The climate is changing. Engineering education needs to change as well

Abstract

As atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations continue to rise and the consequences of climate change become increasingly destructive, engineers, scientists, and the broader population are now aware that climate change is a threat we can no longer avoid. Addressing climate change requires facing two interconnected challenges. The first is to rapidly transition to carbon neutral-or even carbon negative-energy systems while reducing greenhouse gas emissions across all sectors of the economy. The second challenge is to minimize the impacts of climate change, particularly for the most vulnerable populations, by building sustainable and resilient systems. Addressing these challenges will require a fundamental reshaping of engineering education. The next generation of engineers and current practitioners will need new skills to serve society in this environment of uncertainty and rapid change.Empowering engineers with the skills to address the challenges created by climate change requires adapting both the technological and philosophical frameworks used in engineering education. In particular, engineers will need to (1) understand how climate and sustainability are linked to engineering design; (2) incorporate a wide range of disciplines into engineering solutions; (3) understand the ethics and justice dimensions of engineering; and (4) listen to and collaborate with diverse communities. Developing these skills requires reimagining engineering education and continuing professional development from student to senior practitioner.

Empowering Elementary Students with Community-Based Engineering: A Teacher’s Experience in a Rural School District

“…Furthermore, Holly commented on the importance of having administrative support for her teaching of science and engineering. Previous studies have reported that lack of administrative support is a barrier to the implementation of engineering in primary school classrooms [40,41]. Because Holly felt supported by her administrator, she was able to take the risk of incorporating new pedagogical strategies and content in her classroom-something she would not have been as inclined to do had she not had that support.…”

“…Similar to the teachers in Radloff et al's study [38], Holly found that by implementing engineering-design-based teaching, levels of student engagement increased. Furthermore, community-focused engineering education (e.g., flood mitigation) can also help students understand how climate and sustainability are connected to engineering design [41], connecting to multiple principles of the Engineering for Sustainable Communities framework [19].…”

Shaping futures: A dialogue on chemical engineering education

“…[30] Martin et al asserted how engineering education must be adaptive in this environment of uncertainty and rapid change. [31] In particular, they focus on the need to link engineering design with climate and sustainability contexts, incorporate various disciplines into engineering solutions, consider justice and ethics dimensions, and collaborate with diverse communities. Other approaches, such as engineering leadership, [11,32,33] engineering design, [34,35] and emerging learning environments, [36] offer integrated forms of education.…”

Centering Social Justice in Engineering: A New Course Model for First-year Engineering Education

“…Furthermore, the profession plays a key role in addressing global inequity and injustice. Enabling engineers to address complex technological challenges like climate change requires the development of new skills such as evaluating justice dimensions of engineering and collaborating with diverse communities [1].…”