| 1. |
- Alänge, Sverker, 1951, et al.
(författare)
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Strategies and Practices for Sustainability: Experiences from Firm Level
- 2007
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Ingår i: 10th International QMOD Conference at Campus Helsingborg, Lund University, June 18-20, 2007, Lund.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The four system conditions for sustainability presented in Holmberg’s Ph.D. dissertation (1995) provided a foundation for the approach used by the ‘Natural Step’ both in Sweden and in several other countries (e.g. Holmberg & Robért 2000). In the 1990s Holmberg & Robért developed a ‘backcasting’ approach to strategy development in companies and was involved in several projects to introduce sustainability defined by these four system conditions. This work had a considerable impact in several firms. Electrolux established an environmental policy and a direct effect of backcasting was a decision to develop the first CFC free refrigerators, which put the company far ahead of their competitors. This is just one example that illustrates how this approach has a potential to stimulate new directions, which would not happen based on a more traditional trend-based analysis. Although these projects have been showing good results, several firms have lost their focus for working with sustainability after some time. So the question remained – how can sustainability become a natural part of strategy processes and practices in companies? An action research project was initiated in 2004 to focus on this question at three large Swedish corporations. The project aim was to further develop the backcasting approach in the context of sustainable development and to present recommendations for the process of implementation of the approach at companies. This paper discusses alternative ways of using and integrating the sustainability concept and approaches/practices in firms. The research design was an action learning approach to develop robust sustainable strategies in business units of three major firms. Representatives from the firms participated in workshops to learn together and share experiences from on-going projects in each company. Interviews were used to provide additional understanding of strategy processes within each firm.The conclusion was that sustainability can impact all parts and all processes in a firm. As a vision it is an organizing metaphor but there are also various accompanying techniques and practices. Firms choose to approach sustainability in different ways. Some view it as a major assignment for the environmental department supported by central policy committees. Others start out from the perspective that sustainability should be part of what everyone does in their normal job. In the latter case, the parallel to quality is obvious – when it really works and becomes totally integrated in the daily work - in product development, supply chain, etc. - then it becomes the paradoxical ‘invisible success’ (Book et al. 2004, Book 2006). One general observation is that it takes time to develop a thorough sustainability approach. It can be useful to view the development as a learning process where top management involvement and understanding of the link between competitive advantage and sustainability can facilitate and help speeding up the process.For strategy driven companies, the starting point is to make sustainability part of the regular strategy process, reaching the status of critical success factor. Then, there is a need for non-traditional strategy tools, such as scenario-planning and backcasting. The specific advantage of using the four system conditions as the conceptualization of sustainability is that they can be used on different levels and in different processes in an organization. First, they can provide input to different strategy processes. Second, they can support individuals’ decision-making in their daily work, e.g. choose alternatives that do not systematically increase the number of new substances in the stratosphere.
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| 2. |
- Berg Pettersen, Johan, et al.
(författare)
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Student-centered Learning Activities for Key Sustainability Competencies in Online Courses with Many Students
- 2023
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the International CDIO Conference. - 2002-1593. ; , s. 831-844
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Engineers can make a valuable contribution for a transformation towards a sustainable society. The CDIO framework, where student-active and integrated learning is intrinsic to design-implement activities, therefore also includes sustainability competencies. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate alignment between specific student-centered (active) learning activities used in digital learning environments with many students and engineering competencies for sustainability. Examples of learning activities in two such online courses are presented and evaluated in comparison to the UNESCO key competencies for sustainability. The courses are two undergraduate courses at NTNU where sustainable engineering represents the discipline knowledge. The learning activities were designed for scalability and to be operable within an entirely digital learning environment. The student-centered learning activities that are used in the courses are: i) project-based learning, ii) academic text with peer-review, iii) auto-graded computational assignments, iv) massive online course module, v) flipped classroom. We outline the design of the learning activities and map their alignment with abilities within key sustainability competencies. We discuss the effects of scalability and digital format on learning outcomes, and the student feedback and plans for further development.
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| 3. |
- Enelund, Mikael, 1965, et al.
(författare)
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Integration of education for sustainable development in a mechanical engineering programme
- 2012
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the 8th International CDIO Conference, Brisbane, Austraila.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper presents and analyzes the integration with progression of education for sustainable development in Chalmers University of Technology’s MScEng programme in Mechanical Engineering. The programme has an idea and structure that emphasizes employability, integration of general engineering skills, authentic engineering experiences and focus on holistic view of the complete lifecycle of products and systems. The realization of these aims stress the need of an integrated and adapted sustainable development education for mechanical engineering. To reach this goal, we applied a combined top-down and bottom-up education development process that started with the formulation of programme vision and programme level learning outcomes. Faculty meetings and workshop to formulate the course learning outcomes and to map the programme level outcomes to courses in which the outcomes are satisfied followed this. The strategy became to integrate specific sustainability topics in courses where it is appropriate and to have a separate course in sustainable development to ensure that general aspects of sustainable development are included and that a team of faculty takes full responsibility for this. Design-build-test project courses are shown to be suitable arenas for integrating teaching and learning of sustainable development. Results from a student survey on perceptions of the relevance and quality of sustainability education are accounted for and discussed. Outstanding challenges in the area are identified.
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| 4. |
- Enelund, Mikael, 1965, et al.
(författare)
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Integration of education for sustainable development in the mechanical engineering curriculum
- 2013
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Ingår i: Australasian Journal of Engineering Education. - 1324-5821 .- 1325-4340. ; 19:1, s. 51-62
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper presents and analyses the integration with progression of educationfor sustainable development in Chalmers University of Technology’s MScEng programme inMechanical Engineering. The program has an aim and structure that emphasises employability,integration of general engineering skills, authentic engineering experiences with a focus on holisticview of the complete lifecycle of products and systems. The realisation of these aims stress the needof an integrated and adaptable sustainable development education for mechanical engineering. Toreach this goal, we applied a combined top-down and bottom-up education development processthat started with the formulation of program vision and program level learning outcomes. Facultymeetings and workshop were used to formulate the course learning outcomes and to map the programlevel outcomes to courses in which the outcomes are satisfi ed followed this. The strategy integratedspecifi c sustainability topics in courses where it is appropriate and to have a separate course insustainable development to ensure that general aspects of sustainable development are included andthat a team of faculty takes full responsibility for this. Design-build-test project courses are shownto be suitable arenas for integrating teaching and learning of sustainable development. Resultsfrom a student survey on perceptions of the relevance and quality of sustainability education arediscussed. Finally, continuing challenges in the area are identified
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| 5. |
- Hanning, Andreas, 1982, et al.
(författare)
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Are we educating engineers for sustainability? Comparison between obtained competences and Swedish industry's needs
- 2012
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Ingår i: International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education. - : Emerald. - 1467-6370. ; 13:3, s. 305-320
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose – The aim of this study is to contribute to the quality improvement and long-term strategic development of education for sustainable development (ESD) in engineering education curricula.Design/methodology/approach – The content in 70 courses in environment and SD were characterized and quantified using course document text analysis. Additionally, two questionnaires were sent to students and alumni at Chalmers, and interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with representatives from 16 Swedish companies and five organizations.Findings – It was found that industry demands a broader range of competences in SD amongst engineers in general than what is currently provided. In total, 35 per cent of alumni claim they encounter sustainability issues from sometimes to daily in their work. However, only half of them believe they possess enough competences to make decisions from a sustainability perspective. Quantity, coverage and the level of integration in the educational programme all appear to be important for the students' perceived competences on SD and for the importance that they put on achieving SD.Originality/value – Earlier research has reported on how to further develop the idea and design of ESD and on competence needs in general. Few attempts have been made to assess industry's needs of competences in SD. This paper sheds light on how engineering universities educate for SD and benchmarks this to industry's needs in an exploratory case study, using Chalmers as an example.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Hedesström, Martin, 1969, et al.
(författare)
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Investigating consistency of judgement across sustainability analysts
- 2011
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Ingår i: Sustainable Development. - : Wiley. - 1099-1719 .- 0968-0802. ; 19:2, s. 119-134
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We compare seven major European and North American sustainability analyst organizations on how they rank-order the same set of companies with regards to environmental performance. We also compare the analyst organizations’ environmental rating schemes with regards to which evaluation criteria they include. Two industries are investigated: automobile and paper/forestry. Although there is fairly broad consensus on which automobile companies have the worst environmental performance, there is considerable disagreement about best-performers. The pattern is less clear for paper/forestry companies. With some notable exceptions, and for both industries, all rating schemes contain evaluation criteria targeting those aspects of company performance associated, according to life-cycle assessments, with the largest potential environmental impact. There are, however, significant divergences as to how many, and which, criteria of medium to low relevance are applied. Sustainability analyst organizations should make explicit to investors and evaluated companies on which theoretical and empirical grounds environmental evaluation criteria are selected.
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| 8. |
- Hedesström, Ted Martin, 1969, et al.
(författare)
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Framtidsanalyser av miljöprestanda
- 2011
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Ingår i: Hållbar utveckling - från risk till värde / L. G. Hassel, L.-O. Larsson & E. Nore (red.). - 9789144075327 ; , s. 65-72
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 9. |
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Historier : arton- och nittonhundratalens skönlitteratur som historisk källa
- 2009
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Samlingsverk (redaktörskap) (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- I denna antologi diskuteras hur skönlitteratur kan användas som källa till historiskt inriktade studier. Upprinnelsen är en konferens som hölls hösten 2008 i Göteborg, då företrädare för disciplinerna historia, idéhistoria, ekonomisk historia och litteraturvetenskap presenterade sin forskning. De många bidragen ger en översiktlig bild av forskningen kring litteratur som historisk källa bland svenska forskare.
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| 10. |
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| 11. |
- Holmberg, John, 1963, et al.
(författare)
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The university and transformation towards sustainability: The strategy used at Chalmers University of Technology
- 2012
-
Ingår i: International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education. - : Emerald. - 1467-6370. ; 13:3, s. 219-231
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to present the strategy used for achieving change towards sustainability at Chalmers University of Technology (Chalmers). Examples of how this strategy has been used are described and discussed, and exemplified with different lines of activities in a project on Education for Sustainable Development, the ESD project. Design/methodology/approach - The strategy consists of three important building blocks: Create a neutral arena; Build on individual engagement and involvement; and Communicate a clear commitment from the management team. The analysis is made along three different lines of activities in. the ESD project: The work to improve the quality of the compulsory courses on sustainable development; The efforts to integrate ESD into educational programmes; and The work to collect and spread information on good teaching practices within ESD. Some other related examples where the strategy has been applied are also presented. Findings - The ESD project functioned as a neutral arena since it was not placed at any specific department but rather engaged participants from many departments. This neutral arena has been important, for example, to increase the willingness of teachers to share their good teaching examples. The process was successful in creating a shared responsibility and for starting learning processes in many individuals by the involvement of a broad range of educational actors at Chalmers. The strong and clear commitment from the management team has worked as a driving force. Originality/value - This paper can provide valuable input to universities that struggle with change processes.
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| 12. |
- Högfeldt, Anna-Karin, et al.
(författare)
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Program leadership from a Nordic perspective - Managing education development
- 2012
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Ingår i: Proceedings of 8th International CDIO Conference, Brisbane, Australia.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Nordic Five Tech (N5T) is a strategic alliance between five technical universities in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. The overall aim is to “utilize shared and complementary strengths and create synergy within education, research and innovation”. In this paper we focus on university educational development issues by investigating the program leadership at five Nordic technical universities. Specifically, the paper compares definitions, views and experiences of education leadership in the Nordic Five Tech (N5T) universities. The paper does this by, first, reviewing the definitions of roles and responsibilities for program directors at each university, and second, by presenting results from a survey carried out in March 2012 among program directors at the N5T universities. Based on this data, we analyze how program directors experience their role, their possibilities to lead, and their opportunities of learning to lead. How is time for reflection and development as leaders handled at the different universities? The paper goes on to consider what impact the mandate of the leadership role has on the possibilities for developing educational programs. For instance, how can program directors ensure that learning objectives concerning generic skills and abilities are reached? How can program directors drive implementation of integrative and value-oriented topics such as sustainable development, innovation and entrepreneurship?
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| 13. |
- Jacobsson, Jenny, 1962-, et al.
(författare)
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Youth athletes at Swedish sports high schools with an athletics specialism emphasise environmental support for injury risk management : a focus group study.
- 2023
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Ingår i: BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine. - : BMJ Publishing Group Ltd. - 2055-7647. ; 9:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this study, we examined knowledge and understanding of sport-related injuries among youth athletics (track and field) athletes and assessed their needs in managing any health problems. Qualitative data were collected via 12 focus groups with youth athletes (16-19 years) studying at Swedish sports high schools with an athletics specialism. All focus group discussions were audiorecorded and transcribed before being analysed using a thematic analysis approach. Four researchers independently reviewed the transcripts, generated codes and developed themes. Three overarching themes related to the athletes' knowledge and understanding of sport-related injury were developed: (1) awareness of injuries, (2) perception of injuries, and (3) factors contributing to injuries. The youth athletes were typically uncertain about how to acknowledge a sport-related injury. They expressed that knowledge about injuries was obtained in part by reflecting on the lived experiences of their peers. It was also demonstrated that there appears to be a 'culture of acceptance' regarding injury occurrence. In contrast, causes of injuries were viewed as dependent on multiple factors (eg, lack of context-specific knowledge about training practices). Regarding athletes' needs in managing injuries, an additional three themes were developed: (1) creating functioning elite sports environments, (2) application of knowledge and (3) fostering athletes. An apparent lack of structure and organisation related to the school environment was identified as an important issue to review to create opportunities for sustainable athletic development. The study identified areas that can be improved in Swedish sports high schools with an athletic specialism and could be applied in other youth sports contexts. The results of this study guide school stakeholders, alongside the sport governing bodies who have the mandate to influence activities in youth sports contexts, whereby special attention should be directed towards improving the social environment for youth athletes.
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| 14. |
- Kohn Rådberg, Kamilla, 1967, et al.
(författare)
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From CDIO to challenge-based learning experiences – expanding student learning as well as societal impact?
- 2020
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Ingår i: European Journal of Engineering Education. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0304-3797 .- 1469-5898. ; 45:1, s. 22-37
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Challenge-based learning (CBL) is a multidisciplinary approach that encourages students to work actively with peers, teachers and stakeholders in society to identify complex challenges, formulate relevant questions and take action for sustainable development. In this paper, it is argued that CBL can be viewed as an evolution of the Conceive, Design, Implement, Operate concept, expanding as well as deepening the learning experience. The study reported on investigates the multiple aims of a particular CBL environment (the Challenge Lab at Chalmers University of Technology), which are to combine significant student learning and societal transformation. The results show that the students perceive that they have developed deep skills in problem formulation and sustainable development, as well as working across disciplines and with different stakeholders. Moreover, the study shows that although few student projects reach implementation stage, there is a potential for societal impact both during and after the Challenge Lab learning experience.
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| 15. |
- Kohn Rådberg, Kamilla, 1967, et al.
(författare)
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Learning Outcomes in Challenge Based Master’s Theses for Sustainable Development
- 2016
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The main part of Chalmers Challenge Lab is a Master’s thesis course with the special ambitions that thestudents should be able to identify sustainability challenges, formulate research questions, have dialogues with stakeholders, work multi-disciplinary, and be able to take action towards implementation. These ambitions are evaluated in this study.
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| 16. |
- Kohn Rådberg, Kamilla, 1967, et al.
(författare)
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Learning Outcomes in Challenge Based Master’s Theses for Sustainable Development at Chalmers University of Technology
- 2015
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Ingår i: Proceedings from Ingenjörsutbildningarnas Utvecklingskonferens 2015, Uppsala, Sweden.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Challenge based learning (CBL) is a multidisciplinary approach that encourages students to work actively with peers, teachers, and stakeholders in society to formulate relevant questions, identify complex challenges, and take action for sustainable development. The first Challenge Lab at Chalmers started as a Master’s thesis course and has now been running for two years. Challenge Labs around the world, similar to the one at Chalmers, have the potential to work as student driven transition arenas. In this paper the learning outcomes of the two first years have been evaluated. The aim is to give input to the continued development of the Chalmers Challenge Lab and to similar projects at other universities. The results show that Challenge Lab students perceive that they have developed deep skills in: ability to identify, formulate and manage complex problems in a critical, independent and creative manner from an overall perspective; and ability to identify which problems need to be addressed to observe sustainable development. Additionally, the students perceive that they have developed skills in working across disciplines and with stakeholders, which is not offered or usually developed in traditional Master’s theses.
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| 17. |
- Lundqvist, Ulrika, 1968, et al.
(författare)
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A Procedure for Analysing EESD Curricula Applied on Engineering Programmes at Swedish Universities
- 2013
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Ingår i: Proceedings Engineering Education for Sustainable Development 2013 (EESD13), Cambridge 22-25 September 2013. ; , s. 389-396
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- There are several different methods for implementing curricular elements, but fairly few procedures for determining the success of the implementation. The central question is whether the student has mastered the desired set of skills and the expertise that fulfil the ambitions of the original policy documents. This paper presents a procedure for analyzing how ambitions related to education for sustainable development (ESD) are implemented in educational programmes, i.e. how political ambitions are cascaded down to the level that the student meets in the courses. The method was applied to the programmes in chemical engineering, mechanical engineering and engineering physics at two Swedish universities. The methodological framework is based on analyses of how ambitions on ESD are handled in texts in relevant documents at different levels and the relation between these. The selected texts were: the national degree ordinance, university policy documents, programme curricula, intended course learning outcomes, and learning assessment texts. While the study is focused on the inclusion of sustainable development competences in engineering education, the presented procedure should be general enough for application to any studied aspect of skills in a programme, in particular when this skill is developed in several different courses. The described procedure can also be used to monitor changes over time.
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| 18. |
- Lundqvist, Ulrika, 1968
(författare)
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Especially challenging issues for courses in environment and sustainable development
- 2017
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- There are three issues that are important for the students’ overall impression of courses in environment and sustainable development at Chalmers: 1) relevance for the study programme and the profession, 2) level of learning, and 3) clarity of content. These three issues are particularly challenging for teachers to address.
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| 19. |
- Lundqvist, Ulrika, 1968, et al.
(författare)
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Experiences from an International Training Programme on ESD in Higher Education at Chalmers University of Technology
- 2013
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Ingår i: Konferensproceedings Engineering Education for Sustainable Development 2013 (EESD13), Cambridge 22-25 September 2013. ; , s. 254-261
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) is funding, as part of its bilateral development assistance, International Training Programmes (ITPs) to support social and economic development in developing countries. Niras Natura (previously Ramboll Natura) has since 2008 organized an ITP on ESD in higher education together with Rhodes University in South Africa and the last two years also with Tongji University in China. The ITP is implemented in cooperation with UNEP and seeks to support the Global University Partnership on Environment and Sustainability (GUPES) initiative. The participants in the ITP come from universities and ministries of education (or similar) in Africa and Asia. Participants from universities typically belong to the staff of teachers/researchers or university management. All participants have their own change project for ESD with the purpose to enable participants to link the learning from the ITP to their own work context and institutional priorities. The ITP is going on for almost a year and includes several phases where the participants mainly work on their change projects at their home university (or ministry). Early on in the ITP, the participants spend two weeks at universities in Sweden and since the start of the ITP in 2008, the participants have spent their last week in Sweden at Chalmers University of Technology, with the purpose to share knowledge and experiences in ESD and institutional change at universities. Chalmers has a long history on ESD since the 1980’s and is constantly working to improve the quality and increase the quantity of ESD in the educational programmes. The aim of this paper is to evaluate how an ITP like this can contribute to ESD and institutional change at universities. The objectives are to find out which influence Chalmers’ contribution to the ITP on ESD in higher education has had on: 1) change projects and other ESD activities of the participants and 2) the ESD work at Chalmers. We have sent out a survey to participants in the ITP and another survey to lecturers at Chalmers who have contributed to the ITP. Some results are that people at Chalmers have got an opportunity to reflect upon the ESD work that they have done so far and for the future. The sharing of experiences has been inspiring and increased the engagement.
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| 20. |
- Lundqvist, Ulrika, 1968
(författare)
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Experiences in integrating ethics for engineers in MSc programmes
- 2016
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Ingår i: The 12th International CDIO Conference - Proceedings, Full Papers. Turku, Finland, June 12-16, 2016. - 9789522166104 ; , s. 397-408
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Engineering ethics is an important part of education since it helps students to deal with issues they can face in their profession. A project was started at Chalmers University of Technology in 2013 with the aim to improve integration of ethics in the Master’s programmes in the educational area: “electrical and computer science engineering, software engineering, and industrial engineering and management”. In this paper, experiences are shared from this project. The aim is to support and stimulate to similar activities at other universities. The objectives are to describe:•the change process for integrating ethics into Master’s programmes at Chalmers,•results of this work, such as amount and type of ethics integrated into the programmes, and differences in content and intended depth of learning,•challenges to accomplish a successful integration of ethics into the programmes.There has been a successful integration of ethics in the Masters’ programmes, and all of the 13 programs now include some ethics. The most important driver has been that the project has been assigned by the dean of education who can put some pressure on the programme directors. Another important reason for a successful result is that the project has continued over several years as long as there has been a need of improvements. Support has been offered to the programme directors and teachers, and there has been a regular follow up of the progress and encouragement of programmes directors. A main challenge has been that many of the programme directors and teachers are unsure about what ethics is all about and how to include it in education. Thus, it has been a good idea to have short term goals that were not that demanding. It has been important that the actual changes are done by the programme directors and teachers themselves, and that no one else has been telling them how to do.
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| 21. |
- Lundqvist, Ulrika, 1968, et al.
(författare)
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Integrering av hållbar utveckling i utbildningen: Jämförelse Chalmers och KTH
- 2017
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the 6:e Utvecklingskonferensen för Sveriges ingenjörsutbildningar.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Det finns ett stort behov av att ingenjörer har kompetens inom hållbar utveckling. Chalmers och KTH har under flera år arbetat aktivt med integrering av hållbar utveckling i ingenjörsutbildningarna. Syftet med den här jämförelsen är att dra lärdomar från förändringsarbetet för integrering av hållbar utveckling i utbildningen vid KTH och Chalmers samt belysa relevanta delar av förändringsarbetet och några resultat från detta vid de två lärosätena, lyfta fram en del skillnader och likheter samt diskutera framgångsfaktorer och utmaningar. Några framgångsfaktorer är: tydliga mål som är förankrade i ledningen, centralt organiserat stöd för programansvariga och lärare, kontinuerlig uppföljning som synliggör framgångar och behov av vidareutveckling.
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| 22. |
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| 23. |
- Lundqvist, Ulrika, 1968
(författare)
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On Sustainability Indicators and Sustainable Product Development
- 2000
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In this thesis, we present some examples of sustainability indicators and tools for sustainable product development that can be used to facilitate a transition of the society towards sustainability. As a basis for this work, we have used certain principles for sustainability. In order to avoid the type of sub-optimisation that may occur when short-term goals are considered that are not consistent with long-term sustainability, we have used a backcasting perspective, in which a sustainable society is used as a reference state. Some difficulties with quantitative indicators are that (1) it is difficult to operationalise sustainability, which can result in the neglect of some relevant aspects of sustain-ability, (2) the choice of indicators can be made in a more or less ad hoc fashion, since it is difficult to prioritise among possible indicators, and (3) there is a lack of quantitative data for indicators. We suggest that indicator development should be based on an explicit framework that includes (1) a description of aim and perspec-tive, including principles for sustainability, (2) categories to consider by the indicators, and (3) a model of causal chains, in which indicators can focus on different parts. To encourage an explicit and consistent choice of system boundaries in indicator studies on a regional level, we propose a classification of system boundaries. We also propose a set of tools for sustainable product development that has a life cycle perspective and is based on an integrated product development process. We suggest a qualitative approach in the form of a hierarchical structure of questions to facilitate a relevant level of detail and complexity for the aspects to consider and to avoid search for data that may not be relevant.
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| 24. |
- Lundqvist, Ulrika, 1968
(författare)
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Pedagogical Support for Education for Sustainable Development - Description and Evaluation of a New Support Function for Teachers and Programme Directors at Chalmers University of Technology
- 2013
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Ingår i: Konferensproceedings Engineering Education for Sustainable Development 2013 (EESD13), Cambridge 22-25 September 2013. ; , s. 381-388
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The study programmes at Chalmers University of Technology have to fulfill the Swedish degree ordinance, which includes intended learning outcomes in environment and sustainable development (E&SD), and also the local course requirement on 7.5 higher education credits (hec) in (E&SD) and 7.5 hec in science, technology and society. A new pedagogical support function for education for sustainable development (ESD) was initiated at Chalmers in October 2012 to support mainly teachers and programme directors to fulfill the aims of Chalmers to improve the quality of ESD and to increase the quantity of ESD in the study programmes. The aim of this paper is to share experience and to give inspiration for how a pedagogical support person for ESD can work at a university. The objectives are to: 1) describe the work performed by the support person so far by describing the involvement in projects and activities; 2) suggest a method for evaluating the projects and activities that the support person is involved in; and 3) evaluate the projects and activities that the support person has been involved in so far by applying the suggested method for evaluation.We suggest that the projects and activities that the support person is involved in should be evaluated in relation to the aims of ESD at Chalmers: 1) improved quality of ESD, which can be defined as how well the education is aligned to the intended learning outcomes relevant for ESD in the Swedish degree ordinance; 2) increased quantity, which can be measured as the amount of higher education credits that are relevant for ESD in the study programmes. We believe that some prerequisites to be able to accomplish these aims are to 1) build competence for ESD, i.e. competence in SD and appropriate pedagogical approaches among programme directors and teachers; and 2) integrate ESD into the regular organization and administration for education. Thus, the projects and activities that the support person is involved in should be evaluated also in relation to the fulfillment of these prerequisites. One of the main challenges is to build competence for ESD, and some of the conclusions are that 1) activities to build competence should be integrated in projects whenever it is possible, and that 2) the support person does not perform the work that the teachers or programme directors should be responsible for, but that the support person mainly work as a coach.
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| 25. |
- Lundqvist, Ulrika, 1968
(författare)
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Reasons behind why some courses in environment and sustainable development are not appreciated by students and why some are
- 2016
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Ingår i: Mazijn, B. (Ed.). 2016. EESD2016 – Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Engineering Education for Sustainable Development (Bruges, 4-7 September 2016) – Building a circular economy together. Instituut vóór Duurzame Ontwikkeling vzw, Brugge. - 9789090301310 ; , s. 326-334
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Engineers are important actors in a transition towards a sustainable society. In order for engineers to gain relevant competences for such a transition, courses in environment and sustainable development must be appreciated by students. One success factor can be to motivate students with relevant topics for their specific engineering discipline. A challenge for teachers is to choose relevant topics and to keep topics up to date, for example, circular economy is a rather new concept that can be relevant for some engineering disciplines while green chemistry can be relevant for others.Results from course evaluations show that courses in environment and sustainable development in average are not appreciated by students to the same extent as courses in general at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden. As a part of course evaluations, students answer an electronic questionnaire after each course. One of the questions is “what is your overall impression of the course”, and it is possible to give a score from 1 (very poor) to 5 (excellent). The average results for the students’ overall impression of the 24 courses in environment and sustainable development at Chalmers in 2014/15 was 3.2, which is lower compared to the average results for all courses at Chalmers, 3.8.In this study, we analyze reasons behind why some courses in environment and sustainable development are not appreciated by students and why some are, with the objectives to answer the questions:•Are there any common features among the courses that get a low or high evaluation grade, respectively? And especially, how well do the students perceive that the topics of the courses are connected to their engineering disciplines?•Which mistakes are done in the courses that get low evaluation grades, and should be avoided?•What can we learn from the courses that get a high evaluation grade? We have analyzed the results in the student questionnaires, and especially the free text answers, for the nine courses in environment and sustainable development that got a lower grade than 3 and the six courses that got a higher grade than 4 in 2014/15. Some reasons for low evaluation grades are when students perceive that the topic is not relevant for their engineering discipline or that learning of relevant competences is not supported. Teachers have to be aware of this and continuously work on improving their courses in this respect.
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| 26. |
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| 27. |
- Lundqvist, Ulrika, 1968, et al.
(författare)
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Training Engineers for Handling Ethical Dilemmas in Sustainability Contexts
- 2016
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Ingår i: Mazijn, B. (Ed.). 2016. EESD2016 – Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Engineering Education for Sustainable Development (Bruges, 4-7 September 2016) – Building a circular economy together. Instituut vóór Duurzame Ontwikkeling vzw, Brugge. - 9789090301310 ; , s. 195-203
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- With recent industrial scandals like the Volkswagen emission test manipulations, it is clear that engineering professionals need a more solid foundation for conscious reflection on ethics in the profession. Further, with the mainstreaming of education for sustainable development (ESD) in engineering education, students increasingly meet problems with inherent value conflicts in their education. This presents a challenge as well as an opportunity.The Swedish System of Qualifications for engineers includes a learning outcome on engineering ethics. Students who achieve the Master’s degree should have the ”ability to formulate judgments, within the field of study, that include reflection on relevant ethical issues”. According to the last national review by the Agency for Higher Education in 2012, this requirement is not completely fulfilled in many educational programmes.There is a long tradition at Chalmers University of Technology to address sustainable development in the study programmes. However, the focus is commonly on the environmental dimension of sustainable development, and the social dimension and ethics are not included to the same extent. Many teachers express that they find it difficult to design appropriate learning situations that support students’ learning in ethics, and to design assessments that measure how well students fulfil intended learning outcomes. The situation is similar at other universities. Thus, there is a need to spread good examples on how ethics can be integrated in education to inspire and facilitate for teachers.In this paper, we suggest a framework for how learning in engineering ethics can be supported by means of a focus on ethical dilemmas in a tiered approach with three elements. Ethical dilemmas are situations in which there is a choice to be made between different options, and where neither of these options is optimal from an ethical perspective. We also provide characteristics and examples of ethical dilemmas appropriate to use at different levels.
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| 28. |
- Malmqvist, Johan, 1964, et al.
(författare)
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Comparative Analysis of Challenge-Based Learning Experiences
- 2015
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the 11th International CDIO Conference, Chengdu, China.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- A challenge-based learning experience is a learning experience where the learning takes places through the identification, analysis and design of a solution to a sociotechnical problem. It is typically multidisciplinary, takes place in an international context and aims to find a solution, which is environmentally, socially and economically sustainable. Challenge-based learning has become a buzzword in the last decade, following the US National Academy of Engineering creation of a list of “grand challenges” for engineering for the 21th century. Since then, many universities have introduced challenge-based learning in their educational offerings. However, there has so far been little overview or comparison of possible implementation of challenge-based learning experiences. This paper aims to address this gap by reviewing and comparing four selected challenge-based learning experiences. We identify commonalities and unique traits amongst them and identify avenues for future development in this area.
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| 29. |
- Malmqvist, Johan, 1964, et al.
(författare)
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The CDIO Syllabus 3.0 - An Updated Statement of Goals
- 2022
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the International CDIO Conference. - Reykjavík, Iceland : Chalmers University of Technology. - 2002-1593. - 9789935965561 ; , s. 18-36
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The CDIO Initiative is going through a process of reconsidering and updating the CDIO approach for engineering education development. Previous work resulted in substantial updates of the twelve CDIO standards and the introduction of “optional” CDIO standards. This paper reports on a similar review and update of the CDIO Syllabus to version 3.0. It has been developed by a working group consisting of four sub-groups and iterated and refined guided by feedback from the whole CDIO community. There are mainly three external drivers that motivate the changes: sustainability, digitalization, and acceleration. There is also an internal driver in the form of lessons learned within the CDIO community, from using the Syllabus in curriculum and course development. Approximately 70 updates are proposed, amongst them three additions on the X.X level, namely 1.4 Knowledge of Social Sciences and Humanities, 3.1 Teamwork and Collaboration, and 5.3 Research.
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| 30. |
- Malmqvist, Johan, 1964, et al.
(författare)
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Towards CDIO Standards 3.0
- 2019
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Ingår i: The 15th International CDIO Conference Proceedings – Full Papers. - : Aahus University Library. - 2002-1593. - 9788775074594 ; , s. 44-66
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The topic of this paper is the CDIO Standards, specifically the formulation of CDIO Standards version 3.0. The paper first reviews the potential change drivers that motivate a revision of the Standards. Such change drivers are identified both externally (i.e., from outside of the CDIO community) and internally. It is found that external change drivers have affected the perceptions of what problems engineers should address, what knowledge future engineers should possess and what are the most effective teaching practices in engineering education. Internally, the paper identifies criticism of the Standards, as well as ideas for development, that have been codified as proposed additional CDIO Standards. With references to these change drivers, five areas are identified for the revision: sustainability, digitalization of teaching and learning; service; and faculty competence. A revised version of the Standards is presented. In addition, it is proposed that a new category of Standards is established, “optional standards”. Optional Standards are a complement to the twelve “basic” Standards, and serve to guide educational development and profiling beyond the current Standards. A selected set of proposed optional Standards are recommended for further evaluation and possibly acceptance by the CDIO community
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| 31. |
- Rosén, Anders, Dr, et al.
(författare)
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Mapping the CDIO Syllabus to the UNESO Key Competences for Sustainability
- 2019
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the International CDIO Conference. - 2002-1593. ; , s. 67-84
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this paper a framework of key competencies for sustainability defined by UNESCO is used to evaluate the relevance of the CDIO Syllabus for promoting engineering education for sustainable development. The evaluation is performed in two steps. First, topics, terms and concepts in the CDIO Syllabus that corresponds to the different UNESCO key competencies are identified. The second step is a qualitative discussion where areas of strong mapping are highlighted and aspects that could be better visualized or strengthened in, or added to, the Syllabus are identified. Differences in definitions of various concepts between the CDIO Syllabus and the UNESCO key competencies and the overall relation between the two frameworks are discussed. It is concluded that the CDIO Syllabus is rather well aligned with the UNESCO framework, however several opportunities (not to say needs) for strengthening the Syllabus in relation to the key competencies are identified. The UNESCO key competencies are found to be useful instruments for scrutinizing and updating the CDIO Syllabus. Other opportunities for knowledge and methods transfer between the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) domain and the Engineering Education domain are identified. The paper is proposed to be used as basis for updating the CDIO Syllabus into a version 3.0 for maintaining its relevance in a changing world.
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| 32. |
- Segalas, J., et al.
(författare)
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What has to be learnt for sustainability? A comparison of bachelor engineering education competences at three European universities
- 2009
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Ingår i: Sustainability Science. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1862-4057 .- 1862-4065. ; 4:1, s. 17-27
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In a period of harmonisation of the higher education system in Europe, a question is if also learning about sustainability at the universities is converging and what advantages this may have. This paper is an effort to present and advance the work on describing desired sustainability competences for engineering Bachelor graduates in three technical universities (Chalmers in Sweden, DUT in The Netherlands and UPC-Barcelona in Spain) using the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) descriptors. The paper also sheds light on whether there is conformity or not in desired sustainability competences (or in how sustainable development (SD) competences are handled) at the three universities. For universities outside the EHEA, this paper gives hints on the type of sustainability competences that will be required from their first-cycle graduates should they want to continue with second-cycle studies within the EHEA. The results show that the three universities follow a similar pattern in the classification of the competences (Knowledge and understanding, Skills and abilities, and Attitudes) and that there are minor divergences with respect to the list of competences and the levels of learning that Bachelor students should have when graduating. Definition of competences is an area that needs development, and this paper is part of a learning process for the three universities. This study shows that there is improvement potential for all three universities when it comes to being explicit and exact in the description of the desired SD learning.
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| 33. |
- Sterner, Erik, 1984, et al.
(författare)
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Knowing how and knowing when: unpacking public understanding of atmospheric CO2 accumulation
- 2019
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Ingår i: Climatic Change. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1573-1480 .- 0165-0009. ; 154:1-2, s. 49-67
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- It has been demonstrated that most people have a limited understanding of atmospheric CO 2 accumulation. Labeled stock-flow (SF) failure, this phenomenon has even been suggested as an explanation for weak climate policy support. Drawing on a typology of knowledge, we set out to nuance previous research by distinguishing between different types of knowledge of CO 2 accumulation among the public and by exploring ways of reasoning underlying SF failure. A mixed methods approach was used and participants (N = 214) were enrolled in an open online course. We find that ostensibly similar SF tasks show seemingly contradictory results in terms of people’s understanding of CO 2 accumulation. Participants performed significantly better on stock stabilization tasks that explicitly ask about the relationship between stocks and flows, compared with a typical SF task that does not direct the participants’ attention to what knowledge they should use. This suggests that people possess declarative and procedural knowledge of accumulation (knowing about the principles of mass balance, i.e., what and how to use them) but lack conditional knowledge of accumulation (knowing when to use these principles). Additionally, through a thematic analysis of answers to an open-ended question, we identified three overarching ways of reasoning when dealing with SF tasks: system, pattern, and phenomenological reasoning, providing additional theoretical insights to explain the large difference in performance between the different SF tasks. These more nuanced perspectives on SF failure can help inform interventions aimed at increasing climate science literacy and point to the need for more detailed explorations of public knowledge needed to leverage climate policy support.
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| 34. |
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| 35. |
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| 36. |
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| 37. |
- Svanström, Magdalena, 1969, et al.
(författare)
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To improve the ability to reflect on your own research in relation to sustainable development - experiences from a course for PhD students at Chalmers University of Technology
- 2010
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Ingår i: Proceedings of Engineering Education in Sustainable Development, Gothenburg, Sweden, 2010.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- One of the most important student learning outcomes of education for sustainable development (ESD) is for the student to understand, or be able to find out, the most important sustainability considerations in relation to his or her own specific situation. In the spring of 2009, a short course for PhD students on the Challenges and Opportunities of Technology in Sustainable Development was offered for the first time at Chalmers University of Technology. The course is offered to all PhD students, as a semi-compulsory part of an ethics course requirement. The course centres around a writing assignment in which the student is asked to reflect on his or her own research in relation to SD. As support and input, the students participate in nine different lectures with seminar discussions, all giving different perspectives on technology and SD, interview three different persons, participate in a peer-review student seminar, and have an individual discussion with a faculty member. Assessment is performed by hand-in of the essay, compulsory presence at 80% of the lectures, and reviewing of texts of other students.This paper explains the idea behind the course and shares experiences from giving the course twice in 2009. Learning was evaluated using concept maps, before and after the course. Furthermore, the final essay texts were analysed and results compared to results from concept maps. The course seems to have resulted in an overall improvement in the students' attitudes towards sustainable development (SD); particularly they show less focus on environmental aspects. However, the course has a greater impact on students with already existing SD awareness, here attributed to the opportunity to build on already existing knowledge. The development among students novel to SD was not necessarily captured in the concept maps but in some cases apparent in the final essay, which might be considered as evidence of transformative learning.
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