Abstract
Society invests in the education of engineers because it is expected that the works of engineers will bring good results for society. Because the work of engineers is not value free or neutral, it is important that engineers are educated in the important principles of the social sciences and humanities. This education is essential for the awareness and understanding of what is good for society. Therefore the concept of sustainable development should be part of an education in engineering but only when the social sciences are also a part of it.
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Notes
Schumacher’s definition of Intermediate Technology (Schumacher 1974, pp. 150–151) is a description of the important positive effects on the local communities that technology should have. Thus his definition is normative. Schumacher’s aim was to bring prosperity to local communities through their own efforts by using technology (transfer) that is fitted for this purpose. Therefore intermediate technology is technology to be used, maintained and preferably managed by the community itself and, if possible, even owned by it.
Much literature is available to make clear more precisely what is meant by this. An arbitrary example that comes to my mind is the anthropologic study of Jeanette Pols (2012). Her study is very useful in illustrating the rather abstract formulation of shaping structures on relationships, and of technology's driving force on values in practice. She describes the diverse impacts that developments in telecare-technology can have on care communities, care organizations and the changing interrelations among people.
The author of this commentary was among the first generation of students of the Polytechnic University of Twente who were educated in the engineering program that incorporated social sciences.
Today Twente University promotes itself by the slogan ‘High Tech, Human Touch’. Although the university has several professorates in the social sciences and humanities, the original philosophy that the social sciences and humanities should have explicit and apparent contributions to the scientific education of engineers is no longer supported by an integrated program.
It can hardly be seen as a coincidence that after several years a group supported by several engineering faculties of the Polytechnic University of Twente was established as a spin-off of the education program. This group is called the "WOT", an abbreviation of ‘Werkgroep Ontwikkelings Technieken’ which translated means "Working Group for Development Technologies". "Development technologies" refers to technology for developing countries. The WOT still exists. Nowadays their activities are primarily directed at developing technical solutions for practical problems, although still within the framework of sustainability.
References
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Geerts, R. Dialogue on Sustainable Development as Part of Engineering Education: The Relevance of the Finnish Case. Sci Eng Ethics 19, 1571–1576 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-013-9486-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-013-9486-8