Sustainability in Engineering and Engineering Education: A Comparative Study of German and Saudi Arabian Industries

Sustainability has become a major concern in the fields of engineering and engineering education. Organizations such as UNESCO have defined goals for sustainable development in engineering. As engineers design, develop, and implement products and processes that impact the environment and society, their role in promoting sustainable development is vital. Addressing sustainability in engineering curriculum is needed to equip engineers with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required to develop sustainable solutions in their respective areas, and it involves merging the teaching of technical skills with a systems-based approach that considers the broader environmental and economical context of engineering. This 1 Corresponding Author Talha Bin Asad [email protected] requires collaboration between different disciplines and stakeholders, including engineers, educators, policymakers, and industry. This study investigates the industry practices regarding sustainability goals and measures in two countries. Another point of inquiry is to find practical recommendations from engineers and project managers to inform engineering education curriculum in terms of knowledge and awareness of sustainability. Qualitative case study protocol was followed in this research, and participants from Germany and Saudi Arabia were interviewed online. Thematic coding was performed to extract meaning making descriptions from the interview transcripts. In response to the interview prompts, the participants shared their perspectives of sustainability in their area of engineering. Their recommendations towards the curriculum development included making UN sustainability goals a part of engineering curriculum, while still teaching students to adopt a ‘lean product development approach’ in their course projects, so that they learn the practical implementation of sustainability in engineering projects as well as in life.