Today marks the second annual UNESCO World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development (WED), and the theme for 2021 is Engineering for a healthy planet. The Academy is delighted to participate in this celebration and to launch a series of 17 videos and resources—filmed at last year’s inaugural event—which showcase how engineering is helping progress towards the SDGs, and I am proud to Chair the Engineering and the SDGs working group on behalf of the International Council of Academies of Engineering and Technological Sciences.
The Royal Academy of Engineering hosted a 2020 event for the inaugural WED titled Problem-based learning: Teaching engineers to tackle the SDGs, at which each of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were considered and delegates investigated how engineers can help address them. Engineering skills are central to achieving the SDGs, in particular the goals relating to water, energy, infrastructure, sustainable cities and responsible production.
At the conference, a Global Engineering Capability Review was also published by Engineering X, a new international collaboration founded by the Academy and the Lloyd’s Register Foundation that brings together some of the world’s leading problem-solvers to address the great challenges of our age. The programme seeks to support the delivery of skills and education programmes that will lead to the development of much needed engineering skills capacity, enhanced safety standards, and infrastructure that remains safe and fit for purpose.
Reflecting on the year that has passed, our event in March last year was one of the last in-person conferences we were able to hold before the world changed. It is my belief that the SDGs have only become more crucial in the past year. Inequalities between countries and individuals have risen and will likely continue to do so over the next decade. Of course, engineering alone cannot solve this challenge, and with closed borders and reduced opportunities to collaborate face to face, goals like SDG17, which aims to [strengthen the means of implementation and] revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development, will be critical, and even more difficult to achieve without concerted effort, and engineering solutions!
The Academy, through its new 2020–25 strategy, is committed to sustainable development and is focusing its activities and convening power on enabling engineering for a sustainable society and an inclusive economy. These goals are embedded throughout the entire organisation, as demonstrated from the range of voices and projects featured in the videos and resources we are launching today.
You can read more about the UNESCO World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development, and why it was proposed by the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO), on their respective websites.