Engineers Changing the World: Education for Sustainability in Romanian Technical Universities—An Empirical Web-Based Content Analysis

Lidia Alexa, Veronica Maier, Anca Șerban and Razvan Craciunescu
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Lidia Alexa: “Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iasi, Prof. Dimitrie Mangeron Blvd. no. 67, Iași 700050, Romania
Veronica Maier: Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Memorandumului Street 28, Cluj-Napoca 400114, Romania
Anca Șerban: Faculty of Economic Sciences, “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu, Victoriei Blvd. no. 10, Sibiu 550024, Romania
Razvan Craciunescu: The University Politehnica of Bucharest, Splaiul Independenței 313, Bucharest 060042, Romania

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 5, 1-20

Abstract: Without a doubt, we are living in interesting times, characterized by both continuous economic development and improved standard of living, but also uncertainty, increased pollution, and environmental degradation, which means that, now, more than ever, global and consistent action is needed in order to create a more sustainable future. In this context, education in general and higher education in particular, face both, a significant challenge and a substantial role due to their formative function both in terms of mindset and practical tools. The main objective of our research was to explore the way technical universities in Romania have integrated into their curricula courses that aim at shaping sustainability competencies in engineering students. The study was carried out based on an exploratory empirical content analysis of the technical universities’ curricula, in order to identify the courses, including sustainable development (SD)-related topics. The analysis covered 255 bachelor programs and 394 master programs with a total of 25,920 courses, both mandatory and optional. The results revealed that there are differences in approaching sustainability education between the universities and also faculties within the universities included in the sample, revealing a rather siloed approach.

Keywords: sustainability; education for sustainability; engineering education; sustainability competences; sustainable engineering; higher education institutions; Romania (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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