52 Education for Sustainable Development in the Engineering Classroom

Dr Beatrice Smyth shared her experience of translating ESD principles into the engineering classroom following participation in Queen’s Leading ESD in the Curriculum programme. While she has long taught sustainable energy, the CPD course reshaped her approach by emphasising not only knowledge acquisition but also skills, values, and emotional engagement—crucial to motivating students to act on sustainability.

Previously, Dr Smyth focused on technical competencies such as calculating carbon footprints. Now, she integrates ESD by asking students to apply that knowledge to real-world contexts—reducing their own carbon impact and considering future professional responsibility to lower organisational footprints.

Her modules now include practical demonstrations (e.g., hydrogen fuel cell cars), industry case studies, and site visits, such as to anaerobic digestion plants and Queen’s new Business School building with geothermal heating. Guest lectures from researchers and industry further connect students to live challenges. She also redesigned the final-year project module so that sustainability and ethics are considered from the planning stage, reinforced by peer-to-peer workshops.

Student response has been highly positive, with many noting increased engagement, enjoyment, and understanding of how engineering theory applies to sustainability challenges. Dr Smyth acknowledged challenges, including workload and ensuring inclusivity in group discussions, but described the shift as both pedagogically rewarding and energising.

Looking ahead, she is focusing on embedding ESD more deeply into assessment design, inclusive teaching, and Living Labs collaborations. For Dr Smyth, ESD has reinvigorated teaching while preparing students to apply engineering skills in ways that contribute to sustainable futures.