Transcript Document
Sustainability (and the challenge for engineers)
Dr Sally Uren EPC Brighton Congress 2005
About Forum for the Future… in a slide
• • • • • Sustainable Development charity (NGO) – Educate and promote SD for charitable status Partnerships - with key actors and decision makers across various sectors –
‘Critical Friends’
Solutions orientated Transformation Share learning and disseminate Sally Uren 22 March 2005
What is sustainability?
It’s urgent : Climate change identified as one of the top 2 challenges for this Government.
It’s real : Global Warming floods threaten 4 million people in the UK.
It’s important : UK Government Sustainability Strategy 2005 shows a high level commitment.
It’s about justice : If the world’s food were distributed equally, no one would go hungry.
It’s about you : ‘Engineering is one of the best routes to protecting the plant’ Lord Sainsbury of Turville Sally Uren
Future Flooding,
Office of Science and Technology 2004 22 March 2005
Understanding sustainability Environment Society Economy Triple bottom line Sustainable Development
There is a hierarchy: the environment underpins all activities Sally Uren 22 March 2005
The 5 Capitals SUSTAINABILITY
the point at which
all
capital stocks are being maintained or enhanced to secure the “flows” (or services) on which we depend.
Intellectual capital
STOCK
Natural Capital Financial Capital Social Capital Human Capital Manufactured Capital
FLOWS UTILITY/BENEFIT TO HUMAN KIND
Sally Uren 22 March 2005
The Natural Step: Systems Conditions
In the sustainable society, nature is not subject to systematically increasing... 1… concentrations of substances extracted from the Earth’s crust 2.…concentrations of substances produced by society 3… degradation by physical means and, in that society 4… human needs are met worldwide Sally Uren 22 March 2005
The Challenge to Engineers 10,000 kg
Raw Resource
Manufacture EXTRACT CONVERT 1000 kg
Finished Product consumed
6 months 100 kg
long-term durables left in home
USE DISCARD
Sally Uren Biffa, 2000 22 March 2005
Four Change Challenges
• Choosing the sustainability option must become cheaper and easier • The capacity of teachers and trainers to integrate sustainability into courses must be developed • Specifying for sustainability criteria in materials and processes must become an effective tool for change, at both end of supply chains • Sustainability thinking and practices must be embedded into organisations and across different professional groups Sally Uren 22 March 2005
Engineers for the 21 st Century: Phase 3
• What needs to happen for young engineers moving into leadership positions within the next few decades to have the education, training, professional and technical support, and the working environment they need to contribute positively to the challenge of sustainable development?
• How can the profession modernise to become an attractive choice for talented young people who want a life-affirming career?
Sally Uren 22 March 2005