Engineers 2030 is a catalyst for change.
Led by the Royal Academy of Engineering on behalf of the National Engineering Policy Centre, the project identifies how engineering knowledge, skills and behaviours are changing in the 21st century and what is needed to attract, educate, recruit and support the engineers and technicians of the future.
Engineers 2030 challenges how we think about engineering today, and how the engineering workforce needs to be different. It will examine what and how we teach and professionally develop young people and our existing engineers and technicians. Ultimately, it will determine whether the systems, cultures, and policies currently in place across the United Kingdom are ready to deliver what we need from our engineering and technology workforce now and for the next 25 years.
Latest research and reports
Engineers 2030: Vision and Principles
Published: March 2024
Our vision and principles consider a future where engineers lead the charge in creating sustainable solutions for our planet's pressing challenges. By embracing values of equity, inclusion, and sustainability, engineers will continue to transform the way we live and work, including leading the transition to a sustainable and just world.
Highlights:
- How our profession will attract diverse talent, reflecting the richness of our society and bringing a wide range of skills and perspectives.
- How engineering will champion internationally recognised standards of competence and ethics, contributing to government policies and societal leadership.
- How, through collaboration and effective communication, engineers will bridge the gap between technical expertise and societal understanding, fostering interest in engineering careers from an early age.
The six principles for engineering knowledge, skills and behaviours
The six Engineers 2030 principles for knowledge, skills, and behaviours can be presented as three interwoven strands that align with three themes core to the UN’s sustainable Development Goals and the Inner Development Goals of ‘being, thinking, relating, collaborating and acting’.
These three strands are:
- People
- Planet
- Prosperity
People
Engineers ARE…
Resilient and future-facing: We are adaptable and can evolve to respond to a world that changes dramatically over time scales shorter than our career.
Socially responsible and inclusive: We know how to work with people and draw upon broad-ranging perspectives to create solutions that work for everyone.
Planet
Engineers ARE…
Trusted agents of public good: We put people and planet at the centre of our work and embody hope for a better future.
Holistic in approach: We can find creative solutions that work in the broadest contexts and understand risk in all its forms.
Prosperity
Engineers ARE…
Data and digitally fluent: We are equally comfortable working in the physical and digital worlds, and the interface between them.
Commercially and economically literate: We generate knowledge for enterprise and develop broad-ranging skills in the pursuit of sustainable and equitable growth.
Report of Futures Workshops
Published: March 2024
This report summarises the outcomes of two workshops, held in December 2023 and January 2024, to gather views from a range of stakeholders.
The workshops explored what future engineers could look like, the changes that needed to be implemented and the guiding principles required.
The report is divided into four parts:
- Introducing the workshops.
- Outlining the envisioned future for engineers and the proposed timelines for achieving it.
- Recording participants' perspectives on defining principles for future engineers.
- Sharing their observations.
Additionally, annexes provide details of workshop participants, visioning questions, the draft vision, and schematics from discussions on implementing change.
Facilitated by Waverley Management Consultants and Ogilvie Design, the workshops aimed to create an aspirational vision for future engineers' roles in addressing environmental, economic, and societal challenges, identify necessary changes and establish timelines for implementation, and outline principles guiding the delivery of this vision.
The vision was developed using a four step process.
- Step 1: scope the vision
- Step 2: produce the first draft of the vision
- Step 3: review and adjust the first draft
- Step 4: produce the final draft of the vision
In scoping the vision during the initial workshop, participants brainstormed questions about the future of engineering in addressing climate change and shaping policy. They envisioned engineers in 2050 as integral to global climate efforts, highly respected for their problem-solving abilities, and influential in policy development. Each group generated a list of questions to explore this future scenario. Drafting was then undertaken for the vision using the insights gathered from these discussions. Reviewing and refining these draft visions during the second workshop. Participants provided feedback and suggestions for improvement. They aimed to ensure the vision was ambitious, aspirational, transformational, and achievable. The final vision statement, emerged from these collaborative efforts, combining elements from the initial draft and refining others. This vision served as a foundation for the Engineers 2030 working group to develop their own draft vision.
Having established the vision, workshop participants discussed what the underlying principles of Engineers 2030 should be.
For the purposes of the discussion, principles were broadly defined as the values, practices and behaviours that will underpin delivery of the vision.
Participants discussed four areas:
- Principles for the education and skills system
- Principles for individual engineering organisations
- Principles for the individual engineer
- Principles for government
Sustainability in Engineering Higher Education
Published: March 2024
This report underscores a dual responsibility within engineering education.
Firstly, it acknowledges the historical societal impacts of engineering, urging a shift towards greater emphasis on sustainability in the curriculum to align students' perspectives with their societal responsibilities.
Secondly, engineering's pivotal role in addressing the climate crisis, advocating for a curriculum overhaul to embed sustainable design principles at the core of all degree programs.
While progress is evident, the report highlights the urgent need for further action to ensure sustainable design becomes a foundational element throughout engineering education, rather than an afterthought. It urges educators to prioritize sustainability to equip future engineers with the necessary skills to champion green technologies and address global challenges effectively.
Find out more about the Sustainability in Engineering Higher Education Project
This report examines sustainability teaching within the landscape of engineering education in UK higher education. It is a comprehensive review of literature, university websites, and a survey targeting university leaders across the UK. Findings indicate a strong consensus among respondents regarding the need to enhance sustainability education within engineering programs, with 85.7% acknowledging pressure from their faculty or school to do so.
The report was prepared by the UCL Centre for Engineering Education in collaboration with the Engineering Professors' Council.
The report goes into detail of the results from the survey of learning outcomes related to sustainability with a focus on the following:
- Sustainability in the curriculum
- Who is teaching sustainability
- Use of the UN sustainability development goals
- Sustainability focused programmes.
The University of Manchester
Has a dedicated university academic lead for sustainability teaching and learning appointed to lead “informed and inspired futures”.
TEDI -London
The philosophy of TEDI-London and its global design engineering degree follow the UN’s SDG’s and many projects align with those goals.
University of Sheffield
Students take part in the global engineering challenge week which is compulsory part of their first year.
Reimagined degree map
The Reimagined Degree Map assists engineering departments in making vital decisions to ensure that their degree programs adequately prepare students for the challenges of the 21st century.
The Sustainability toolkit
A toolkit for UK Engineering academics to ensure that sustainability is essential to and fully integrated within the learning of Engineering students.
Engineers 2030 is an urgent and essential project.
The demands on engineers are greater than ever. The world faces both challenges and opportunities that depend upon substantial engineering input, chief amongst these being the climate emergency and the rapid progress in artificial intelligence and related digital technologies.
Engineering itself is undergoing accelerated change which will reshape modern society. That transformation requires engineers with a broader range of skills, from environmental awareness to greater data and digital skills. Yet the UK is still struggling to develop the engineering workforce to meet the current needs of an advanced manufacturing economy, let alone those of tomorrow.
The scale of change demands that as a self-regulating engineering profession, engineers ask what changes are needed in our mindset, education systems and cultures to ensure that we have a deeper understanding of our role in achieving a sustainable society and an inclusive and prosperous economy.
A new approach is gradually emerging. Take a look at our Vision and Principles for Engineers 2030, which is the framework for our thinking. But we believe it needs to be better defined, more widely agreed, and sharply accelerated. And to include a diverse a set of views as possible.