Integrating sustainability and social commitment transversal competence across civil engineering curricula through case studies and a common evaluation rubric

Abstract

The Civil Engineering School of Barcelona has a long tradition applying own experiences from international co-operation for development projects to teaching and learning activities. The continuous work carried out in this line has been supported by three pillars: i) motivated lecturers and professors, ii) institutional framework (including support for teaching innovation and Int. Cooperation for Development), and iii) increased networking with Education for Development (ED) partners. This paper presents a number of teaching materials, i.e. Case Studies, developed within an ED initiative supported by the Municipality of Barcelona during 2016-2017. The approach adopted is aligned with the European Global Dimension in Engineering Education (GDEE) initiative. Specifically, seven case studies are introduced, covering from first year of civil engineering to compulsory/master courses. The case studies include different kind of activities, which can be integrated and evaluated within the course, but also under the framework of a common evaluation rubric divided in three levels (basic, intermediate, final). This rubric makes operative the definition of Sustainability and Social Commitment cross-cutting competence at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, UPC (one of the common competencies to all UPC studies). The teaching materials are the result of collaborative experiences of School’s students, lectures and professors. Some of them have been already implemented successfully in previous years and others are being tested during the year in course. This paper discusses about drivers and barriers for the development, application and consolidation of these materials.