ISLe Learning Hub on Transforming Engineering Education: Integrating Sustainable Development into the Curriculum

The Transforming Engineering Education Learning Hub is part of the Infrastructure Sustainability Learning (ISLe) Initiative, designed to accelerate knowledge sharing and collaboration across the global engineering community. The series creates a space for academics, practitioners, and industry leaders to explore how engineering education can adapt to the urgent challenges of our time.

Following earlier sessions that identified the competencies and mindsets required for future engineers, this third session of the Transforming Engineering Education Learning Hub focused on practical approaches for integrating sustainable development into engineering curricula. Participants shared experiences from around the world, highlighting both institutional barriers and examples of innovation in teaching, curriculum design, and collaboration.

Opening the session, Savina Carluccio, Executive Director of ICSI, reflected on recurring themes across the series – from systems thinking to interdisciplinarity, and the shift in mindset required to move from theory to practice. Key barriers identified by participants included rigid curricula, lack of institutional incentives, limited faculty support, and competing educational priorities such as the integration of artificial intelligence.

Through this collective exchange, the session sought to identify actionable pathways for transforming engineering programmes, ensuring future engineers are equipped to address climate, social, and ethical challenges.

Sectoral perspectives 

The session featured two presentations that brought together a curriculum design framework and examples from institutions dedicated to transforming engineering education.

Cindy Anderson, Strategy Consultant at the Lemelson Foundation and Co-founder of Engineering for One Planet (EOP), presented a practical framework designed to make sustainability a core tenet of engineering education. The EOP Framework, co-created with over 400 contributors, provides a vetted set of learning outcomes spanning nine topic areas – from environmental literacy and material selection to systems thinking and social responsibility. Mapped to ABET criteria, UN SDGs, and Bloom’s Taxonomy, the framework helps faculty integrate sustainability into existing curricula and acts as a checklist for redesigning an entire course or creating a new one.

Two real-world examples were presented to illustrate how TU Delft and the University of Calgary applied the EOP Framework in revamping their engineering programme or launching a new interdisciplinary degree. By mid-2025, over 600 courses and 40,000 students had engaged with EOP-based teaching, showing that practical, step-by-step integration can lead to large-scale transformation.

Dr. Michaela Gkantou, Associate Professor of Structural Engineering at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), shared her experience with the Engineers for Europe (E4E) project, which promotes resilience and sustainability in engineering education across European institutions. As part of the E4E project, LJMU integrates sustainable design principles into all years of study, from first-year design projects that include energy efficiency and low-carbon materials to advanced MSc research exploring circular construction and climate-resilient infrastructure. Students engage directly with industry through guest lectures, site visits, and debates such as the E4E Debate Panel 2025, fostering dialogue between academia and practitioners. 

The new MSc programme in Sustainable Resilience Engineering at LJMU – launching in September 2026 – is a testimony to the efforts to transform engineering education. The programme has been designed to cover many sustainability-related topics such as flooding, water and energy management, collaborative Building Information Modelling (BIM), structural design, and so on. Dr. Gkantou noted that transformation often starts small: adding sustainability-focused learning outcomes, testing new tools, and encouraging cross-disciplinary collaboration have gradually built momentum, creating a culture where environmental responsibility is viewed as integral to engineering practice.

Reflections on how to transform engineering education

In breakout groups, participants joined discussions to exchange experiences on embedding sustainability within engineering curricula. While system barriers remain, several recurring insights emerged:

• Systemic barriers: In academia, faculty members often face structural inertia, heavy teaching loads, and limited access to training or funding to redesign courses. In some institutions, sustainability teaching is not prioritised and efforts to innovate are not always recognised in promotion, accreditation, or performance assessments. 
• Student engagement as a driver: Universities in Puerto Rico and India reported strong student enthusiasm for sustainability topics, suggesting bottom-up demand could influence institutional change.
• Incremental change: Institutions such as Liverpool John Moores University and the University of Science and Technology in Mongolia demonstrated that small, modular adjustments, such as adding new learning outcomes or redesigning a single course, can pave the way for broader reform.
• Industry alignment: Participants noted that professional recognition and clearer pathways to sustainability-related careers could accelerate curriculum change, bridging education with emerging labour market needs.
• Cultural and institutional support: Sustainable transformation requires not just new content, but leadership commitment and faculty development opportunities to sustain change.

The discussions highlighted a key message: transforming engineering education is an ambitious but achievable goal. While large-scale systemic change is much needed and can feel overwhelming, meaningful progress often begins with small, practical actions – such as updating course content, introducing new tools, or fostering collaboration between departments. By sharing success stories and learning from peer institutions, universities can build confidence, create momentum, and gradually embed sustainability as a defining element of engineering education.

Watch a recording below:

The next session on 30 October “Transdisciplinary Approaches and Systems Thinking in Engineering Education”, will build on these discussions to identify how collaborative, cross-sector learning can further accelerate transformation.

Participants will hear real-world examples of institutional change and explore how curriculum transformation can connect engineering education with societal needs, fostering professionals ready to lead in a rapidly changing world.

Read more:  ISLe Learning Hub