Integrating sustainability in an electronic engineering program: insights and experiences on academic staff involvement.

Abstract

There is a growing urgency to incorporate sustainability in all facets of society to stay within the planetary boundaries. Higher education has a significant role by educating their students - our future work forces – with the knowledge and competences that are crucial for working with sustainability challenges. The development of sustainable technology thereby takes a significant place, pointing out the role of engineering education. This article presents the journey of integrating sustainability in the M.Sc programme Electronic System Design and Innovation at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. We focus on three aspects of this journey. First, we present the approach used and the process stages for the integration of sustainability, which is a renewed version of a toolbox for integrating ecodesign in engineering studies. Secondly, we present how academic staff is involved throughout the integration process. To be able to succeed with incorporating sustainability into a study programme, it is important to engage and empower academic staff, since they have a central position through their responsibility for a study’s central building blocks - the different courses. Lastly, we outline insights and experiences from the perspective of academic staff and the project team involved in the integration process. We conclude with how the approach used and the lessons learned can provide useful strategic and practical insights for other engineering programmes in their process of integrating sustainability and plans for future activities.