Embedding sustainability in to the Civil Engineering curriculum: a design-based approach

Tom BramaldSenior 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

EngineeringSterling, S. HE, Sustainbility and the role of systemic learning

in Corcoran & Wals (ed.) (2004) Higher Education and the Challenge of Sustainability. Kluwer

Thematic Structure

New Programme - Extract  DSES Credits

Modelling and Information systems (PDG)

Credits Infrastructure Systems Credits Environmental 

Systems CreditsHuman and Management 

SystemsCredits

Stage 1

Design of Sustainable Engineering Systems 1

20 Engineering Mathematics 1 20

Engineering Mechanics and Materials

20 Environmental Systems 10

Human System Demands and Impacts

10

Geographic Information Systems

10 Fluid Mechanics 10Geotechnical Properties of Soils and Rocks

10

Engineering Surveying 1 10

Stage 2

Design of Sustainable Engineering Systems 2

30 Engineering Informatics 10 Structural

Analysis 10Treatment of Water and Wastewater

10 Land Traffic and Highways 10

Statistics and Numerical Methods for Civil Engineers

10 Steel & Concrete Structures

10

Engineering Surveying 2 10 Geotechnics 10

Hydraulics 10

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 1Governance

Transport and Connectivity

Services

EnvironmentalEconomy

Housing and Built Environment

Social and Cultural

1

6

11

Average Rank (Community)Average Rank (Civil Engineer)

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

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.

SustainabilityNormative Dimensions

Ontological Dimensions

Interdisciplinarity

Epistemological DimensionsMethodological Dimensions

Sustainability 

Literacy

Read society, its structures and its trajectories critically

Engage, reflect and rewrite self and audiences

Act on knowledge

Stibbe & Luna. 2009. Introduction. In Stribbe (ed.) The Handbook of

Sustainability Literacy: Skills for a changing world. Green Books.

Assessment - examplesS1 Design Groups write their own Sustainability CharterS1 Essay – demands and impacts of a CE

project – why not how

S2 Design Using Government standard assessment toolsS3 Design Produce their own Sustainability framework + evaluateS3 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 approachBramald 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