Bridging engineering and sustainability through challenge driven education: a case study on InnoEnergy Masters of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology

Two contemporary academic movements can be argued to be important for the integration of more fieldpractice- and cross-disciplinary team-based learning experiences into the engineering education curriculum. Firstly, the growth of research in sustainability in combination with the need for change in engineering education, which is seen to evolve from environmental focus to the inclusion of social and transdisciplinary approaches. Secondly, the evolution of engineering education in general: from traditional and instructive to student centred, constructive and practice oriented as well as from isolated and exclusive to an inter-twined part of society, where society’s need for “socially responsible future entrepreneurs, innovators and leaders” is emphasized. This implies that the communities of engineering education come to terms with the idea that not only environmental engineers, but all engineers, should be equipped with knowledge, skills, values and experiences in order to meet the needs of society.