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Promoting equity in engineering education for sustainable development through community-based learning and teaching
Shah, Rehan Preston, Anne Kirk, Nicole Fuller, Stephanie
Shah, Rehan
Preston, Anne
Kirk, Nicole
Fuller, Stephanie
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EESD2025_#11_Shah.pdf
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Editors
Date
2025
Educational Level
Curriculum Area
Geographical Setting
UK
Abstract
Global challenges that call for environmental, social and innovative solutions have consistently pushed us to be open to the changes and challenges within engineering education (Crawley et al, 2007; Lawlor, 2013; RAEng, 2007). As engineering educators in higher education, we also share a commitment to innovation to better engage with inclusion and diversity in our teaching practices (RAEng, 2023). In recent years, there have been growing efforts to implement community-based learning and teaching (CBLT) in the academic curriculum (Salam et al., 2019). CBLT approaches are educational experiences in which students engage in organised activities that benefit the local community as part of their academic curriculum (Bringle and Hatcher, 2000). Education for sustainable development (ESD) plays a crucial role in equipping learners with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to create a sustainable future. ESD emphasises education as an important part of the process of achieving human development in an inclusive, equitable and secure manner (UNESCO, 2023). Based on collaborative pedagogical research through our universities over the past three years, this practice paper presents reflections from a workshop delivered at EESD. The workshop explored how the mapping of sustainable development goals (SDGs) and cross-cutting sustainability competences (namely normative competency, strategic thinking competency, collaboration competency and integrated problem-solving competency) to identify and discuss key challenges and opportunities for embedding sustainability within engineering education from the perspective of CBLT. The outcomes highlight the potential of CBLT to promote inclusive, practice-based approaches to sustainability education in engineering and foster stronger connections between universities and their local communities.
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Keywords (free text)
community-based learning, community partnerships, workshops, engineering education, engineering for sustainable development, education for sustainabilty, sustainability in engineering