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Making the world a better place means engaging with society. All technology driven activities take place in the context of society at large. They are driven by society’s needs - for clean water, sanitation, health, transport, buildings, waste disposal, tools, energy etc. - and they have an impact on society when they are implemented. Not all these interactions are positive, and we need to understand how to try to make sure that our activities work for the best in society, both now and for future generations. This course explores these interactions and brings you to participate in live issues as well as to understand the impacts of technological decisions and the role and responsibility of those holding the technical knowledge to manage those impacts. Emphasis will be given to complexity and the intricate links between different aspects, technical and non-technical, of complex problems. These concepts will be applied in two scenarios where you will be given briefs that cover the societal impacts on delivering technical solutions. This module aims to help you understand that technology driven decisions must be made with the needs of society and the planet at their core and to understand the potential impacts of those decisions on health and wellbeing. Finally, this module will help you explore the concept of leadership as a key element of managing impact. The concept of leadership will be explored from the perspective of driving the decision-making process but also emphasise how adequate subordination can many times be an even more relevant trait for leaders.Ìý

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this module students should be able to:

• Discuss the role and responsibilities of engineers in ensuring negative impacts of technological solutions are identified and appropriately managed and that technological solutions meet current and future needs of society
• Discuss what it means to show leadership in engineering and understand the benefits of different approaches to leadership including subordinate leadership in achieving more sustainable outcomes
• Discuss the implications of complex, local and global, social, political, ecological and economic contexts on engineering activities including infrastructure design
• Apply the impact pathways approach to identify the negative and positive impacts of engineering activities on health and well-being
• Discuss the impact of design and construction decisions on project outcomes, taking into account the complex links between different environmental and societal impacts

Reading List:

• Kelly, William E, Barbara Luke, and Richard N Wright. Engineering for Sustainable Communities. Reston, VA: American Society of Civil Engineers, 2017. Web.
• Penn, Michael, and Philip Parker. Introduction to Infrastructure: An Introduction to Civil and Environmental Engineering / Penn, Michael. 1st ed. 2011. Web.
• Mihelcic, Carter, Mihelcic, James R, and Carter, Jimmy. Field Guide to Environmental Engineering for Development Workers : Water, Sanitation, and Indoor Air / James R. Mihelcic ... [et Al. ; with a Forward by President Jimmy Carter]. Reston, VA: ASCE, 2009. Web.
• O'Riordan, Timothy. Environmental Science for Environmental Management / Edited by Timothy O'Riordan. 2nd ed. Harlow: Prentice Hall, 2000. Print.