1. Bringing sustainability into engineering education
Workshop introduction 24 May 2017 at ETALEE
Ulrik Jørgensen, prof.
Center for Design, Innovation and Sustainable Transitions
Aalborg University Copenhagen
Ulrik Jørgensen – Center for Design, Innovation and Sustainable Transitions

2. Sustainability as discourse
to be ’sustainable’ is the ’new speak’ in politics and engineering – it can’t be negated
life cycle assessments, climate models present strong, but partial metrics
a discourse on the legitimacy of development pathways rather than a macro-metric
a transformative challenge to professions, research disciplines, and societal ideologies
Ulrik Jørgensen – Center for Design, Innovation and Sustainable Transitions

3. Theory base: socio-materiality
philosophy had questioned the role of technology as has the 1990s technology assessment
innovation theory demonstrated limitations to economic theories of growth and change
technology studies (STS) questioned the constructed devide between the social and the material
new approach to understanding disciplines, design processes, sustainability, societal transitions, etc.
Ulrik Jørgensen – Center for Design, Innovation and Sustainable Transitions

4. Actor centered approach
actor centered approach is core to understanding how objects and practices are constituted and performed (enacted)
but actors also reflect past and present institutional configurations that frame and set the stage for action
actors re-configuring and engaging in new network constellations within arenas of development are an core to institutional change
Ulrik Jørgensen – Center for Design, Innovation and Sustainable Transitions

5. Dilemmas of growth growth rates generally are going down
increased inequality
general wellfare loss
energy and resources
spurred growth
leads to fundamental
policy contradictions
Ulrik Jørgensen – Center for Design, Innovation and Sustainable Transitions

6. Technological and institutional fix’es
green growth - a dominant efficiency response
new concepts – ’cradle to cradle’ and ’circular economic’ and ’sharing economy’ simplify
commodification and sectorisation – dominant policy on infrastructures and services
sustainability – natural science and technology topic?
with the ’anthropocene’ and following e.g. ’Tensions of Europe’ humanities is waking up
Ulrik Jørgensen – Center for Design, Innovation and Sustainable Transitions

7. Engineering professionalism – book comprising studies of engineering practices in work and education
Ulrik Jørgensen – Center for Design, Innovation and Sustainable Transitions

8. Ulrik Jørgensen – Center for Design, Innovation and Sustainable Transitions

9. Translating ’environment’ …
sustainability can be seen as the second and extended wave – environment and energy in the 1970s were the first
detailed study of institutional framings of the uptake of the first wave at DTU and AAU in Denmark
local codes of meaning translated the challenge into either chemical pollution, planning using EIA and models, or production management issues
Ulrik Jørgensen – Center for Design, Innovation and Sustainable Transitions

10. Four response practices
efficiency parameters – integration into existing disciplines like enzymes, recycling, innovation
external societal perspective – broad discussions and projects on impacts, ethics and politics
particular new disciplines – EIA, energy modelling, design courses, ecology and resilience
transformative – engagement in project assignments and adjusted teaching content and theory reflections
Ulrik Jørgensen – Center for Design, Innovation and Sustainable Transitions

11. Implications for disciplines
universities are basically conservative when it comes to faculty and disciplines
despite their role in knowledge provision and innovation
contradiction of importance for new cross-disciplinary activities
sustainability in all its ’weakness’ is a challenge to the structure of professions and knowledge
Ulrik Jørgensen – Center for Design, Innovation and Sustainable Transitions

12. What is missing? accept technology as a socio-material endeavour
seeing the embedded, implicit social design criteria
offer learning space for problem identification
keep sustainability simple: four dimensions
build qualitative/quantitative categories and metrics
reflect thick time, reconfiguration and transition
operationalise ETALEE working group
Ulrik Jørgensen – Center for Design, Innovation and Sustainable Transitions