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Strategies for embedding engineering for sustainable development in undergraduate teaching
Burlotos, Christianos MacAskill, Kristen
Burlotos, Christianos
MacAskill, Kristen
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Date
2025
Educational Level
ISCED Level 5 Batchelor's or equivalent
Curriculum Area
Geographical Setting
Australia
Ireland
New Zealand
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
United States of America
Ireland
New Zealand
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
United States of America
Abstract
The significant challenges of sustainable development necessitate that we equip the next generation of engineers with the skills, knowledge, and values needed to mitigate climate change, manage global risks, and design a more sustainable, resilient, and equitable future. Professional organizations and NGOs have echoed this call via initiatives and accreditation requirements. Similarly, researchers have already defined the student competencies, pedagogies, and conceptual frameworks needed to support the integration of engineering for sustainable development (ESD). Moreover, numerous case studies describe innovative actions already taken at universities around the world, but they have not yet been synthesized into a generalizable methodology for embedding ESD. Through a thematic literature review, a key gap has been identified: the lack of a comprehensive, literature-based approach that defines a clear path for individual professors to embed ESD. Thus, this study asks: What are the key strategies that instructors could use to embed ESD in core undergraduate engineering courses? This study adopted an iterative methodology involving engaging with case study literature and learning directly from the lived experience and current efforts of professors working to integrate ESD. The pedagogies, approaches, and insights identified were synthesized into a list of strategies. In total, 20 participants were involved across two phases of interviews: scoping and validation. The presented strategies define an explicit, actionable pathway for any motivated instructor in any engineering discipline to fulfil their teaching of accreditation-required technical content in ways that simultaneously support the development of ESD competencies. This bottom-up approach allows professors to learn from the case studies already available and act immediately, independent of resource-intensive, top-down university programming.
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Keywords (free text)
case-based learning, accreditation requirements, engineering education, engineering for sustainable development, education for sustainabilty, sustainability in engineering