ESD and the Student
ESD sits across all aspects of the engineering curriculum through the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, the 8 UNESCO Sustainability Competencies and the 18 AHEP 4 Masters-level learning outcomes (see The Engineer's Lens, below).
Education for life
ESD lies at the heart of all strategic areas for student success:
students as partners
internationalisation
enterprise
civic engagement
equality, diversity and inclusion
employability
wellbeing
research
Evidence your learning
build up a portfolio of evidence (watch this space for an app to help you do this...)
map to the AHEP 4 learning outcomes, the UNESCO Sustainability Competencies and the UN SDGs
use in job applications and interviews to articulate how your experiences relate to ESD - stand out from the rest
show where you meet the requirements for an accredited degree, how you display all the UNESCO Sustainability Competencies, and which of the UN SDGs your practice has contributed towards
download the template provided to keep a record of activities: a piece of coursework, laboratory practical, project work, industrial placement etc
[MS Word 53 kB]
ESD Evidence.docxReflect on questions relating to SDGs and the impact of your practice as an engineer.
For example:
How will my actions impact on the causes of, and solutions to, poverty?
How can my thinking respond to issues surrounding health, education, social and gender inequalities?
How can I help to facilitate responsible consumption, production and economic development?
How do I positively respond to the problems associated with climate change?
These are not easy questions. If they were, we might well have an answer already.
When you go to job or placement interviews, be prepared to discuss the relevance of the SDGs and your contribution towards them. Many companies, especially large corporations, produce annual sustainability, or ESG, reports which enable them to demonstrate their environmental, social and governmental impacts (see UN SDGs and the Engineer). There are many examples of ESG reports and sustainability strategies online [for example, see: bp, Jacobs, National Grid, Northumbria Water, Siemens and ESG Today for latest global ESG updates]. Reading the ESG report for an interview you are attending may lead you to some useful questions to ask as part of the process.
Education for Sustainable Development goes well beyond your university studies; it is for life as an engineer.
The Engineer's Lens
