Ethical Change : Equipping the next generation of changemakers with the tools to engage in Sustainable Engineering

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Robertson, Elizabeth (2025) Ethical Change : Equipping the next generation of changemakers with the tools to engage in Sustainable Engineering. In: International Conference on Engineering Education for Sustainable Development, 2025-06-15 - 2025-06-18, King's College London.

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Abstract

Sustainable engineering problems are complex and multidimensional leading to a requirement that those engaging with them hold competencies beyond engineering domain knowledge. It is essential that the next generation of engineering graduates are literate in Sustainable Development (SD), understand the role of engineering to meet this agenda and hold the core SD competencies, as identified by UNESCO [1]. There are themes in the competencies as identified by UNESCO such as understanding complex systems, challenging norms and making well-informed decisions in difficult spaces. Therefore, alongside SD competencies engineers must understand equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) and, of course, engineering ethics. This wider set of knowledge and experience ensures that development is not only sustainable, but also equitable and ethical. The Engineering Professors Council’s Engineering Ethics Toolkit is a highly valuable way for educators to engage their students in the ethics learning required for SD [2]. It has been successfully utilised by a large number of HE practitioners, including Author 1 as part of a larger SD module [3]. The toolkit centres on case studies which are student-ready, and have full guidance to support educators’ delivery (visuals, discussion prompts, assessment ideas etc). This workshop aims to demonstrate the importance of ethics education within ESD, and offer participants the chance to learn how to facilitate the student experience of engaging with the toolkit. This workshop will include: •A short introduction to the need for ethics education for SD, •The student experience of engineering ethics education through the use of an ethics case study, •Facilitated discussions centred on ethics and ESD, how to structure ethics in relation to ESD in the curriculum and how to successfully deliver to students.

ORCID iDs

Robertson, Elizabeth ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1630-7563;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)