Sustainable Development

The concept of sustainability embodies the three main concerns of:

• Economics
  
  
• Environment
  
  
• Society.

Engineers are quite used to considering the first two of these factors in all of their projects, but the third is equally important. Good engineering is about improving the quality of life. Very often the technology is in place but there has to be a good understanding of social factors for sustainable engineering to be applied.

For instance, wind power has been successfuly applied in Denmark by giving ownership of the wind farms to local communities so that they reap the economic benefits directly. Application of wind power is unlikely to succeed where the economic benefits are reaped by large companies only.

By setting up a Centre for Sustainable Development at CUED, we are requiring engineers to act as leaders. They have a duty to the public not just to their employers. The Centre has grown out of support provided by the Royal Academy of Engineering for introducing concepts of sustainability over all our engineering courses. It is quite a challenge to get engineers to think sustainably. By the time the design for most human artifacts is completed, 80-90% of their life cycle economic and ecological costs have already been made inevitable.

"All the really important mistakes are made on the first day".Lets make fewer of them.

Visiting Professor in Sustainable Development

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