Engineering and Sustainability – Fostering sustainability-oriented competencies

Abstract

Sustainability problems are “super wicked problems”, problems whose solution is fundamental to the survival of humanity. The aim of a modern university and technically oriented education must therefore be to develop not only technical excellence but also the competencies to know and understand the challenges of sustainable development. Future engineers should not only be able to react appropriately to them, but also to actively shape them. The article presents the results from the evaluation of a course based on the "Engineers without Borders Challenge" and shows how a holistic fostering of subject-related, sustainability-oriented skills can be achieved.