Professional Societies: Social Responsibility and Sustainability

1. Professional Societies: Social Responsibility and Sustainability William E. Kelly, PhD, P.E. Manager Public Affairs, ASEE Mini-Conference Engineering towards a More Just and Sustainable world Cincinnati, Ohio March 6-7,2010

2. Overview • Brief history • Education • ABET • Education for professional practice • Professional Societies and Technical Organizations • ISO DIS on social responsibility

3. Brief History Codes of ethics Inclusion of sustainability in some codes ABET Criteria Individual society efforts on corruption, corporate social responsibility, sustainability

4. ABET Criteria • 3(c) an ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs within realistic constraints such as economic, environmental, social, political, ethical, health and safety, manufacturability, and sustainability • 3(f) an understanding of professional and ethical responsibility • 3(h) the broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global, economic, environmental, and societal context • 4(c) a general education component that complements the technical content of the curriculum and is consistent with the program and institution objectives.

5. Curriculum – ABET flexibility • Creating a Culture • Co-Curricula activities e.g. EWB • Technical versus professional

6. Role of Engineering societies • Defining the practice of engineering • Codes of Ethics and Codes and standards define the practice of engineering • Social responsibility of individual engineers versus social responsibility of engineering societies see Layton

7. ASME is developing engineering approaches for developing countries Other societies have similar activities underway ASCE and AAAS

8. Societies are working together This is one example

9. Another Example

10. ISO 26000 (DIS) Guidance on Social Responsibility • The aim of social responsibility is to contribute to sustainable development. • Sustainable development - development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs • NOTE Sustainable development is about integrating the goals of a high quality of life, health and prosperity with social justice and maintaining the earth’s capacity to support life in all its diversity. These social, economic and environmental goals are interdependent and mutually reinforcing. Sustainable development can be treated as a way of expressing the broader expectations of society as a whole.

12. Summary Thoughts • Engineering Education-increase faculty involvement in professional education • Social responsibility of individual engineers-participate • Social responsibility of engineering societies-cooperate • Social responsibility of engineering profession -interact

13. Some Sources • Layton, E.T. (1986) The Revolt of the Engineers: Social Responsibility and the American Engineering Profession, Johns Hopkins Press • ABET Engineering Criteria • Sheppard, S. et al (2009) • ISO 26000 (DIS) (2009) • ILO Declaration on Social Justice