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Embedding sustainability in to the Civil Engineering curriculum: a design-based approach Tom Bramald Senior Teaching Associate Prof. Stephanie Glendinning Dr. Jaime Amezaga. Programmes. H290 MEng Civil Engineering H200 BEng Civil Engineering
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Embedding sustainability in to the Civil Engineering curriculum: a design-based approach Tom Bramald Senior Teaching Associate Prof. Stephanie Glendinning Dr. Jaime Amezaga
Programmes • H290 MEng Civil Engineering • H200 BEng Civil Engineering • H242 MEng Civil and Structural Engineering • H210 BEng Civil and Structural Engineering • Joint Board of Moderators Accredited • Civil Engineers • Structural Engineers • Transport Engineers
Drivers and Process • Started in 2007 • Research informed teaching • Large and diverse staff profile • Meeting (and surpassing) accreditation targets • Realise an ambition • Embed not “tag on” • Paradigm and Provision (Sterling, 2004) • Strategy Group • Professoriate-led • External Review • Academic • Industrial • Staff consultation and engagement • External Funding • Royal Academy of Engineering Sterling, S. HE, Sustainbility and the role of systemic learning in Corcoran & Wals (ed.) (2004) Higher Education and the Challenge of Sustainability. Kluwer
External Review • Bill Powrie, Southampton • our proposal was up-to-date, exciting and novel • we had put our finger on what was needed - an excellent proposal • Colin Bailey, Manchester • our vision was excellent, and that it would definitely attract 18 year olds to come and study civil engineering at Newcastle • it would become what defines a Newcastle graduate
Design of Sustainable Engineering Systems 1 • Two projects • Semester 1 • Small groups • Theory to practice
Design of Sustainable Engineering Systems 1 • Two projects • Semester 1 • Semester 2 • Larger groups • Industry-led project • Sustainability principles • Detail: • SUDS • Transport • Space
Design of Sustainable Engineering Systems 3 • Masterplanning of the Science Central site • A spatial layout including the buildings and transport layout, plus: • Sustainability framework • Geotechnical Appraisal • Surface water plan • Environmental Statement • Carbon footprint appraisal
Student Quotes • ……the sustainability framework concepts were a useful approach…… • ……we now have an appreciation of the very complex and conflicting issues surrounding design …… • ……we have enjoyed the application of the sustainability issues in real case examples …… • …the input from industry offered a much wider insight to employment opportunities available……
Interdisciplinarity and Sustainability • Sustainability • Normative Dimensions • Ontological Dimensions • Interdisciplinarity • Epistemological Dimensions • Methodological Dimensions Sustainability Literacy Read society, its structures and its trajectories critically Engage, reflect and rewrite self and audiences Act on knowledge Jones et al. 2010. More than the sum of their parts? In Jones et al. 2010. Sustainability Education Perspectives and Practice across higher education. Earthscan. Stibbe & Luna. 2009. Introduction. In Stribbe (ed.) The Handbook of Sustainability Literacy: Skills for a changing world. Green Books.
Assessment - examples S1 Design Groups write their own Sustainability Charter S1 Essay – demands and impacts of a CE project – why not how S2 Design Using Government standard assessment tools S3 Design Produce their own Sustainability framework + evaluate S3 Critique SD in UK, Developing, and Developed Countries • Changing scale • Changing context The virtue of embedding rather than “tagging on” …
Where are we now? • Glendinning et al.Embedding sustainability into the Civil Engineering Curriculum – a design based approach • Bramald et al.Exploring first year undergraduates’ perceptions of conflicting parameters and complexity in civil engineering through three different learning experiences • Plus others including student paper competitions … • A USP for us … Design-centric, sustainability approach is part of our positioning for recruitment • A USP for our students … Feedback suggest that the design tasks and sustainability challenges are helping at interview
Where are we going? • Opportunities to use the campus and Science Central more? • Starting … flood risk • Ensure currency of design projects • Maintain the industry-led approach • But … balance/manage the relationship with employers • Delivery mechanisms • PEARL project • Constructionarium