Editorial

Abstract

Predicting the future is never easy. While a trend may be discernable, past performance, as the financial analysts say, is no guarantee of future results. This is, of course, pleasing, because there are many negative trends which we need to correct, such as our seeming inability to wean ourselves off non-sustainable sources of food, energy and materials. Thankfully, it is in our human nature to be inventive, and new discoveries, and the creation of new tools and processes, frequently allows us to solve some of the problems we face. Of course technology has also made us richer in terms of material wealth and spare time, and this creates its own problems of ever increasing consumption.A critical question that we have to answer as a profession concerns our readiness and ability to solve problems in a timely fashion as they become apparent to us. On the one hand, a ready-made answer to the question of skills needs to solve future problems revolves around a need for basic understanding of engineering science and an ability to engage in the design process, which takes an open-ended problem and creatively provides a range of solutions, with each in its own way nearing the optimum. The authors of the papers presented in this themed issue on the future skills needs for municipal engineers, however, have gone well beyond this obvious understanding and propose a range of interesting theses concerning the range of skills they perceive are required.In the first paper Bather (2011) presents some interesting findings from a survey of full-and part-time undergraduate civil engineering students which affirms a model of learning where universities and industry need to partner closely in order to ensure that essential theory and current practice are introduced to developing engineers in appropriate measures. The findings suggest that students, perhaps more than their more senior work colleagues, understand the need for continuous learning and development. Interestingly, Bather hints that perhaps more effort should be expended by the institutions on promoting and accrediting continuous professional development as opposed to the accreditation of degrees.