Heather Cruickshank

Embedding sustainable development at Cambridge University Engineering Department

Purpose – The paper seeks to examine the latest stage in a process of change aimed at introducing concepts of sustainable development into the activities of the Department of Engineering at Cambridge University, UK.Design/methodology/approach – The rationale behind defining the skills which future engineers require is discussed and vehicles for change at both undergraduate and postgraduate level are described. Reflections on the paradigms and pedagogy of teaching sustainable development issues to engineers are offered, as well as notes on barriers to progress which have been encountered.Findings – The paper observes that the ability to effectively initiate a change process is a vital skill which must be formally developed in those engineers wishing to seek sustainable solutions from within the organisations for which they will work. Lessons are drawn about managing a change process within a large academic department, so that concepts of sustainable development can be effectively introduced across all area...

Exploring key sustainable development themes through learning activities

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to examine how a number of key themes are introduced in the Masters programme in Engineering for Sustainable Development, at Cambridge University, through student‐centred activities. These themes include dealing with complexity, uncertainty, change, other disciplines, people, environmental limits, whole life costs, and trade‐offs.Design/methodology/approach – The range of exercises and assignments designed to encourage students to test their own assumptions and abilities to develop competencies in these areas are analysed by mapping the key themes onto the formal activities which all students undertake throughout the core MPhil programme. The paper reviews the range of these activities that are designed to help support the formal delivery of the taught programme. These include residential field courses, role plays, change challenges, games, systems thinking, multi criteria decision making, awareness of literature from other disciplines and consultancy projects. An ax...

Quantifying the extent of space shortages: English dwellings

Lack of internal space is a problem in UK homes, and is often linked to a lack of space standards for housing in the UK. Although previous studies have examined new-build housing, this paper uses a new method to study 16 000 dwellings in the English Housing Survey (EHS) 2010 to examine existing housing and compare them with a modern space standard in an attempt to quantify the extent and magnitude of the problem. Dwellings in the survey were compared against a slightly modified version of the London Housing Design Guide 2010 internal space standard. It was found that between 21% and 55% of dwellings failed to meet the standard; and that flats and small terraced houses were most commonly below the standard. Dwellings were also frequently found to be under-occupied in comparison with the number of bedrooms. This research hypothesized that this was a result of the lack of space. To illustrate the use of this new analysis method, a recent change to the Housing Benefit system (colloquially known as the ‘Bedroom Tax’) has been considered. Households receiving Housing Benefit were more likely to be undersized, suggesting that the policy to withdraw housing benefits from these households may be misguided.

Leadership, culture and sustainable built environment

Purpose– Adopting sustainable construction practices minimizes the overall environmental impact of the built asset throughout its whole life. Currently, there is demand from key stakeholders in the construction industry for organization to deliver sustainable built environment, however, leaders/champions within construction organizations charged with the adoption of sustainable construction practices face many challenges. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of an investigation into the challenges facing intra-organizational leaders charged with the promotion of sustainable construction practices. Design/methodology/approach– Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interview with 15 leaders, followed by an industry-wide survey of 200 intra-organizational leaders in contractor and consultant organizations in the UK construction industry. Findings– The results revealed that increased capital cost is the most significant challenge facing construction organizations in attempt to adopt sustainability practices in the delivery of construction projects. Originality/value– This study provides the empirical evidence linking leadership within construction organizations and sustainability; filling the gap in literature and serving as a source of reference material for higher education programmes in the built environment. Keywords: Challenges, UK, Sustainable construction, Sustainability practices, Construction organizations

Low-Carbon Off-Grid Electrification for Rural Areas: Lessons from the Developing World

Low-carbon off-grid electrification for rural areas is becoming increasingly popular in developed nations such as the United Kingdom. However, many developing countries have been electrifying their rural areas in this way for decades. Case study fieldwork in Nepal and findings from UK-based research will be used to examine how developed nations can learn from the experience of developing countries with regards the institutional environment and delivery approach adopted in renewable energy off-grid rural electrification. A clearer institutional framework and more direct external assistance during project development are advised. External coordinators should also engage the community in a mobilization process a priori to help alleviate internal conflicts of interest that could later impede a project. ©2010 IEEE.

Critical evaluation of simulations and games as tools for expanding student perspectives on sustainability

Abstract: Games have been used at the Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden) and the University of Cambridge (UK) to aid the teaching of sustainable development to diverse groups of engineering students. This paper explores how games have helped students at two institutions to reflect on issues from different perspectives. More specifically, the work addresses whether games helped to stimulate students’ learning of facts; student reflections; and student peer discussions. The games evaluated include: Building Futures; Democracy; Dilemma; Fishbanks; GaSuCo; Power Grid; and Puerto Mauricio. Methodologies used include: student surveys; deep interviews; group interviews; and essays, written assignments and tests. The main findings are that games contribute strongly to the learning of sustainability and improve critical reflection as well as facilitate interpersonal communication. .