PROFESS 12: Professional Skills in Engineering Students: A Summer School to achieve SDG 12

What did the engineer of the future look like? How were they trained, and what skills did they require to help the government meet commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? Engineering problems became more complex, demanding much more than technical skills. Intercultural skills were identified as crucial (Beagon et al., 2019).

This project focused on the perceptions of key stakeholders on the Island of Ireland. A survey was used to compare and contrast different stakeholder views regarding their location, role, gender, and background.

Using the survey's outputs, the key objective was to design, trial, and evaluate an innovative and inclusive five-day Summer School. This initiative aimed to help engineering students develop the professional skills necessary to achieve SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), emphasizing intercultural skills.

Engineering students co-created the Summer School with academics, guided by Universal Design for Learning principles, ensuring it was accessible to all. The Summer School facilitated learning about each other’s cultural backgrounds, challenged stereotypes about growing up in the North and South, and explored aspirations for life on a shared island.

Finally, the project evaluated the effectiveness of the Summer School in developing students’ skills and investigated experiences to understand how such projects can build sustainable relationships, contributing to the Shared Island Initiative goals.