Course Title: The Role of Engineers in Sustainable Development
Part A: Course Overview
Course ID: 038970
Course Title: The Role of Engineers in Sustainable Development
Credit Points: 12
Course Code |
Campus |
Career |
School |
Learning Mode |
Teaching Period(s) |
ENVI1194 |
City Campus |
Postgraduate |
120H Civil, Environ & Chemical Eng |
Face-to-Face or Internet |
Course Coordinator: Assoc. Prof. Roger Hadgraft
Course Coordinator Phone: 03 9925 1830
Course Coordinator Email: roger.hadgraft@rmit.edu.au
Course Coordinator Location: 7.2.11
Course Coordinator Availability: by appointment
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
Students should enter the course with an interest to explore further the role they will play in sustainable development as an engineer. Students are expected to have a first degree or substantial work experience.
Course Description
The Role of Engineers in Sustainable Development course explores the emerging field of sustainable development and enables students to gain a strong understanding and ability to communicate the basic principles to apply to their area of professional activity. The course has three main themes:
Theme 1: A New Perspective, aims to set the historical and global context for incorporating sustainable development into the engineering profession.
Theme 2: Learning the Language, aims to describe the terms, boundaries, and existing tools that define the terms ‘sustainability’ and ‘sustainable development’.
Theme 3: Preparing to ‘Walk the Talk’, aims to show how it is possible for nations to adopt holistic, whole of society approaches that actively engage with key stakeholders to achieve sustainable development.
Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development
In terms of program capabilities, this course addresses capability B from the Master of Sustainable Practice:
• Ability to identify and define sustainability problems and/or issues.
On successful completion of this course, students will have experience in communicating the importance of the role of engineers in sustainable development and be able to articulate this role to peers. In particular, students will be able to discuss:
• The history and context for incorporating sustainable development into the engineering profession, focusing on innovation and engineering creativity from the global context from turning around drivers for unsustainable practices to implications of resource scarcity.
• The terms, boundaries, and existing tools that define the terms ‘sustainability’ and ‘sustainable development’, including a focus on how to measure progress through appropriate indicators and systems.
• How it is possible for nations to adopt holistic, whole of society approaches that actively engage with key stakeholders to achieve sustainable development, including an introduction to the related economic and market theory.
Overview of Learning Activities
Students are expected to participate in activities around resolving the main themes of the class. This will include independent research into case studies and wider reading, analysing, discussing, presenting and writing about sustainability in the tutorials and in private study sessions.
Overview of Learning Resources
Students will be able to access course information and learning materials through both the Learning Hub (also known as online@RMIT) and will be provided with copies of additional materials in class. Lists of reference texts, resources in the library and freely accessible Internet sites will be provided. Course material will be supported directly by the primary reference and the book’s online companion database. A range of recommended text books will be provided.
Overview of Assessment
The assessment for this course comprises written assignments submitted during the course and presentations on this work. Students will act as a peer assessors of other students based on the topic of each class. Some of these presentations will be to external audiences of industry and other interested parties. Feedback will be provided to students on their progress in the course during the semester.