Keywords: Climate change; Water and sanitation; Renewable energy; Battery Technologies; Recycling or recycled materials; AHEP; Sustainability; Student support; Local community; Environment; Future generations; Risk; Higher education; Assessment; Project brief.
Sustainability competency: Systems thinking; Anticipatory; Strategic; Integrated problem-solving; Normative.UNESCO has developed eight key competencies for sustainability that are aimed at learners of all ages worldwide. Many versions of these exist, as are linked here*. In the UK, these have been adapted within higher education by AdvanceHE and the QAA with appropriate learning outcomes. The full list of competencies and learning outcome alignment can be found in the Education for Sustainable Development Guidance*. *Click the pink ''Sustainability competency'' text to learn more.
AHEP mapping: This resource addresses two of the themes from the UK’s Accreditation of Higher Education Programmes fourth edition (AHEP4): The Engineer and Society (acknowledging that engineering activity can have a significant societal impact) and Engineering Practice (the practical application of engineering concepts, tools and professional skills). To map this resource to AHEP outcomes specific to a programme under these themes, access AHEP 4 here and navigate to pages 30-31 and 35-37. Potential alignments with AHEP criteria are shown below.
Related SDGs: SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy); SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities).
Reimagined Degree Map Intervention: More real-world complexity; Active pedagogies and mindset development; Authentic assessment.The Reimagined Degree Map is a guide to help engineering departments navigate the decisions that are urgently required to ensure degrees prepare students for 21st century challenges. Click the pink ''Reimagined Degree Map Intervention'' text to learn more.
Educational level: Intermediate / Advanced.
Learning and teaching notes:
This resource outlines a project brief that requires an engineer to assess the local area to understand the scale of flooding and the local context. This will highlight how climate change affects everyday life, how water usage is changing and happening on our doorstep.
The project also requires the engineer to be considerate of the needs of a local business and showcases how climate change affects the economy and individual lives, enabling some degree of empathy and compassion to this exercise.
Depending upon the level of the students and considering the needs of modules or learning outcomes, the project could follow either or both of the following pathways:
Pathway 1 – Introduction to Electronic Engineering (beginner/intermediate- Level 4)
LO1: Describe the operation of electronic circuits and associated discrete components (AHEP4: SM1m).
LO2: Compare the operation principles of a variety of electronic sensors and actuators and apply them to a given task (AHEP4: EA2m).
LO3: Interpret how transistors and operational amplifiers function (AHEP4: EA4m).
LO4: Know how amplifiers operate and assess their performance for a given application (AHEP4: EA1m; EA2m).
LO5: Integrate the operation of an actuator, sensor, and power supply into a system for a given task (AHEP4: EA4m; EA6m).
In this pathway, the project deliverables could be in the form of a physical artefact, together with a technical specification.
Pathway 2 – Electromagnetics in Engineering (intermediate/advanced- Level 5)
LO1: communicate the primary challenges inherent in wireless communication (AHEP4: SM1m
LO2: devise solutions to a given design challenge (AHEP4: SM1m; SM3m) In this pathway, the project deliverable could be in the form of a Technical Report.
This project allows teachers the option to stop at multiple points for questions and/or activities as desired.
Learners have the opportunity to:
analyse local environmental factors that affect river water levels,
appreciate local planning with respect to installing devices on or near a riverbank,
consider how to communicate with a variety of stakeholders,
undertake cost-benefit and value trade-off analysis in the context of using sustainable materials,
undertake cost-benefit and value trade-off analysis in the context of using renewable energy,
practise argument and reasoning related to sustainability dilemmas.
Teachers have the opportunity to:
introduce concepts related to climate change in the local environment,
introduce concepts related to environmental sensors,
introduce concepts related to renewable energy sources,
introduce concepts related to battery systems,
introduce concepts related to local planning laws,
informally evaluate students’ argument and reasoning skills,
integrate technical content in the areas of electrical or mechanical engineering related to water level monitoring,
authentically assess a team activity and individual work.
A local business premises near to a river has been suffering from severe flooding over the last 10 years. The business owner seeks to install a warning system that can provide adequate notice of a possible flood situation.
Time frame & structure: This project can be completed over 30 hours, either in a block covering 2-3 weeks (preferred) or 1 hour per week over the academic term. This project should be attempted in teams of 3-5 students. This would enable the group to develop a prototype, but the Specification (Pathway 1) and Technical Report (Pathway 2) could be individual submissions without collusion to enable individual assessment.
It is recommended that a genuine premises is found that has had the issues described above and a site visit could be made. This will not only give much needed context to the scenario but will also trigger emotional response and personal ownership to the problem.
To prepare for activities related to sustainability, teachers may want to read, or assign students to pre-read the following article: ‘Mean or Green: Which values can promote stable pro-environmental behaviour?’
Context and Stakeholders:
Flooding in the local town has become more prevalent over recent years, impacting homes and businesses. A local coffee shop priding itself on its ethical credentials is located adjacent to the river and is one of the businesses that has suffered from severe flooding over the last 10 years, causing thousands of pounds worth of spoilt stock and loss of revenue. The local council’s flood warning system is far from adequate to protect individuals on a site-by-site basis. So the shop is looking for an individual warning system, giving the manager and staff adequate notice of a possible flood situation. This will enable stock to be moved in good time to a safer drier location. The shop manager is very conscious of wanting to implement a sustainable design that uses sustainable materials and renewable energy, to promote the values of the shop. It is becoming clear that such a solution would also benefit other businesses that experience flooding and a wider solution should also be considered.
Pathway 1
This project requires assessment of the local area and ideally a visit to the retailer to understand their needs and consider options for water level monitoring. You are required to consider environmental and sustainable factors when presenting a solution.
After a visit to the premises:
Discussion: What is your initial reaction to the effects of the flooding and doesit surprise you? What might your initial reaction reveal to you about your own perspectives and values?
Discussion: What is your initial reaction to the causes of the flooding anddoes it surprise you? What might your initial reaction reveal to you about your own perspectives and values?
Discussion and activity: List the potential issues and risks to installing a device in or near to the river bank.
Activity: Research water level monitoring. What are the main technical and logistical issues with this technology in this scenario?
Activity: Both cost-benefit and sustainable trade-off analyses are valuable approaches to consider in this case. Determine the possible courses of action and undertake both types of analysis for each position by considering both short- and long-term consequences.
Reflection: Obligations to future generations: Do we have a responsibility to provide a safe and healthy environment for humans that don’t yet exist, or for an ecosystem that will eventually change?
Design Process:
To satisfy the learning outcomes identified above the following activities are suggested.
Assessment activity 1 – Physical artefact:
Design, build and test a prototype flood warning device, monitoring various water levels and controlling an output or outputs in an alarm condition to meet the following as a minimum:
a) The device will require the use of an analogue sensor that will directly or indirectly output an electrical signal proportional to the water level.
b) It will integrate to appropriate Operational Amplifier circuitry.
c) The circuitry will control an output device or devices.
d) The power consumption of the complete circuit will be assessed to allow an appropriate renewable energy supply to be specified (but not necessarily be part of the build).
The written specification and accompanying drawings shall enable a solution to be manufactured based on the study, evaluation and affirmation of the product requirements.
The evaluation of the product requirements and consequent component selection will reference the use of design tools and problem-solving techniques. In compiling the specification the component selection and integration will highlight the underlying engineering principles that have been followed. The specification shall be no more than 1000 words (plus illustrations and references).
Pathway 2
This project requires assessment of the local area and ideally a visit to the retailer to understand their needs and consider options for water level monitoring.
You are required to consider environmental and sustainable factors when presenting a solution.
After a visit to the premises:
Discussion: What is your initial reaction to the effects of the flooding and does it surprise you? What might your initial reaction reveal to you about your own perspectives and values?
Discussion: What is your initial reaction to the causes of the flooding anddoes it surprise you? What might your initial reaction reveal to you about your own perspectives and values?
Discussion and activity: List the potential issues and risks to installing a device in or near to the river bank.
Activity:Both cost-benefit and sustainable trade-off analyses are valuable approaches to consider in this case. Determine the possible courses of action and undertake both types of analysis for each position by considering both short- and long-term consequences.
Wireless communication of information electronically is now commonplace. It’s important for the learners to understand the differences between the various types both technically and commercially to enable the most appropriate form of communication to be chosen.
Pathway 1 above explains the need for a flood warning device to monitor water levels of a river. In Pathway 2, this part of the challenge (which could be achieved in isolation) is to communicate this information from the river to an office location within the town.
Design Process:
Design a communications system that will transmit data, equivalent to the height of the river in metres. The maximum frequency and distance over which the data can be transmitted should be explored and defined, but as a minimum this data should be sent every 20 seconds over a distance of 500m.
Assessment activity – Technical report:
A set of user requirements and two possible technical solutions shall be presented in the form of a Technical Report:
Highlighting the benefits and drawbacks of each.
Explaining the inherent challenges in wireless communication that defined your selections
Design tools and problem-solving techniques should be used to define the product requirements and consequent component selection
The report shall be no more than 3000 words (plus illustrations and references)
Any views, thoughts, and opinions expressed herein are solely that of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of the Engineering Professors’ Council or the Toolkit sponsors and supporters.
Keywords: Design and innovation; Conflicts of interest; Ethics; Regulatory compliance; Stakeholder engagement; Environmental impact; AHEP; Sustainability; Higher education; Pedagogy; Assessment.
Sustainability competency: Systems thinking; Anticipatory; Critical thinking; Integrated problem-solving; Strategic; Collaboration.UNESCO has developed eight key competencies for sustainability that are aimed at learners of all ages worldwide. Many versions of these exist, as are linked here*. In the UK, these have been adapted within higher education by AdvanceHE and the QAA with appropriate learning outcomes. The full list of competencies and learning outcome alignment can be found in the Education for Sustainable Development Guidance*. *Click the pink ''Sustainability competency'' text to learn more.
AHEP mapping: This resource addresses two of the themes from the UK’s Accreditation of Higher Education Programmes fourth edition (AHEP4): The Engineer and Society (acknowledging that engineering activity can have a significant societal impact) and Engineering Practice (the practical application of engineering concepts, tools and professional skills). To map this resource to AHEP outcomes specific to a programme under these themes, access AHEP 4 here and navigate to pages 30-31 and 35-37.
Related SDGs: SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy); SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure); SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production); SDG 13 (Climate Action).
Reimagined Degree Map Intervention: More real-world complexity; Active pedagogies and mindset development; Authentic assessment.The Reimagined Degree Map is a guide to help engineering departments navigate the decisions that are urgently required to ensure degrees prepare students for 21st century challenges. Click the pink ''Reimagined Degree Map Intervention'' text to learn more.
Educational aim: Apply interdisciplinary engineering knowledge to a real-world sustainability challenge in aviation, foster ethical reasoning and decision-making with regards to environmental impact, and develop abilities to collaborate and communicate with a diverse range of stakeholders.
Educational level: Intermediate.
Learning and teaching notes:
This case study provides students an opportunity to explore the role of hydrogen fuel in the aviation industry. Considerable investments have been made in researching and developing hydrogen as a potential clean and sustainable energy source, particularly for hydrogen-powered aircraft. Despite the potential for hydrogen to be a green and clean fuel there are lingering questions over the long-term sustainability of hydrogen and whether technological advancements can progress rapidly enough to significantly reduce global carbon dioxide emissions. The debate around this issue is rich with diverse perspectives and a variety of interests to consider. Through this case study, students will apply their engineering expertise to navigate this complex problem and examine the competing interests involved.
This case is presented in parts, each focusing on a different sustainability issue, and with most parts incorporating technical content. Parts may be used in isolation, or may be used to build up the complexity of the case throughout a series of lessons.
Learners have the opportunity to:
Understand the principles of hydrogen production, storage, and emissions in the context of aviation.
Assess the environmental, economic, and social impacts of adopting hydrogen technology in the aviation industry.
Develop skills in making estimates and assumptions in real-world engineering scenarios.
Explore the ethical dimensions of engineering decisions, particularly concerning sustainability and resource management.
Examine the influence of policy and stakeholder perspectives on the adoption of green hydrogen within the aviation industry.
Teachers have the opportunity to:
Integrate concepts related to renewable energy sources, with a focus on hydrogen.
Discuss the engineering challenges and solutions in storing and utilising hydrogen in aviation.
Foster critical thinking about the balance between technological innovation, environmental sustainability, and societal impact.
Guide students in understanding the role of policy in shaping technological advancements and environmental strategies.
Assess students’ ability to apply engineering principles to solve complex, open-ended, real-world problems.
Supporting resources:
Learning and teaching resources:
Hydrogen fundamentals resources:
Case Study Workbook – designed for this study to give a broad overview of hydrogen, based primarily on the content below from US DoE.
Hydrogen Aware – Set of modules for a more comprehensive background to hydrogen with a UK-specific context.
We recommend encouraging the use of sources from a variety of stakeholders. Encourage students to find their own, but some examples are included below:
FlyZero Open Source Reports Archive: A variety of technical reports focused on hydrogen in aviation specifically including concept aircraft, potential life cycle emissions, storage, and usage.
Hydrogen in Aviation Alliance: Press release (September 2023) announcing an agreement amongst some of the major players in aviation to focus on hydrogen.
Safe Landing: A group of aviation workers campaigning for long-term employment. Projected airline growth is not compatible with net zero goals and the current technology is not ready for decarbonisation, action is drastically needed now to safeguard the aviation industry and prevent dangerous levels of warming.
UK Government Hydrogen Strategy: Sets out the UK government view of how to develop a low carbon hydrogen sector including aviation projects including considerations of how to create a market.
Pre-Session Work:
Students should be provided with an overview of the properties of hydrogen gas and the principles underlying the hydrogen economy: production, storage and transmission, and application. There are several free and available sources for this purpose (refer to the Hydrogen Fundamentals Resources above).
Introduction
“At Airbus, we believe hydrogen is one of the most promising decarbonisation technologies for aviation. This is why we consider hydrogen to be an important technology pathway to achieve our ambition of bringing a low-carbon commercial aircraft to market by 2035.” – Airbus, 2024
As indicated in the industry quote above, hydrogen is a growing area of research interest for aviation companies to decarbonise their fleet. In this case study, you are put in the role of working as an engineering consultant and your customer is a multinational aerospace corporation. They are keen to meet their government issued targets of reducing carbon emissions to reach net zero by 2050 and your consultancy team has been tasked with assessing the feasibility of powering a zero-emission aircraft using hydrogen. The key areas your customer is interested in are:
The feasibility of using green hydrogen as a fuel for zero-emission aviation;
The feasibility of storing hydrogen in a confined space like an aircraft;
Conducting a stakeholder analysis on the environmental impact of using hydrogen for aviation.
Part one: The aviation landscape
Air travel connects the world, enabling affordable and reliable mass transportation between continents. Despite massive advances in technology and infrastructure to produce more efficient aircraft and reduce passenger fuel consumption, carbon emissions have doubled since 2019 and are equivalent to 2.5 % of global CO2 emissions.
Activity: Discuss what renewable energy sources are you aware of that could be used for zero-emission aviation?
Your customer is interested in the feasibility of hydrogen for aviation fuel. However, there is a debate within the management team over the sustainability of hydrogen. As the lead engineering consultant, you must guide your customer in making an ethical and sustainable decision.
Hydrogen is a potential energy carrier which has a high energy content, making it a promising fuel for aviation. Green hydrogen is produced from water and is therefore potentially very clean. However, globally most hydrogen is currently made from fossil fuels with an associated carbon footprint. Naturally occurring as a gas, the low volumetric density makes it difficult to transport and add complications with storage and transportation.
Activity: From your understanding of hydrogen, what properties make it a promising fuel for aircraft? And what properties make it challenging?
Optional activity: Recap the key properties of hydrogen – particularly the low gas density and low boiling point which affect storage.
Part two: Hydrogen production
Hydrogen is naturally abundant but is often found combined with other elements in various forms such as hydrocarbons like methane (CH4) and water (H2O). Methods have been developed to extract hydrogen from these compounds. It is important to remember that hydrogen is an energy carrier and not an energy source; it must be generated from other primary energy sources (such as wind and solar) converting and storing energy in the form of hydrogen.
Research: What production methods of hydrogen are you aware of? Where does most of the world’s hydrogen come from currently?
The ideal scenario is to produce green hydrogen via electrolysis where water (H2O) is split using electricity into hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O2). This makes green hydrogen potentially completely green and clean if the process uses electricity from renewable sources. The overall chemical reaction is shown below:
However, the use of water—a critical resource—as a feedstock for green hydrogen, especially in aviation, raises significant ethical concerns. Your customer’s management team is divided on the potential impact of this practice on global water scarcity, which has been exacerbated by climate change. You have been tasked with assessing the feasibility of using green hydrogen in aviation for your client. Your customer has chosen their London to New York route (3,500 nmi), one of their most popular, as a test-case.
Activity: Estimate how much water a hydrogen plane would require for a journey of 3500 nmi (London to New York). Can you validate your findings with any external sources?Hint: How much water does it take to produce 1 kg of green hydrogen? Consider the chemical equation above.
Activity: Consider scaling this up and estimate how much water the entire UK aviation fleet would require in one year. Compare your value to the annual UK water consumption, would it be feasible to use this amount of water for aviation?
Discussion: From your calculations and findings so far, discuss the practicality of using water for aviation fuel. Consider both the obstacles and opportunities involved in integrating green hydrogen in aviation and the specific challenges the aviation industry might face.
Despite its potential for green production, globally the majority of hydrogen is currently produced from fossil fuels – termed grey hydrogen. One of your team members has proposed using grey hydrogen as an interim solution to bridge the transition to green hydrogen, in order for the company to start developing the required hydrogen-related infrastructure at airports. They argue that carbon capture and storage technology could be used to reduce carbon emissions from grey hydrogen while still achieving the goal of decarbonisation. Hydrogen from fossil fuels with an additional carbon capture step is known as blue hydrogen.
However, this suggestion has sparked a heated debate within the management team. While acknowledging the potential to address the immediate concerns of generating enough hydrogen to establish the necessary infrastructure and procedures, many team members argued that it would be a contradictory approach. They highlighted the inherent contradiction of utilising fossil fuels, the primary driver of climate change, to achieve decarbonisation. They emphasised the importance of remaining consistent with the ultimate goal of transitioning away from fossil fuels altogether and reducing overall carbon emissions. Your expertise is now sought to weigh these options and advise the board on the best course of action.
Optional activity: Research the argument for and against using grey or blue hydrogen as an initial step in developing hydrogen infrastructure and procedures, as a means to eventually transition to green hydrogen. Contrast this with the strategy of directly implementing green hydrogen from the beginning. Split students into groups to address both sides of this debate.
Discussion: Deliberate on the merits and drawbacks of using grey or blue hydrogen to catalyse development of hydrogen aviation infrastructure. What would you recommend—prioritising green hydrogen development or starting with grey or blue hydrogen as a transitional step? How will you depict or visualise your recommendation to your client?
Part three: Hydrogen storage
Despite an impressive gravimetric energy density (the energy stored per unit mass of fuel) hydrogen has the lowest gas density and the second-lowest boiling point of all known chemical fuels. These unique properties pose challenges for storage and transportation, particularly in the constrained spaces of an aircraft.
Activity: Familiarise yourself with hydrogen storage methods. What hydrogen storage methods are you aware of? Thinking about an aviation context what would their advantages and disadvantages be?
As the lead engineering consultant, you have been tasked with providing expert advice on viable hydrogen storage options for aviation. Your customer has again chosen their London to New York route (3,500 nmi) as a test-case because it is one of their most popular, transatlantic routes. They want to know if hydrogen storage can be effectively managed for this route as it could set a precedent for wider adoption for their other long-haul flights. The plane journey from London to New York is estimated to require around 15,000 kg of hydrogen (or use the quantity estimated previously estimated in Part 2 – see Appendix for example).
Activity: Estimate the volume required to store the 15,000 kg of hydrogen as a compressed gas and as a liquid.
Discussion: How feasible are compressed gas and liquid hydrogen storage solutions? The space taken up by the fuel is one consideration but what other aspects are important to consider? How does this compare to the current storage solution for planes which use conventional jet fuel. Examples of topics to consider are: materials required for storage tanks, energy required to liquify or compress the hydrogen, practicality of hydrogen storage and transport to airports, location and distance between hydrogen generation and storage facilities, considerations of fuel leakage. When discussing encourage students to compare to the current state of the art, which is jet fuel.
Part four: Emissions and environmental impact
In Part four, we delve deeper into the environmental implications of using hydrogen as a fuel in aviation with a focus on emissions and their impacts across the lifecycle of a hydrogen plane. Aircraft can be powered using either direct combustion of hydrogen in gas turbines or by reacting hydrogen in a fuel cell to produce electricity that drives a propeller. As the lead engineering consultant, your customer has asked you to choose between hydrogen combustion in gas turbines or the reaction of hydrogen in fuel cells. The management team is divided on the environmental impacts of both methods, with some emphasising the technological readiness and efficiency of combustion and others advocating for the cleaner process of fuel cell reaction.
Activity: Research the main emissions associated with combustion of hydrogen and electrochemical reaction of hydrogen in fuel cells. Compare to the emissions associated with combustion of standard jet fuel.Students should consider not only CO2 emissions but also other pollutants such as NOx, SOx, and particulate matter.
Discussion: What are the implications of these emissions on air quality and climate change. Discuss the trade-offs between the different methods of utilising hydrogen in terms of the environmental impact. Compare to the current standard of jet fuel combustion.
Both combustion of hydrogen in an engine and reaction of hydrogen in a fuel cell will produce water as a by-product. The management team are concerned over the effect of using hydrogen on the formation of contrails. Contrails are clouds of water vapour produced by aircraft that have a potential contribution to global warming but the extent of their impact is uncertain.
Activity: Investigate how combustion (of both jet fuel and hydrogen) and fuel cell reactions contribute to contrail formation. What is the potential climactic effect of contrails?
Optional extension: How can manufacturers and airlines act to reduce water emissions and contrail formation – both for standard combustion of jet fuel and future hydrogen solutions?
Discussion: Based on your findings, which hydrogen propulsion technology would you recommend to the management team?
So far we have considered each aspect of the hydrogen debate in isolation. However, it is important to consider the overall environmental impact of these stages as a whole. Choices made at each stage of the hydrogen cycle – generation, storage, usage – will collectively impact the overall environmental impact and sustainability of using hydrogen as an aviation fuel and demonstrates how interconnected our decisions can be.
Activity: Assign students to groups based on the stage of a hydrogen lifecycle (generation, storage/transport, usage). Each group could research and discuss the potential emissions and environmental impacts associated with their assigned stage. Consider both direct and indirect emissions, like energy used in production processes or emissions related to infrastructure development. Principles such as life cycle assessment can be incorporated for a holistic view of hydrogen emissions.
Activity: After the individual group discussions, each group could present their findings and perspectives on their stage of the lifecycle. The whole class could then reflect on the overall environmental impacts of hydrogen in aviation. How do these impacts compare across different stages of the lifecycle? What are the trade-offs involved in choosing different types of hydrogen (green, blue, grey) and storage/transportation solutions?
Discussion: Conclude with a reflective discussion. Students bring together their findings on the life cycle stages of hydrogen and present their overall perspectives on the environmental sustainability of using hydrogen in aviation.
Part five: Hydrogen aviation stakeholders
Hydrogen aviation is an area with multiple stakeholders with conflicting priorities. Understanding the perspectives of these key players is important when considering the feasibility of hydrogen in the aviation sector.
Activity: Who are the key players in this scenario? What are their positions and perspectives? How can you use these perspectives to understand the complexities of the situation more fully?
Your consultancy firm is hosting a debate for the aviation industry in order to help them make a decision around hydrogen-based technologies. You have invited representatives from consumer groups, the UK government, Environmental NGOs, airlines, and aircraft manufacturers.
Activity: Take on the role of these key stakeholders, ensuring you understand their perspective and priorities. This could form part of a separate research exercise, or students can use the key points given below. Debate whether or not hydrogen fuel should be used to help the aviation sector reach net zero.
Stakeholder
Key priorities and considerations
Airline & Aerospace Manufacturer
Cost efficiency (fuel, labour, fleet maintenance) – recovering from pandemic.
Passenger experience (commercial & freight).
Develop & maintain global supply chains.
Safety, compliance and operational reliability.
Financial responsibility to employees and investors.
Need government assurances before making big capital investments.
UK Government
Achieve net zero targets by 2050
Promote economic growth and job creation (still recovering from pandemic).
Fund research and innovation to put their country’s technology ahead.
Fund renewable infrastructure to encourage industry investment.
Environmental NGOs
Long-term employment for aviation sector.
Demand a sustainable future for aviation to ensure this – right now, not in 50 years.
Standards and targets for industry and government and accountability if not met.
Some NGOs support drastic cuts to flying.
Want to raise public awareness over sustainability of flying.
Consumer
Environmentally aware (understand the need to reduce carbon emissions).
Also benefit greatly from flying (tourism, commercial shipping, etc.).
Safety and reliability of aircraft & processes.
Cost effectiveness – want affordable service
Appendix: Example calculations
There are multiple methods for approaching these calculations. The steps shown below are just one example for illustrative purposes.
Part two: Hydrogen production
Challenge: Estimate the volume of water required for a hydrogen-powered aircraft.
Assumptions around the hydrogen production process, aircraft, and fuel requirement can be given to students or researched as a separate task. In this example we assume:
All hydrogen is generated via electrolysis of fresh water with an efficiency of 100%.
A mid-size aircraft required with ~300 passenger capacity and flight range of ~3500 nmi (London to New York).
Flight energy requirement for a kerosene-fuelled jet is the same as a hydrogen-fuelled jet.
Example estimation:
1. Estimate the energy requirement for a mid-size jet
No current hydrogen-fuelled aircraft exists, so we can use a kerosene-fuelled analogue. Existing aircraft that meet the requirements include the Boeing 767 or 747. The energy requirement is then:
2. Estimate the hydrogen requirement
Assuming a hydrogen plane has the same fuel requirement:
3. Estimate the volume of water required
Assuming all hydrogen is produced from the electrolysis of water:
Electrolysis reaction:
For this reaction, we know one mole of water produces one mole of hydrogen. We need to calculate the moles for 20,000 kg of hydrogen:
With a 1:1 molar ratio, we can then calculate the mass of water:
This assumes an electrolyser efficiency of 100%. Typical efficiency values are under 80%, which would yield:
Challenge: Is it feasible to power the UK aviation fleet with water?
The total energy requirement for UK aviation can be given to students or set as a research task.
Estimation can follow a similar procedure to the above.
Multiple methods for validating and assessing the feasibility of this quantity of water. For example, the UK daily water consumption is 14 billion litres. The water requirement estimated above is < 1 % of this total daily water consumption, a finding supported by FlyZero.
Part three: Hydrogen storage
Challenge: Is it feasible to store 20,000 kg of hydrogen in an aircraft?
There are multiple methods of determining the feasibility of storage volume. As example is given below.
1. Determining the storage volume
The storage volume is dependent on the storage method used. Density values associated with different storage techniques can be research or given to students (included in Table 2). The storage volume required can be calculated from the mass of hydrogen and density of storage method, example in Table 2.
Table 2: Energy densities of various hydrogen storage methods
2. Determining available aircraft volume
A straightforward method is to compare the available volume on an aircraft with the hydrogen storage volume required. Aircraft volumes can be given or researched by students. Examples:
This assumes hydrogen tanks are integrated into an existing aircraft design. Liquid hydrogen can feasibly fit into an existing design, though actual volume will be larger due to space/constraint requirements and additional infrastructure (pipes, fittings, etc) for the tanks. Tank size can be compared to conventional kerosene tanks and a discussion encouraged over where in the plane hydrogen tanks would need to be (conventional liquid fuel storage is in the wings of aircraft, this is not possible for liquid storage tanks due to their shape and infrastructure storage is inside the fuselage). Another straightforward method for storage feasibility is modelling the hydrogen volume as a simple cylinder and comparing to the dimensions of a suitable aircraft.
Any views, thoughts, and opinions expressed herein are solely that of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of the Engineering Professors’ Council or the Toolkit sponsors and supporters.
Sustainability competency: Integrated problem-solving; Systems thinking; Critical thinking; Collaboration; Anticipatory.UNESCO has developed eight key competencies for sustainability that are aimed at learners of all ages worldwide. Many versions of these exist, as are linked here*. In the UK, these have been adapted within higher education by AdvanceHE and the QAA with appropriate learning outcomes. The full list of competencies and learning outcome alignment can be found in the Education for Sustainable Development Guidance*. *Click the pink ''Sustainability competency'' text to learn more.
AHEP mapping: This resource addresses two of the themes from the UK’s Accreditation of Higher Education Programmes fourth edition (AHEP4): The Engineer and Society (acknowledging that engineering activity can have a significant societal impact) and Engineering Practice (the practical application of engineering concepts, tools and professional skills). To map this resource to AHEP outcomes specific to a programme under these themes, access AHEP 4 here and navigate to pages 30-31 and 35-37.
Related SDGs: SDG 4 (Quality education); SDG 9 (Industry, innovation and infrastructure); SDG 11 (Sustainable cities and communities); SDG 13 (Climate action).
Reimagined Degree Map Intervention: More real-world complexity; Active pedagogies and mindset development; Authentic assessment; Cross-disciplinarity.The Reimagined Degree Map is a guide to help engineering departments navigate the decisions that are urgently required to ensure degrees prepare students for 21st century challenges. Click the pink ''Reimagined Degree Map Intervention'' text to learn more.
Educational aim: To foster a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities in balancing environmental sustainability and profitability/safety in construction projects. To develop critical thinking and decision-making skills in addressing social, economic, and environmental considerations. To encourage students to propose innovative and comprehensive solutions for sustainable urban development.
Educational level: Intermediate.
Learning and teaching notes:
Before engaging with the case study, learners should be familiar with the process of calculating embodied carbon and conducting a cost-benefit analysis. The case study is presented in three parts. In Part one, an ambitious urban revitalisation project is under development, and a project manager needs to find a balance between financial considerations and the urgent need for sustainable, low-embodied carbon construction. In Part two, the project being developed is located in a coastal area prone to climate change-related disasters. The team needs to ensure that the project is durable in the face of disasters and, at the same time, upholds sustainability principles. Lastly, in Part three, stakeholders involved in the two previous projects come together to identify potential synergies.
Learners have the opportunity to:
Assess the ethical dimensions of construction scenarios, particularly the trade-offs between socio-economic constraints and environmentally-friendly practices.
Identify potential conflicts between environmental advocacy and financial considerations, fostering critical thinking in real-world construction project dilemmas.
Gain hands-on experience in researching and calculating the embodied carbon of different construction options, enhancing their understanding of sustainability metrics.
Equip students with strategies to navigate tensions between sustainability goals and socio-economic constraints.
Integrate technical content on sustainable construction methods.
Integrate engineering content with business and entrepreneurial leadership, fostering interdisciplinary learning and preparing students for real-world challenges.
Informally evaluate students’ critical thinking and communication skills through discussions, activities, and presentations related to sustainable construction practices.
Supporting resources:
Learning and teaching resources:
Environmental impact assessment:
Hammond, G., et al. (2011). Embodied carbon: the inventory of carbon and energy.
Korpi, E., & Ala‐Risku, T. (2008). Life cycle costing: a review of published case studies.
Mishan, E. J., & Quah, E. (2020). Cost-benefit analysis.
Woodward, D. G. (1997). Life cycle costing—Theory, information acquisition and application.
Systems thinking and holistic analysis approaches (PESTLE, SWOT):
Anderson, V., & Johnson, L. (1997). Systems thinking basics .
Checkland, P. (1999). Systems thinking.
Coman, A., & Ronen, B. (2009). Focused SWOT: diagnosing critical strengths and weaknesses.
Christodoulou, A., & Cullinane, K. (2019). Identifying the main opportunities and challenges from the implementation of a port energy management system: A SWOT/PESTLE analysis.
Helms, M. M., & Nixon, J. (2010). Exploring SWOT analysis–where are we now? A review of academic research from the last decade.
Perera, R. (2017). The PESTLE analysis.
Rastogi, N. I. T. A. N. K., & Trivedi, M. K. (2016). PESTLE technique–a tool to identify external risks in construction projects.
Real-world cases to explore:
Related to Part one: Hudson Yards (New York City), King Abdullah Economic City (Saudi Arabia), Masdar City (United Arab Emirates).
Related to Part two: Bangladesh Delta Resilience Project, Majuro Atoll Relocation Project, New Orleans Post-Katrina Redevelopment, Kivalina Relocation Project, Vietnamese Red River Delta Resilient Cities Project.
Related to Part three: Amsterdam Circular Centre, Seoul Forest.
Part one:
In the heart of an urban revitalisation project, the company CityScape Builders is embarking on a transformational journey to convert a neglected area into a vibrant urban centre which will be named ReviveRise District. This urban centre will mostly be formed by tall buildings.
Avery, the project manager at CityScape Builders, is under immense pressure to meet tight budget constraints and deadlines. Avery understands the project’s economic implications and the importance of delivering within the stipulated financial limits. However, the conflict arises when Rohan, a renowned environmental advocate and consultant, insists on prioritising sustainable construction practices to reduce the project’s embodied carbon. Rohan envisions a future where construction doesn’t come at the cost of the environment.
On the other side of the situation is Yuki, the CFO of CityScape Builders, who is concerned about the project’s bottom line. Yuki is wary of any actions that could escalate costs and understands that using low-embodied carbon materials often comes with a higher price tag.
In light of this situation, Avery proposes exploring different options of construction methods and materials that could be used in the design of their skyscrapers. Avery needs to do this quickly to avoid any delay, and therefore consider just the most important carbon-emitting aspects of the different options.
Optional STOP for questions and activities
Activity: research and calculate the embodied carbon of three different options that could be used to build one of the buildings at ReviveRise District. Make sure to consider all key aspects involved (e.g., project’s location, possible materials, etc.). Students can be encouraged to challenge the need to build skyscrapers.
Activity: conduct a cost-benefit analysis for the different options. What are the potential financial gains and losses? Students may want to consider the gains and losses from the perspectives of different stakeholders, such as engineers (e.g., construction programme savings) or quantity surveyors/cost consultants (e.g., security of supply material, insurance premiums).
Discussion: what are the key challenges in reducing embodied carbon in a construction project?
Discussion: how can the construction industry minimise activities that cause conflict between profitability and sustainability, and maximise activities that mutually-benefit sustainability and profitability?
Discussion: what are some strategies for convincing stakeholders of the long-term benefits of sustainable practices? In class, this can be done in different ways (e.g., class debate, elevator pitches).
Part two:
CityScape Builders is now embarking on a new challenge, ResilientCoast, a construction project located in a coastal area that is susceptible to climate change-related disasters. This region is economically disadvantaged and lacks the financial resources often found in more developed areas.
Micha, the resilience project manager at CityScape Builders, is tasked with ensuring the project’s durability in the face of disasters and the impacts of climate change. Micha’s primary concern is to create a resilient structure that can withstand extreme weather events but is equally dedicated to sustainability goals. To navigate this complex situation, Micha seeks guidance from Dr. Ravi, a climate scientist with expertise in coastal resiliency. Dr. Ravi is committed to finding innovative and sustainable solutions that simultaneously address the climate change impacts and reduce embodied carbon in construction.
In this scenario, Bao, the local community leader, also plays a crucial role. Bao advocates for jobs and economic development in the area, even though Bao is acutely aware of the inherent safety risks. Bao, too, understands that balancing these conflicting interests is a substantial challenge.
In this situation, Micha wonders how to construct safely in a vulnerable location while maintaining sustainability goals.
Optional STOP for questions and activities
Activity: investigate sustainable construction practices that enhance resilience. Create a list of methods and materials designed to withstand climate challenges,and evaluate their effectiveness to date.
Discussion: how can the construction industry minimise activities that cause conflict between safety and sustainability, and maximise activities that mutually-benefit sustainability and safety?
Discussion: what are the ethical considerations when constructing in areas prone to natural disasters and resource scarcity?
Discussion: what are some innovative solutions to promote safety and sustainability in construction projects in challenging environments, and what is their effectiveness in this situation?
Part three:
Robin and Samir are two independent sustainability consultants that are supporting the projects in ReviveRise District and ResilientCoast respectively. They are concerned that sustainability is just being assessed by embodied carbon and cost sustainability, and they believe that sustainability is a much broader concept than just those two indicators. Robin is the independent environmental consultant working with ReviveRise District officials and is responsible for assessing the broader environmental impacts of the construction project. Robin’s analysis spans beyond embodied carbon, considering local job creation, transportation effects, pollution, biodiversity, and other aspects of the project.
Samir, on the other hand, is a municipal board member of ResilientCoast. Samir’s role involves advocating for the local community while striving to ensure that sustainability efforts do not compromise the safety and resilience of the area. Samir’s responsibilities are more comprehensive than just economic considerations; they encompass the entire well-being of the community in the face of climate change.
Robin and Samir recognise the need for cross-city collaboration and information sharing, and they want to collaborate to ensure that the sustainability efforts of both projects do not create unintended burdens for their communities. They acknowledge that a comprehensive approach is necessary for analysing broader impacts, and to ensure both the success of the construction projects and the greater good of both communities. They believe in working collectively to find solutions that are not only sustainable but also beneficial to all stakeholders involved.
Optional STOP for questions and activities
Activity: work in pairs or small groups to analyse the holistic impacts of a construction project in their local area. Consider environmental, social, and economic factors and propose potential solutions. This can be supported by PESTLE and SWOT analysis, systems diagrams, or similar techniques.
Activity: envision a scenario where two cities, like in the case study, collaborate on a large construction project. Outline the key challenges, benefits, and potential strategies for success.
Discussion: how can different stakeholders work together to mitigate unintended burdens in construction projects?
Discussion: what are some effective strategies for cross-city collaboration on sustainability initiatives?
Discussion: how can construction projects contribute positively to their local communities while addressing environmental concerns?
The above questions and activities call for the involvement of cross-disciplinary teams, requiring expertise not only in engineering but also in planning, policy, and related fields. Ideally, in the classroom setting, students with diverse knowledge across these disciplines can be grouped together to enhance collaboration and address the tasks proposed. In cases where forming such groups is not feasible, the educator can assign specific roles such as engineer, planner, policymaker, etc., to individual students, ensuring a balanced representation of skills and perspectives.
Any views, thoughts, and opinions expressed herein are solely that of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of the Engineering Professors’ Council or the Toolkit sponsors and supporters.
Sustainability competency: Systems-thinking; Collaboration; Integrated problem-solving.UNESCO has developed eight key competencies for sustainability that are aimed at learners of all ages worldwide. Many versions of these exist, as are linked here*. In the UK, these have been adapted within higher education by AdvanceHE and the QAA with appropriate learning outcomes. The full list of competencies and learning outcome alignment can be found in the Education for Sustainable Development Guidance*. *Click the pink ''Sustainability competency'' text to learn more.
AHEP mapping: This resource addresses two of the themes from the UK’s Accreditation of Higher Education Programmes fourth edition (AHEP4): The Engineer and Society (acknowledging that engineering activity can have a significant societal impact) and Engineering Practice (the practical application of engineering concepts, tools and professional skills). To map this resource to AHEP outcomes specific to a programme under these themes, access AHEP 4 here and navigate to pages 30-31 and 35-37.
Related SDGs: SDG 2 (Zero hunger); SDG 3 (Good health and well-being); SDG 4 (Quality education); SDG 12 (Responsible consumption and production); SDG 13 (Climate action).
Reimagined Degree Map Intervention: Active pedagogies and mindset development; Authentic assessment; More real-world complexity.The Reimagined Degree Map is a guide to help engineering departments navigate the decisions that are urgently required to ensure degrees prepare students for 21st century challenges. Click the pink ''Reimagined Degree Map Intervention'' text to learn more.
Who is this article for? This article should be read by Chemical Engineering educators in higher education who are seeking to integrate sustainability in their project modules. Engaging with this topic will also help to prepare students with the soft skill sets that employers are looking for.
Premise:
The design project (DP) is considered to be the major focus of the CE curriculum, where students work in groups to design a complete chemical process – feeds, products process routes, energy requirements, financial aspects and emissions. It is considered challenging for various reasons including the following: the requirement to recall and combine knowledge covered previously in taught classes (some of which may have been forgotten), dealing with a huge corpus of data (unavailability, uncertainty, some being in conflict and some being superfluous) and all the design decisions that need to be made from many options. This is a major contrast with standard taught modules where all the data required is normally provided in advance. Just making decisions is not enough – they need to be timely and justified otherwise the project may be rushed and may not complete by the deadline. This is why the DP is valued by employers. Furthermore, if Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is embedded in the design project, it is more likely that students will take forward sustainability into the workplace. Figure 1 illustrates Chemical processes and the design project.
1.Subject (CE) and DP pictorial representations:
Part (a) is a generic representation of a chemical process and shows the input-output nature of chemical processes. A chemical process takes a feed and converts it to useful products (the process shown has two equipment units and four streams). Part (b) is a representation of the design project, where the specification (or brief) is provided to groups at the start (DSpec) and the final submission (or solution) is the information in part (a). Part (c) shows that specifications can be product-based (the top two) or feed-based (the bottom two). The dashed lines indicate specifications where the flowrate and composition of the feed/product is subject to design choice – a typical factor that will extend the design procedure and require more decision-making.
2. Inclusion of sustainability in the project topic and communication with students:
This is fairly straightforward in CE design projects, because of the circular economy and the associated waste minimisation. So, from Figure 1, a feed-based (rather than product-based) specification can be employed. Topics that have been used at Strathclyde in recent years have been the utilisation of coffee grounds, food waste and (in 2024) green and garden waste. It is helpful that such topics can be linked to many of the UN SDGs. Furthermore, waste products are often complex with many components, and one of the characteristics of chemical engineering is the various separation techniques. These two factors should be communicated to students to improve engagement.
3. Inclusion of sustainability as an ESD activity to be carried out by groups:
One of the complicating factors about the UN SDGs is that there are so many, meaning that there is the possibility of a chemical process having both positive and negative impacts on different SDGs. This means that groups really need to consider all of the SDGs. This might be conveniently demonstrated as per Table 1. Certainly, it would be hoped that there are more ticks in column 2 than in column 3. Column 4 corresponds to minimal change, and column 5 where there is not enough information to determine any impact.
Table 1: Sustainability rating form for design project submissions
As an example, consider a design project which is based on better utilisation of green waste. Let us say that this results in less greenhouse gas emissions, as well as there being less need to plant and harvest plants. This will result in positive outcomes for SDG12 and SDG13. There are also positive effects because more land can be used for crops, and there will be higher plant coverage during the year. It could be argued then that there are minor positive effects om SDG2 and SDG3. The subsequent SDG profile in Table 1 shows two major impacts and two minor impacts – this might be typical for DPs.
4. Assessment of sustainability in the design project:
Table 2 shows the typical sections in a DP submission. For convenience these are shown as having equal 20-mark contributions. One way of determining marks is to divide these sections into a number of dimensions, for example: use of the literature, technical knowledge, creativity/innovation and style/layout. Sustainability could then be included as a fifth dimension. It is then a case of determining the sustainability dimension for each of the marking sections. It could be argued that sustainability is particularly important at the start of the project (when feeds and amounts are being decided) and at the end (when the final process is being assessed). This explains the larger weightings in Table 2. Coherence refers to how well the submission reads in terms of order and consistency and is thus independent of sustainability. The weightings are subject to debate, but they do at least give the potential for consistent (and traceable) grading between different assessors.
Table 2: Design project assessment now including ESD
Feijoo, G., Moreira, M.T. (2020) “Fostering environmental awareness towards responsible food consumption and reduced food waste in chemical engineering students”, Education for Chemical Engineers 33, pp. 27–35
IChemE (2021), “Accreditation of chemical engineering programmes: a guide for education providers and assessors”
Any views, thoughts, and opinions expressed herein are solely that of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of the Engineering Professors’ Council or the Toolkit sponsors and supporters.
Sustainability competency: Collaboration; Integrated problem-solving.UNESCO has developed eight key competencies for sustainability that are aimed at learners of all ages worldwide. Many versions of these exist, as are linked here*. In the UK, these have been adapted within higher education by AdvanceHE and the QAA with appropriate learning outcomes. The full list of competencies and learning outcome alignment can be found in the Education for Sustainable Development Guidance*. *Click the pink ''Sustainability competency'' text to learn more.
AHEP mapping: This resource addresses two of the themes from the UK’s Accreditation of Higher Education Programmes fourth edition (AHEP4): The Engineer and Society (acknowledging that engineering activity can have a significant societal impact) and Engineering Practice (the practical application of engineering concepts, tools and professional skills). To map this resource to AHEP outcomes specific to a programme under these themes, access AHEP 4 here and navigate to pages 30-31 and 35-37.
Related SDGs: All 17; see specific examples below for SDG 2 (Zero Hunger); SDG 13 (Climate Action).
Reimagined Degree Map Intervention: Adapt and repurpose learning outcomes; Active pedagogies and mindset development; Authentic assessment.The Reimagined Degree Map is a guide to help engineering departments navigate the decisions that are urgently required to ensure degrees prepare students for 21st century challenges. Click the pink ''Reimagined Degree Map Intervention'' text to learn more.
Who is this article for? This article should be read by educators at all levels in Higher Education who wish to embed sustainable development goals into computing projects.
Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is defined by UNESCO (2021) as: “the process of equipping students with the knowledge and understanding, skills and attributes needed to work and live in a way that safeguards environmental, social and economic wellbeing, in the present and for future generations.” All disciplines have something to offer ESD, and all can contribute to a sustainable future. This guide presents how to embed the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into undergraduate computing projects, using problem-based learning and teamwork as the main pedagogical tools (Mishra & Mishra, 2020).
Embedding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into computing group projects:
Typically, the aim of the undergraduate Computing Group Project is to:
start preparing students for a professional career in the computing industry.
familiarise the students with working in software development teams.
give them the experience of delivering a non-trivial software system.
This type of project provides students with an opportunity to integrate various skills, including design, software development, project management, and effective communication.
In this project setting, the students can be asked to select a project theme based on the SDGs. The module team then can support student learning in three key ways:
1. Lectures, labs, and regular formative assessments can build on lab activities to walk the project groups through a sustainability journey that starts from a project pitch, continues with design, implementation, and project progress reporting, and ends with delivering a final demo.
2. Blending large classroom teaching with small group teaching, where each group is assigned a tutor, to ensure timely support and feedback on formative assessments.
3. A summative assessment based on a well-structured project portfolio template, guiding students to present and reflect on their individual contribution to the group effort. This portfolio may form the only graded element of their work, giving the students the opportunity to learn from their mistakes in formative assessments and present their best work at the end of the module.
Mapping the learning outcomes to the eight UNESCO key competencies for sustainability (Advance HE, 2021), the students will have the opportunity to experience the following:
Group work: The students plan, manage, and track a substantial group activity, understanding and applying the principles of professional and ethical behaviour in a group context. They “recognise that a collective effort is not just a simple sum of each individual’s effort but is likely to be more complex and have multiple drivers that may be personal, political or communal” (Advance HE, 2021, p. 24).
Open-ended problem: The groups take an open-ended problem, collect, and analyse relevant information and define the requirements. They will “identify the tensions between the 17 SDGs and recognise their interconnections” (Advance HE, 2021, p. 24) and work towards “creating their visions for the future” (Advance HE, 2021, p. 25).
Non-trivial software development: The students will independently and systematically design, develop, and evaluate a piece of software that is data-driven and has non-trivial functionality. This way, they will “develop and implement innovative actions that further sustainable development at the local level and beyond” (Advance HE, 2021, p. 27).
Alternative solutions: They will analyse complex systems and compare and evaluate alternative problem solutions according to given criteria, including from a technical perspective.
Communication: They will effectively present ideas and solutions, recognising the importance of “verbal and non-verbal communication skills and their role in group cohesion” (Advance HE, 2021, p. 28).
More specifically, sustainable development can be embedded following a lecture-lab-formative assessment-summative assessment path:
1. Introduction lecture: Introduce the SDGs and give real-life examples of software that contribute to SDGs (examples include: for SDG 2 – Zero Hunger, the World Food Programme’s Hunger Map; SDG 13 – Climate Action, Climate Mind ). The students then can be instructed to do their own research on SDGs.
2. Apply design thinking to project ideation: In a lecture, students are introduced to design thinking and the double-diamond of design to use a diverge-converge strategy to first “design the right thing” and second “design things right.” In a practical session, with teaching team support, the students can meet their groups for a brainstorming activity. It is essential to inform students about setting ground rules for discussion, ensuring all voices are heard. Encourage students to apply design thinking to decide which SDG-based problem they would like to work on to develop a software solution. Here, giving students an example of this process based on a selected SDG will be useful.
3. Formative assessment – project pitch deliverable: The next step is to channel students’ output of the design thinking practical to a formative assessment. Students can mould their discussion into a project pitch for their tutors. Their presentation should explain how their project works towards one or more of the 17 SDGs.
4. Summative assessment – a dedicated section in project portfolio: Finally, dedicating a section in a project portfolio template on ideation ensures students reflect further on the SDGs. In the portfolio, students can be asked to reflect on how individual ideas were discussed and feedback from different group members was captured. They should also reflect on how they ensured the chosen problem fits one or more SDGs, describe the selection process of the final software solution, and what alternative solutions for the chosen SDG they have discussed, elaborating on the reasons for the final choice.
Conclusion:
Computing projects provide an excellent opportunity to align teaching, learning, and assessment activities to meet key Sustainable Development competencies and learning outcomes. The projects can provide transformational experiences for students to hear alternative viewpoints, reflect on experiences, and address real-world challenges.
Lewrick, M., Link, P., Leifer, L.J. & Langensand, N. (2018). The design thinking playbook: mindful digital transformation of teams, products, services, businesses, and ecosystems. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc, Hoboken.
Any views, thoughts, and opinions expressed herein are solely that of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of the Engineering Professors’ Council or the Toolkit sponsors and supporters.
Topic: Pedagogical approaches to integrating sustainability.
Tool type: Knowledge.
Relevant disciplines: Any.
Keywords: Education for Sustainable Development; Teaching or embedding sustainability; Course design; AHEP; Learning outcomes; Active learning; Assessment methods; Pedagogy; Climate change; Bloom’s Taxonomy; Project-based learning; Environment; Interdisciplinary; Higher education; Curriculum.
Sustainability competency: Integrated problem-solving competency.UNESCO has developed eight key competencies for sustainability that are aimed at learners of all ages worldwide. Many versions of these exist, as are linked here*. In the UK, these have been adapted within higher education by AdvanceHE and the QAA with appropriate learning outcomes. The full list of competencies and learning outcome alignment can be found in the Education for Sustainable Development Guidance*. *Click the pink ''Sustainability competency'' text to learn more.
AHEP mapping: This resource addresses two of the themes from the UK’s Accreditation of Higher Education Programmes fourth edition (AHEP4): The Engineer and Society (acknowledging that engineering activity can have a significant societal impact) and Engineering Practice(the practical application of engineering concepts, tools and professional skills). To map this resource to AHEP outcomes specific to a programme under these themes, access AHEP 4 here and navigate to pages 30-31 and 35-37.
Related SDGs: SDG 4 (Quality education); SDG 13 (Climate action).
Reimagined Degree Map Intervention: Adapt and repurpose learning outcomes; Active pedagogies and mindset development; Authentic assessment; Cross-disciplinarity.The Reimagined Degree Map is a guide to help engineering departments navigate the decisions that are urgently required to ensure degrees prepare students for 21st century challenges. Click the pink ''Reimagined Degree Map Intervention'' text to learn more.
Who is this article for? This article should be read by educators at all levels in higher education who are seeking an overall perspective on teaching approaches for integrating sustainability in engineering education. Engaging with this topic will also help to prepare students with the soft skill sets that employers are looking for.
Premise:
As stated in the 1987 United Nations Brundtland Report, ‘sustainability’ refers to “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (GH, 1987 p.242). It is underpinned by a tripartite definition encompassing environmental, social and economic sustainability. The necessity for embracing sustainability is underscored by several pressing challenges we face as a global society, ranging from climate change to economic crises.
Against the backdrop of these global challenges, the role of the engineering profession assumes significant importance. While the scientific principles that underpin the various engineering disciplines remain largely the same, the responsibility of the engineering profession is to leverage these principles to address current and future challenges. Consequently, education for sustainable development (ESD) becomes a vital aspect of an engineer’s training, since the profession will guide the design and implementation of innovative solutions to challenges crosscutting environmental impact, judicious use of resources and social wellbeing.
Integrated course design:
Integrating ESD in engineering education requires programme and module designers to take a deliberate approach. Drawing on initial attempts to integrate sustainability in management and business education (Rusinko, 2010), four pedagogical approaches of ESD can be identified:
piggybacking,
mainstreaming,
specialising,
connecting.
The last two approaches are for creating new curriculum structures with a narrow discipline-specific focus and a broad transdisciplinary focus, respectively. The other two, piggybacking and mainstreaming, are approaches to embed sustainability within existing curriculum structures. Although piggybacking is the easier-to-implement approach, achieved by additional sessions or resources on sustainability being tagged onto existing course modules, mainstreaming enables a broader cross-curricular perspective that intricately intertwines sustainability with engineering principles.
The mainstreaming approach is also an elegant fit with the accreditation requirements for sustainability; the latest edition of the Accreditation of Higher Education Programmes (AHEP) emphasises competence in evaluating ‘environmental and societal impact of solutions’ to ‘broadly-defined’ and ‘complex’ problems. In order to foster this ability, where sustainability is a guiding principle for developing engineering solutions, a holistic (re)consideration of all elements of constructive alignment (Biggs, 1996) – intended learning outcomes (ILOs), teaching and learning activities, and student assessment – is needed. To this end, the Integrated Course Design (ICD) pedagogical framework can be leveraged for a simultaneous and integrated consideration of course components for embedding sustainability.
Sustainability learning outcomes:
Bloom’s taxonomy (also see here), which conventionally guides formulation of ILOs, can be extended to incorporate sustainability-based learning outcomes. The action verb in the AHEP guidance for the learning outcome on sustainability is ‘evaluate’, signifying a high cognitive learning level. ILOs framed at this level call for application of foundational knowledge through practical, critical and creative thinking. Although the cognitive domain of learning is the main component of engineering education, sustainability competence is greater than just a cognitive ability. For more information, see the Reimagined Degree Map.
ESD is a lifelong learning process and as stated by UNESCO, it ‘enhances the cognitive, socio-emotional and behavioural dimensions of learning’. This integration of cognitive learning outcomes with affective aspects, referred to as ‘significant learning’ in the ICD terminology, is of utmost importance to develop engineers who can engage in sustainable and inclusive innovation. Furthermore, mapping programme and module ILOs to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is another way to integrate sustainability in engineering with connections between technical engineering competence and global sustainability challenges becoming more explicit to students and educators. Similarly, the ILOs can be mapped against UNESCO’s sustainability competencies to identify scope for improvement in current programmes. See the Engineering for One Planet Framework for more information and guidance on mapping ILOs to sustainability outcomes and competencies.
Teaching and learning activities:
Activities that engage students in ‘active learning’ are best placed to foster sustainability skills. Additional lecture material on sustainability and its relevance to engineering (piggybacking approach) will have limited impact. This needs to be supplemented with experiential learning and opportunities for reflection. To this end, design and research projects are very effective tools, provided the problem definition is formulated with a sustainability focus (Glassey and Haile, 2012). Examples include carbon capture plants (chemical engineering),green buildings (civil engineering) and renewable energy systems (mechanical and electrical engineering).
Project-based learning enables multiple opportunities for feedback and self-reflection, which can be exploited to reinforce sustainability competencies. However, with project work often appearing more prominently only in the latter half of degree programmes, it is important to consider other avenues. Within individual modules, technical content can be contextualised to the background of global sustainability challenges. Relevant case studies can be used in a flipped class environment for a more student-led teaching approach, where topical issues such as microplastic pollution and critical minerals for energy transition can be taken up for discussion (Ravi, 2023). Likewise, problem sheets or simulation exercises can be designed to couple technical skills with sustainability.
Student assessment:
With sustainability being embedded in ILOs and educational activities, the assessment of sustainability competence would also need to take a similar holistic approach. In other words, assessment tasks should interlace engineering concepts with sustainability principles. These assessments are more likely to be of the open-ended type, which is also the case with design projects mentioned earlier. Such engineering design problems often come with conflicting constraints (technical, business, societal, economic and environmental) that need careful deliberation and are not suited for conventional closed-book time-limited examinations.
More appropriate tools to assess sustainability, include scaled self-assessment, reflective writing and focus groups or interviews (Redman et al., 2021). In a broader pedagogical sense, these are referred to as authentic assessment strategies. Given the nexus between sustainability and ethics, inspiration can also be drawn from how ethics is being assessed in engineering education. Finally, pedagogical models such as the systems thinking hierarchical model (Orgill et al., 2019), can be used to inform the design of assessment rubrics when evaluating sustainability skills.
Any views, thoughts, and opinions expressed herein are solely that of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of the Engineering Professors’ Council or the Toolkit sponsors and supporters.
In developing the resources for the EPC’s Sustainability Toolkit, we took into account recent scholarship and best practices and reviewed existing material available on sustainability in engineering. You can find links to these online resources in our ever-growing library of engineering education resources on sustainability below. Please note, the resources linked below are all open-source. If you want to suggest a resource that has helped you, find out how on ourGet Involved page.
To view a page that only lists library links from a specific category type:
Listed below are linksto tools that are designed to support educators’ ability to measure quality and impact of sustainability teaching and learning activities. These have been grouped according to topic. You can also find our suite of assessment tools, here.
Any views, thoughts, and opinions expressed herein are solely that of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of the Engineering Professors’ Council or the Toolkit sponsors and supporters.
Author: The Sustainability Resources Library was produced by Crystal Nwagboso (Engineering Professors Council). If you want to suggest a resource that has helped you, find out how on our Get Involved page.
In developing the resources for the EPC’s Sustainability Toolkit, we took into account recent scholarship and best practices and reviewed existing material available on sustainability in engineering. You can find links to these online resources in our ever-growing library of engineering education resources on sustainability below. Please note, the resources linked below are all open-source. If you want to suggest a resource that has helped you, find out how on ourGet Involved page.
Listed below are linksto tools that are designed to support educators’ ability to measure quality and impact of sustainability teaching and learning activities. These have been grouped according to topic. You can also find our suite of assessment tools, here.
Click to view our Collaboration resources pagewhere you can find links to groups, networks, and organisations/initiatives that will support educators’ ability to learn with and from others.
Integration tools
Listed below are links to tools designed to support educators’ ability to apply and embed sustainability topics within their engineering teaching. These have been grouped according to topic. You can also find our suite of learning activities and case studies, here.
Listed below are links to resources that support educators’ awareness and understanding of sustainability topics in general as well as their connection to engineering education in particular. These have been grouped according to topic. You can also find our suite of knowledge tools, here.
Engineering Futures – Sustainability in Engineering Webinars (You will need to create an account on the Engineering Futures website. Once you have created your account, navigate back to this link, scroll down to ”Sustainability in Engineering Webinars” and enter your account details. Click on the webinar recordings you wish to access. You will then be redirected to the Crowdcast website, where you will need to create an account to view the recordings.)
Any views, thoughts, and opinions expressed herein are solely that of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of the Engineering Professors’ Council or the Toolkit sponsors and supporters.
Author: The Sustainability Resources Library was produced by Crystal Nwagboso (Engineering Professors Council). If you want to suggest a resource that has helped you, find out how on our Get Involved page.
Who is this article for? This article should be read by educators at all levels in higher education who wish to integrate ethics into the engineering and design curriculum, or into module design and learning activities. It describes an in-class activity that is appropriate for large sections and can help to provide students with opportunities to practise the communication and critical thinking skills that employers are looking for.
Premise:
Encouraging students to engage with the ethical, moral and environmental aspects of engineering in any meaningful way can be a challenge, especially in very large cohorts. In the Mechanical Engineering department at the University of Bath we have developed a debate activity which appears to work very well, minimising the amount of assessment, maximising feedback and engagement, and exposing the students to a wide range of topics and views.
In our case, the debate comes after a very intensive second year design unit and it is couched as a slightly “lighter touch” assignment, ahead of the main summer assessment period. The debate format targets the deeper learning of Bloom’s taxonomy and is the logical point in our programme to challenge students to develop these critical thinking skills.
Bloom, B. S. (1956). “Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook I: The Cognitive Domain.” New York: David McKay Co Inc.
This activity addresses two of the themes from the Accreditation of Higher Education Programmes (AHEP) fourth edition: The Engineer and Society (acknowledging that engineering activity can have a significant societal impact) and Engineering Practice (the practical application of engineering concepts, tools and professional skills). To map this to AHEP outcomes specific to a programme under these themes, access AHEP 4here and navigate to pages 30-31 and 35-37.
The debate format:
Several weeks prior to the unit starting, academic staff are asked to submit ideas for technical engineering conundrums as topics for debate; the topics need to be current and include ethical, moral, environmental and technical feasibility aspects.
The cohort is divided into randomly formed groups (aiming for six members in each). An even number of groups is essential (half being pro vs half being anti).
Each pair of groups is assigned a debate topic, with odd numbered groups arguing in favour of the statement, even numbered groups arguing against.
Each group then spends a couple of weeks researching the topic (we weave this in around Easter so the precise timings vary). Studio/tutorial sessions are used by the groups to (a) clarify the scope and intent of the question posed, (b) try out their arguments, and (c) obtain differing perspectives from academic support staff.
We provide supporting lectures covering environmental considerations and commercial imperatives; there is scope to include ethical issues within this.
On debate day the cohort is further divided so that we can run four concurrent debate sessions and keep the timings reasonable.
Each debate room is set up with the two teams in a “v” formation facing each-other and the audience. The typical timings of a debate session are provided in Table 1 below.
Table 1: Timings for technical feasibility debate. There is plenty of scope to alter these timings
and allow a healthy debate from the floor and further exploration of the key arguments.
The audience is asked to vote (using a QR code unique to each session) and the winning team is declared. The votes are revealed in real time and are displayed, adding an element of theatre.
There are no marks on the debate at this stage; attendance is notionally compulsory but in fact we have near full attendance. In any event, the sense of anticipation, duty to one’s team and a desire to eavesdrop on colleagues’ debate tactics (arguments) drives the activity. Staff from across the department are invited to attend those sessions related to their interests and research; they often chime in with questions from the floor and provide an interesting perspective for the students to take into the final deliverable – a six-minute video presentation of their argument.
The videos are marked by a panel of three academics (a number greater than three and there tends to be an inevitable dilution of marks at the extreme ends of the spectrum).
Following marking, the videos are made available to the rest of the cohort (in our case, hosted on Panopto) so that they can further engage in topics of their choosing and understand why they were allocated the mark they were.
Some key points to bear in mind:
The students do not get the opportunity to choose a topic or indeed which side of the argument they are required to argue. This is presented to the students by asking them to imagine they were a defence counsel at court, having to defend a notorious criminal; in order to ensure the safety of the conviction they would have to acquaint themselves with every weakness, every potential flaw in the prosecution’s case and to anticipate the “killer questions”. Take for example a team of engineering undergraduates who are all keen F1 enthusiasts and are placed in a position of having to take the negative position and argue against F1 as a sport (the actual debate topic is shown below).
The environmental impact of Formula 1 can(not) be justified through improvements to vehicle and other technologies.
For clarity, the term “Affirmative” means they are arguing for the proposal, “Negative” implies they are arguing against the proposal. The Negative argument includes the bracketed word in all cases.
Equally the team given the “affirmative” position to argue in favour of the sport, needs to be certain of their arguments and to fully research and anticipate any potential killer questions from their opponents.
It will be seen that this challenges the students and indeed the audience (staff included) to confront some uncomfortable and inconvenient truths, exposing those present to the deeper research undertaken by the students in preparation for the debate as well as to the broader contexts of engineering and its macroethical implications.
Asking for a video submission a few days after the debate forces the students to assimilate the counter arguments and update or revise their presentation and indeed potentially their entire approach.
The first time this debate format was trialled was as an entirely online (remote) activity (forced upon us by the pandemic). Thanks to the sterling work on the requisite IT/AV side by colleagues (acknowledged below) it worked very well in this format and was universally acclaimed as a success by staff and students alike (receiving positive feedback and high unit evaluation scores). In this format it was a gruelling three and a half hour exercise, but it allowed students, who had hitherto been isolated from their wider cohort, to engage in the banter and atmosphere from afar. There was an element of student voting in this first iteration of this exercise and a real sense of healthy competition and energy.
Discussion points for improvements:
The use of microphones in front of each team and for the session chair/MC would improve engagement from the entire audience.
An element of peer marking might heighten engagement further but might also be problematic with students influencing the actual unit marks of their peers.
Directly linking academic research and teaching material to the topics for debate might encourage a more engaged and critical cohort in later units and might also potentially send the students out on placement better prepared and more aware.
We felt that our experience with what has become known as the Technical Feasibility Debate was worth sharing with the wider higher education community, and hope that readers will learn from our experience and implement their own version.
Acknowledgements:
Dr Joseph Flynn – unit convener and co-originator of the debate format.
Dr Ed Elias – for his excellent lecture providing the students with some insight into the commercial imperatives impacting their arguments.
Dr Rick Lupton – for his excellent lecture and supporting material giving the students an environmental and lifecycle analysis perspective to their arguments.
Dr Nathan Sell – for his technical, IT and AV contribution (including the voting system) which made the new format possible.
Dr Elies Dekoninck – as head of the design group in Bath for her encouragement and support in trialling these new approaches.
Appendices:
Typical list of debate topics:
Gas turbines are (not) a dying technology for aircraft propulsion.
Cumbrian super coal mine: there is (no) justification for accessing these fossil fuel reserves.
Metal additive manufacturing, 3D Printing, is (not) a sustainable technology.
Mining the Moon/asteroids for minerals, helium, etc. should (not) be permitted.
Electrification of lorries via hydrogen fuel cell technology is (not) preferable to changing the road infrastructure to include overhead power lines (or similar).
Electrification of road vehicles is (not) preferable to using cleaner fuel alternatives in internal combustion engine cars.
The use of single use plastic packaging is (not) defensible when weighed up against increases in food waste.
The environmental impact of Formula 1 can(not) be justified through improvements to vehicle and other technologies.
Solar technologies should (not) take a larger share of future UK investment compared to wind technologies.
Tidal turbines will (never) produce more than 10% of the UK’s power.
Wave energy converters are (never) going to be viable as a clean energy resource.
Commercial sailing vessels should (not) be used to transport non-perishable goods around the globe.
We should (not) trust algorithms over humans in safety-critical settings, for example autonomous vehicles.
Inventing and manufacturing new technologies is (not) more likely to help us address the climate emergency than reverting to less technologically and energy intense practices
Mechanical Engineering will (not) one day be conducted entirely within the Metaverse, or similar.
The financial contribution and scientific effort directed towards fundamental physics research, for example particle accelerators, is (not) justified with regard to the practical challenges humanity currently faces.
A total individual annual carbon footprint quota would (not) be the best way to reduce our carbon emissions.
The UK power grid will (not) be overwhelmed by the shift to electrification in the next decade.
We are (not) more innovative than we were in the past – breakthrough innovations are (not) still being made.
Lean manufacturing and supply chains have (not) been exposed during the pandemic.
Marking rubric:
Criteria
5
4
3
2
1
1. Organisation and Clarity:
Main arguments and responses are outlined in a clear and orderly way.
Exceeds expectations with no suggestions for improvement.
Completely clear and orderly presentation.
Mostly clear and orderly in all parts.
Clear in some parts but not overall.
Unclear and disorganised throughout.
2. Use of Argument:
Reasons are given to support the resolution.
Exceeds expectations with no suggestions for improvement.
Very strong and persuasive arguments given throughout.
Many good arguments given, with only minor problems.
Some decent arguments, but some significant problems.
Few or no real arguments given, or all arguments given had significant problems.
3. Presentation Style:
Tone of voice, clarity of expression, precision of arguments all contribute to keeping audience’s attention and persuading them of the team’s case. Neatly presented and engaging slides, making use of images and multimedia content.
Exceeds expectations with no suggestions for improvement.
All style features were used convincingly.
Most style features were used convincingly.
Few style features were used convincingly.
Very few style features were used, none of them convincingly.
References:
Bloom, B. S. (1956). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook I: The Cognitive Domain. New York: David McKay Co Inc.
Any views, thoughts, and opinions expressed herein are solely that of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of the Engineering Professors’ Council or the Toolkit sponsors and supporters.
Authors: Prof Lucy Rogers (RAEng Visiting Professor at Brunel University, London and freelance engineering consultant) and Petra Gratton (Associate Dean of Professional Development and Graduate Outcomes in the College of Engineering, Design and Physical Science at Brunel University London, and Lecturer in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering)
Keywords: Industry, Interview, Video, Real Life, Engineers
Abstract: A number of short videos that can be re-used in teaching undergraduate modules in Engineering Business, instead of inviting guest presentations. The interview technique got each individual to talk about their life experiences and topics in engineering business that are often considered mundane (or challenging) for engineers, such as ethics, risks and regulation, project management, innovation, intellectual property, life-cycle assessment, finance and creativity. They also drew attention to their professional development.
Project outcomes
The outcomes of this project are a number of short videos that were used, and can be re-used, in teaching delivery of an undergraduate module in Engineering Business in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Brunel University London instead of having guest presentations from invited speakers. Lucy’s interview technique got the individuals featured in each film to talk about their life experiences and topics in engineering business that are often considered mundane (or challenging) for engineers, such as ethics, risks and regulation, project management, innovation, intellectual property, life-cycle assessment and finance; and drew attention to their professional development.
The shorter videos were inspirational for students to make videos of themselves as part of the assessment of the module, which required them to carry out a personal professional reflection exercise and report upon what they had learned from the exercise in a simple 90-second video using their smartphone or laptop.
Having used the videos with Brunel students, Lucy has made them available on her YouTube channel: Dr Lucy Rogers – YouTube. Each of the videos are listed in the following table:
We learned that students generally engaged with the videos that were used. Depending which virtual learning environment (VLE) was being used, using pre-recorded videos in synchronous online lectures presents various challenges. To avoid any unplanned glitches, in future we know to use the pre-recorded videos as part of the teaching-delivery preparation (e.g. in a flipped classroom mode).
As part of her legacy, Lucy is going to prepare a set of simple instructions on producing video interviews that can be carried out by both staff and students in future.
Any views, thoughts, and opinions expressed herein are solely that of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of the Engineering Professors’ Council or the Toolkit sponsors and supporters.