Special Section on Continuing Advances for Incorporating Sustainability into Engineering Education

We are very pleased to be able to present this special section as a supplement to the articles published in the April 2011 special issue of the Journal on sustainability in civil and environmental engineering education. We look forward to future submissions based on these works, and additional research on sustainability in higher education, both in civil and environmental engineering and integrated with other disciplines. Sustainability is typically defined as considering the triple bottom line (economics, environment, and society) of a system, policy, resource, or development with additional consideration of these issues for present and future generations. Therefore, it is important to also include the social aspects of sustainability into engineering courses. The first technical paper, “Incorporating the Social Dimension of Sustainability into Civil Engineering Education,” by Rodolfo Valdes-Vasquez and Leidy Klotz, presents a series of activities that may be used to introduce students to four social aspects of design and construction: corporate social responsibility, community involvement, safety, and social design (designs considering the needs of the workers and end users). In addition to lectures on various subtopics, the techniques include student involvement and assessment and the use of concept mapping to consider interrelationships between stakeholders and the various aspects of the project. In a similar fashion, Stuart Batterman, Antonio G. Martins, Carlos H. Antunes, Fausto Freire, and Maunel C. Gameiro in their technical paper, “Development and Application of Competencies for Graduate Programs in Energy and Sustainability,” present competencies which might form the framework for sustainability courses focusing on energy issues. These courses are divided into two themes, one related to buildings and development and the other to energy systems. Educational competencies that consider the triple bottom line and resource needs and technologies are then mapped into listings of suggested curricula. The two forums provide two different examples of methods by which sustainability can successfully enhance civil and environmental engineering education. In “Teaching Systems Thinking and Biomimicry to Civil Engineering Students,” Corey Cattano, Tina Nikou, and Leidy Klotz provide a framework for introducing two important technical concepts in sustainability—systems thinking and biomimicry—into a construction course. This is done by use of topic modules and then assessment by a plan-do-check-act cycle, whereas Eric A. Seagren and Allen P. Davis, in “Integrating Fundamental Science and Engineering Concepts into a Civil Engineering Sustainability Course,” use sustainability as an overlay to integrate the teaching of several engineering fundamentals of chemistry, thermodynamics, and biology in an introductory course. These articles, and those published in the April 2011 special issue, provide templates for incorporating sustainability concepts into engineering education in a variety of manners, therefore providing options for choosing those that might best fit into the curricula, foci, goals, and traditions at various institutions of higher education. They range from modules to courses to full curricula remapping at various stages in an engineer’s schooling. In addition, various assessment methodologies and suggestions for continual improvement are also provided in many of the articles. These are important tools for future adaptation for enhanced sustainability in this rapidly changing technological world.