Abstract
The present paper presents a Minor Programme proposal on sustainability in the current engineering degree programmes at the University of Chile. Students in the Civil Engineering curriculum at the University of Chile can take any minor, as long as they comply with the course requirements. The Minor on sustainability is conceived as part of the undergraduate electives included in the curriculum of the School of Engineering, and it is expected to enter into the curricula on spring 2014. The paper discusses different alternatives to introduce sustainability-related topics in the curricula, the design process of the Minor and its organisation. The Minor has the following structure: one introductory course, three elective courses which can be selected from a given list and a final workshop. The paper describes the design process, support, and dissemination of the Minor and the main challenges found along the road.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Allen D, Allenby B, Bridges M, Crittenden J, Davidson C, Hendrickson C, Matthews S, Murphy C, Pijawka D (2010) Benchmarking sustainable engineering education: final report, center for sustainable engineering, Syracuse, NY. Available at www.csengin.org/csengine/sub.html?skuvar=147. Accessed 18 Aug 2011
Barth M, Rieckmann M (2012) Academic staff development as a catalyst for curriculum change towards education for sustainable development: an output perspective. J Clean Prod 26:28–36
Byrne EP, Desha CJ, Fitzpatrick JJ, Hargroves K (2013) Exploring sustainability themes in engineering accreditation and curricula. Int J Sustain High Educ 14(4):384–403
DESD-United Nations (2014) Decade of education for sustainable development-DESD. http://www.desd.org/. Last accessed on 24 Apr 2014
Fenner D (2013) Letter of introduction. Engineering education for sustainable development-EESD13 book of abstracts, 22–25 Sept 2013, Cambridge UK
Littledyke M, Manolas E, Littledyke RA (2013) A systems approach to education for sustainability in higher education. Int J Sustain High Educ 14(4):367–383
Segalas J, Ferrer-Balas D, Mulder KF (2010) What do engineering students learn in sustainability courses? The effect of the pedagogical approach. J Clean Prod 18:275–284
Wals AEJ (2013) Sustainability in higher education in the context of the UN DESD: a review of learning and institutionalization processes. J Clea Prod. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.06.007. (Article in press)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Vargas, L.S., Lean, C.M. (2015). A Minor Programme on Sustainability for the Engineering Curriculum at the University of Chile. In: Leal Filho, W., Azeiteiro, U., Caeiro, S., Alves, F. (eds) Integrating Sustainability Thinking in Science and Engineering Curricula. World Sustainability Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09474-8_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09474-8_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-09473-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-09474-8
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)