There are many campaigns that focus on educating the next generation about the importance of the climate crisis, however, the responsibility should not be solely on those coming next. The longer the issue is pushed back, the worse it will get. It is the duty of engineers working now to consider the impact of every project they undertake.
Our campaign is to educate current engineering professionals on the benefits and importance of being environmentally conscious. This will be done by holding workshops at engineering companies, small and large, which will educate engineers about assessing the impact of their projects and how they can move towards meeting the 17 SDGs.
This toolkit will include steps to assess the impact of the proposed projects. The steps will be equivalent to a risk assessment. It will outline the direct effects on the surrounding community /environment where the project is situated. The toolkit will be simple and intuitive, holding those creating the infrastructure responsible for their actions with smart alternatives to reduce the environmental impact.
To give engineering companies the incentive to be a part of this scheme we would create an independent certification of socially responsible engineering which would measure the impact of their projects on the environment. This would allow the consumers to view the amount of impact the products that they are buying have. This would work in the same way as fairtrade, and we would aim to create an industry standard for environmental responsibility.
Thank you for submitting your concept note @Sam Jones. Please could you edit your title to include your team ID (e.g. D22-001) as this will help your mentor identify you!
Great idea, especially your clear, bold articulation of an issue in the first paragraph. Feedback loops (e.g. stories and metics) that share the broader impact of projects could be very useful to cross company lines too and also to help educate people involved in similar initiatives. Maybe there is a way a more diverse group than normal (e.g. those with lived experience of the area or sociologists) could provide critical input into the design of the project and review of potential impact - to really connect the teams involved to the people involved or who could help make it a better impact in a effective two way relationship. Projects can move from one company or team to another, and people do try to think about impact but only that which can be easily measured by a 'tool'- be good to continue that focus on education and challenging existing behaviour too. Maybe a general campaign here could be of use. I'd also suggest being wary of binary assessments of good or bad impact - perhaps we need one that doesn't shy away from detail, to account for all the various scales of real-world impacts. Keep an eye out for other projects coming through from other teams - maybe there is a way to work together, with one group focusing on the how the independent certification could work and the other focusing on the education and sharing learning?