of sustainability presence in Spanish higher education

Purpose: This paper analyzes the presence of sustainability in sixteen Spanish Higher Education curricula in the fields of Education and Engineering. Design/Methodology/Approach: The methodology employs two instruments: the Sustainability Map and the Sustainability Presence Map. These instruments enable the following: to analyze the number of subjects that develop sustainability and the sustainability presence level in each curriculum; to identify at what domain levels of the learning taxonomy sustainability is most developed; and to analyze whether a correlation exists between the sustainability presence and the number of subjects that develop sustainability in each curriculum. Findings: A wide variety of subjects develop sustainability in a given degree, depending on the university. The presence of sustainability is more homogeneous in education degrees than in engineering degrees. Education degrees have a greater presence of sustainability in the lower domain levels of the taxonomy, while in engineering degrees the lower levels of the taxonomy have a lower presence of sustainability than the higher levels. Finally, a correlation appears to exist between the number of subjects that develop sustainability in the curriculum and the sustainability presence. However, engineering degrees seem to need fewer subjects than education degrees to achieve the same degree of sustainability presence. Originality/Value: This paper proposes a methodology to measure sustainability presence that can be applicable to the curricula of a Higher Education degree if the corresponding Sustainability Map is available. To our knowledge, this is the largest study yet conducted to analyze the presence of sustainability in different Higher Education curricula.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Staff and student perspectives on embedding sustainability into the engineering curriculum

Recognising that sustainability is an important concept within engineering this paper describes a project run by a team of academics which sought to investigate how engineering students viewed sustainability, what role they perceived it to hold in their work, and how they felt it should be incorporated into their education. Students and academics acted as equal stakeholders in the project with the students coming from a range of backgrounds including undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in Mechanical Engineering, Product Design, Electrical Power Engineering and Multidisciplinary Design Innovation. The investigation sought to understand student and staff perceptions of how the university approached the concept of engineering education for sustainable development into the curricula. An additional aim of the research and activities of the project was to contribute to influencing how sustainability may contribute to engineering curriculum change within UK higher education. The activities conducted by the project team demonstrated that students and staff currently have an awareness, yet a limited understanding, of sustainability. Students strongly felt that sustainability was a key part of an engineer’s role and responsibilities. The findings recognized scope for concepts of sustainability to be more effectively included it in the curriculum for engineers adding many opportunities for imaginative pedagogies. It is proposed that students should also be encouraged to generate their own conceptions of sustainability and globalization and participate in discussions around these to ensure personal engagement with them. The project outcome generated valuable material which could support communication and dialogue about sustainability to support the education of global engineers

Approaches to the embedding of sustainability into the engineering curriculum - where are we now, and how do our graduates become global engineers?

This paper presents a resume of how the topic of sustainability can become fully-integrated into the engineering curriculum in the UK, and how this needs to evolve toward consideration of how graduates could be better developed as global engineers. The paper begins by providing a justification as to why sustainability is an important feature of the already overcrowded engineering curriculum, and briefly reports, through illustrative examples, on alternative approaches which currently embed sustainability into the engineering curriculum. The paper makes the case that it is timely now to re-address the learning outcomes in order to enhance the students’ experience beyond just the inclusion of new curriculum content It does this by consideration of the identified drivers that range from the accrediting bodies and from the aspirations of employers, through revised approaches to embed sustainability, to the consideration of students’ own perceptions of sustainability and ultimately to their becoming employed as global engineers. The paper therefore discusses both the current and planned work toward supporting the development of engineering graduates into global citizens, with a greater emphasis upon their responsibility to ensure a sustainable future world, moving beyond sustainability awareness towards informed application of sustainability thinking

Sustainability Debt: A Metaphor to Support Sustainability Design Decisions

Sustainability, the capacity to endure, is fundamental for the societies on our planet. Despite its increasing recognition in software engineering, it remains difficult to assess the delayed systemic effects of decisions taken in requirements engineering and systems design. To support this difficult task, this paper introduces the concept of sustainability debt. The metaphor helps in the discovery, documentation, and communication of sustainability issues in requirements engineering. We build on the existing metaphor of technical debt and extend it to four other dimensions of sustainability to help think about sustainability-aware software systems engineering. We highlight the meaning of debt in each dimension and the relationships between those dimensions. Finally, we discuss the use of the metaphor and explore how it can help us to design sustainability-aware software intensive systems

On the Presence of Green and Sustainable Software Engineering in Higher Education Curricula

Nowadays, software is pervasive in our everyday lives. Its sustainability and environmental impact have become major factors to be considered in the development of software systems. Millennials-the newer generation of university students-are particularly keen to learn about and contribute to a more sustainable and green society. The need for training on green and sustainable topics in software engineering has been reflected in a number of recent studies. The goal of this paper is to get a first understanding of what is the current state of teaching sustainability in the software engineering community, what are the motivations behind the current state of teaching, and what can be done to improve it. To this end, we report the findings from a targeted survey of 33 academics on the presence of green and sustainable software engineering in higher education. The major findings from the collected data suggest that sustainability is under-represented in the curricula, while the current focus of teaching is on energy efficiency delivered through a fact-based approach. The reasons vary from lack of awareness, teaching material and suitable technologies, to the high effort required to teach sustainability. Finally, we provide recommendations for educators willing to teach sustainability in software engineering that can help to suit millennial students needs.Comment: The paper will be presented at the 1st International Workshop on Software Engineering Curricula for Millennials (SECM2017

Solar rights and Maltese legislation

As part of its 2020 Targets, Malta has been tasked by the European Union to reach a share of 10% with regard to its ratio of energy produced through renewable sources of energy. This has resulted in a proliferation of photovoltaic cells and solar water heaters on rooftops. Such investment has been rendered possible through generous Government assistance in the form of advantageous feed-in tariffs, which schemes have proven to be considerably popular with private consumers. Nonetheless, this increase in solar energy systems has not been complemented by the implementation of legislation aimed at protecting investment by private persons, with the risk of development in adjacent tenements and high rise buildings threatening such solar energy systems through shading, which could be of such an extent as to render the solar energy system affected economically unsustainable. This paper shall analyse Maltese legislation and international legislation alike in an attempt to provide solutions as to this issue and ensure that solar rights are made available to all.peer-reviewe

Software Sustainability: The Modern Tower of Babel

<p>The aim of this paper is to explore the emerging definitions of software sustainability from the field of software engineering in order to contribute to the question, what is software sustainability?</p

A methodology to introduce sustainability into the Final Year Project to foster sustainable engineering projects

The introduction of sustainability skills into higher education curricula is a natural effect of the increasing importance of sustainability in our daily lives. Topics like green computing, sustainable design or environmental engineering have become part of the knowledge required by today’s engineers. Furthermore, we strongly believe that the introduction of this skill will eventually enable future engineers to develop sustainable products, services and projects. The Final Year Project is the last academic stage facing students and a step towards their future professional engineering projects. As such, it constitutes a rehearsal for their professional future and an ideal opportunity for reflecting on whether their Final Year Project is sustainable or not, and to what extent. It also provides a good tool for reviewing the lessons learned about sustainability during the degree course and for applying them in a holistic and integrated way. In this paper, we present a guide that allows both students and advisors to think carefully about the sustainability of engineering projects, in particular the Final Year Project.Postprint (author’s final draft

SASICE: Safety and sustainability in civil engineering

The performance of the built environment and the construction sector are of major importance in Europe’s long term goals of sustainable development in a changing climate. At the same time, the quality of life of all European citizens needs to be improved and the safety of the built environment with respect to man-made and natural hazards, such as flooding and earthquakes, needs to be ensured. Education has a central role to play in the transformation of a construction sector required to meet increasing demands with regard to safety and sustainability. In this work, the SASICE project is presented. The aim of this project is to promote the integration of safety and sustainability in civil engineering education. The project is organised in the context of the Lifelong Learning Programme, funded by the European Community. The coordinator organisation is the University of Bologna. Nine partner universities from different countries are involved in this transnational project. The universities participating to the project constitute a network of high level competences in the civil engineering area, with several opportunities to improve lifelong learning adopting different media: joint curricula, teaching modules and professor and student exchanges. As a response to the challenge regarding new educational methods in sustainable engineering, teaching modules are developed in 4 thematic areas: (1) Safety in construction, (2) Risk induced by Natural Hazards Assessment, (3) Sustainability in construction, and (4) Sustainability at the territorial level. The development of the teaching modules is based on an extensive analysis of the need for highly qualified education on Safety and Sustainability involving all relevant stakeholders (European and national authorities, companies, research institutes, professional organizations, and universities).The main target is enabling students to introduce these advanced topics in their study plans and curricula and reach, at the end of their studies, a specific skill and expertise in safety and sustainability in Civil Engineering. With our natural resources fading away and our infrastructure in dire need of repair, new trends and challenges in civil engineering education in the concept of “Sustainable Development” are needed to be adressed.<br/