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MPhil in Engineering for Sustainable Development

global challenges, engineering solutions
 
Valencia Workshop Impact Assessment challenges April 2017

3 current ESD MPhil students and Dr Dai Morgan, Deputy ESD Director are participating in a workshop in Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, Spain

Jenny Garcia (UK), Dima Yankova (Bulgaria),  Marisa Henry (Canada) and Dr Dai Morgan (ESD Deputy Director) are participating in a workshop running  from 10th - 14th of April in Universitat  Politecnica de Valencia, Spain. It also involves students and staff from KTH Chalmers (Sweden), University of British Columbia (Canada)  and the host institution.

 

The programme is designed to bring together students and teachers of sustainable development to work on real challenges on the theme of impact assessment, in a week long intensive residential workshop. Small groups working across three projects will develop responses to a brief for a multi-stakeholder impact assessment, which they will present to practitioners at the end of the week. The projects which have been proposed for analysis include the refurbishment of houses in the Font Roja national park, the refurbishment of an old lighthouse as a carbon neutral innovation centre and the rehabilitation of traditional gardens of buildings in  the Benicalap neighbourhood of Valencia.

 

Course Overview

Context

The need to engage in better problem definition through careful dialogue with all stakeholder groups and a proper recognition of context.

Perspectives

An ability to work with specialists from other disciplines and professional groups acknowledging that technical innovation and business skills also must be understood, nurtured and combined as precursors to the successful implementation of sustainable solutions.

Change

An understanding of mechanisms for managing change in organisations so future engineers are equipped to play a leadership role.

Tools

An awareness of a range of assessment frameworks, sustainability metrics and methodologies such as Life Cycle Analysis, Systems Dynamics, Multi-Criteria Decision making and Impact Assessment.