Do engineering students need sustainable development courses?

Abstract

Traditional Portuguese engineering curricula suffers from a handicap which has already been noticed in other countries. It has been designed to ensure that engineering graduates possess a strong scientific based knowledge. This leads to close minded engineers that are unaware of the world’s problems such as the major importance of environmental degradation, with all the consequences for life on earth. This subject cannot be overcome by adding to traditional engineering curricula a course related to sustainable development, but instead by an integrated vision of engineering curricula, that can emphasize the importance of humanism above all. This paper provides some insights about the importance of addressing sustainable development subjects in a holistic manner.