IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i5p1983-d328726.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

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

Author

Listed:
  • 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)

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Lidia Alexa & Veronica Maier & Anca Șerban & Razvan Craciunescu, 2020. "Engineers Changing the World: Education for Sustainability in Romanian Technical Universities—An Empirical Web-Based Content Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-20, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:5:p:1983-:d:328726
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/5/1983/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/5/1983/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Karel Mulder, 2004. "Engineering education in sustainable development: sustainability as a tool to open up the windows of engineering institutions," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(4), pages 275-285, July.
    2. World Commission on Environment and Development,, 1987. "Our Common Future," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780192820808.
    3. Marc A. Rosen, 2012. "Engineering Sustainability: A Technical Approach to Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 4(9), pages 1-23, September.
    4. Bill Hopwood & Mary Mellor & Geoff O'Brien, 2005. "Sustainable development: mapping different approaches," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 13(1), pages 38-52.
    5. Boccanfuso, Dorothée & Larouche, Alexandre & Trandafir, Mircea, 2015. "Quality of Higher Education and the Labor Market in Developing Countries: Evidence from an Education Reform in Senegal," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 412-424.
    6. María García-Feijoo & Almudena Eizaguirre & Alvaro Rica-Aspiunza, 2020. "Systematic Review of Sustainable-Development-Goal Deployment in Business Schools," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-19, January.
    7. William F. Maloney & Felipe Valencia Caicedo, 2017. "Engineering Growth: Innovative Capacity and Development in the Americas," CESifo Working Paper Series 6339, CESifo.
    8. Razvan V. Mustata & Carmen Giorgiana Bonaci & Cristina Hintea & Bogdana Neamtu, 2013. "Business Education For Sustainable Development: The Case of Romanian Universities," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 15(Special 7), pages 802-818, November.
    9. Bergsmann, Evelyn & Schultes, Marie-Therese & Winter, Petra & Schober, Barbara & Spiel, Christiane, 2015. "Evaluation of competence-based teaching in higher education: From theory to practice," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 1-9.
    10. Stephen Sterling & Ian Thomas, 2006. "Education for sustainability: the role of capabilities in guiding university curricula," International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 1(4), pages 349-370.
    11. Tajammal Hussain & Jacob Eskildsen & Rick Edgeman & Muhammad Ismail & Alaa Mohamd Shoukry & Showkat Gani, 2019. "Imperatives of Sustainable University Excellence: A Conceptual Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-21, September.
    12. Fermín Sánchez-Carracedo & Francisco Manuel Moreno-Pino & Bárbara Sureda & Miguel Antúnez & Ibon Gutiérrez, 2019. "A Methodology to Analyze the Presence of Sustainability in Engineering Curricula. Case of Study: Ten Spanish Engineering Degree Curricula," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-27, August.
    13. Bruyat, Chirstian & Julien, Pierre-Andre, 2001. "Defining the field of research in entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 165-180, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Leire Guerenabarrena-Cortazar & Jon Olaskoaga-Larrauri & Ernesto Cilleruelo-Carrasco, 2021. "Integration of Sustainability in Engineering and Architectural Studies in Spanish Universities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-14, July.
    2. Deepti Mishra & Alok Mishra, 2020. "Sustainability Inclusion in Informatics Curriculum Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-16, July.
    3. Claudia E. Stoian & Simona Șimon & Vasile Gherheș, 2021. "A Comparative Analysis of the Use of the Concept of Sustainability in the Romanian Top Universities’ Strategic Plans," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-34, September.
    4. Andreea Mirica & Ionela-Roxana Petcu & Liliana Catrina & Roxana-Violeta Partas-Ciolan & Adina-Andreea Neamtu, 2023. "Sustainability Competences In Romanian Higher Education," Annals - Economy Series, Constantin Brancusi University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 1, pages 105-113, February.
    5. Daniela De Filippo & Javier Benayas & Karem Peña & Flor Sánchez, 2020. "Communication on Sustainability in Spanish Universities: Analysis of Websites, Scientific Papers and Impact in Social Media," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-21, October.
    6. Carlos Cacciuttolo & Yaneth Vásquez & Deyvis Cano & Fernando Valenzuela, 2023. "Research Thesis for Undergraduate Engineering Programs in the Digitalization Era: Learning Strategies and Responsible Research Conduct Road to a University Education 4.0 Paradigm," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-27, July.
    7. Gabriel-Mugurel Dragomir & Mariana Cernicova-Buca & Vasile Gherheș & Liliana Cismariu, 2020. "Engineering Students’ Human Values as Rhizomatic Lines of Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-27, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Leire Guerenabarrena-Cortazar & Jon Olaskoaga-Larrauri & Ernesto Cilleruelo-Carrasco, 2021. "Integration of Sustainability in Engineering and Architectural Studies in Spanish Universities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-14, July.
    2. Dawid Szostek, 2019. "The Impact of the Quality of Interpersonal Relationships between Employees on Counterproductive Work Behavior: A Study of Employees in Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-33, October.
    3. Sara Sousa, 2021. "Environmental Taxation in Portugal: A Contribution to Sustainability," Eurasian Studies in Business and Economics, in: Mehmet Huseyin Bilgin & Hakan Danis & Ender Demir & Sofia Vale (ed.), Eurasian Economic Perspectives, pages 369-382, Springer.
    4. Jari Lyytimäki & Ulla Rosenström, 2008. "Skeletons out of the closet: effectiveness of conceptual frameworks for communicating sustainable development indicators," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(5), pages 301-313.
    5. Bahadur Ali Soomro & Ikhtiar Ali Ghumro & Naimatullah Shah, 2020. "Green entrepreneurship inclination among the younger generation: An avenue towards a green economy," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(4), pages 585-594, July.
    6. Katarzyna Piwowar‐Sulej, 2021. "Core functions of Sustainable Human Resource Management. A hybrid literature review with the use of H‐Classics methodology," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(4), pages 671-693, July.
    7. Higgins, Colin & Walker, Robyn, 2012. "Ethos, logos, pathos: Strategies of persuasion in social/environmental reports," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 194-208.
    8. Krystyna Kurowska & Renata Marks-Bielska & Stanisław Bielski & Audrius Aleknavičius & Cezary Kowalczyk, 2020. "Geographic Information Systems and the Sustainable Development of Rural Areas," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-18, December.
    9. Wyness, Lynne & Dalton, Fiona, 2018. "The value of problem-based learning in learning for sustainability: Undergraduate accounting student perspectives," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 1-19.
    10. Jyh-Rong Chou, 2021. "A Scoping Review of Ontologies Relevant to Design Strategies in Response to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-27, September.
    11. Xu, Jiuping & Li, Zongmin, 2012. "A review on Ecological Engineering based Engineering Management," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 368-378.
    12. Gianluca Zanellato & Adriana Tiron-Tudor, 2021. "Toward a Sustainable University: Babes-Bolyai University Goes Green," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-20, November.
    13. John Holmberg & Johan Larsson, 2018. "A Sustainability Lighthouse—Supporting Transition Leadership and Conversations on Desirable Futures," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-25, October.
    14. Ortrud Lessmann & Felix Rauschmayer, 2013. "Re-conceptualizing Sustainable Development on the Basis of the Capability Approach: A Model and Its Difficulties," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(1), pages 95-114, February.
    15. Umberto Berardi, 2013. "Sustainability assessment of urban communities through rating systems," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 15(6), pages 1573-1591, December.
    16. Mehdi Jabbari & Majid Shafiepour Motlagh & Khosro Ashrafi & Ghahreman Abdoli, 2020. "Differentiating countries based on the sustainable development proximities using the SDG indicators," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(7), pages 6405-6423, October.
    17. Katharina Spraul & Julia Thaler, 2020. "Partnering for good? An analysis of how to achieve sustainability-related outcomes in public–private partnerships," Business Research, Springer;German Academic Association for Business Research, vol. 13(2), pages 485-511, July.
    18. Szennay, Áron, 2020. "A vállalati társadalmi felelősségvállalás megközelítései és a fenntartható fejlődés [How popular approaches to corporate social responsibility relate to sustainable development]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(10), pages 1057-1074.
    19. Korah, Prosper Issahaku & Nunbogu, Abraham Marshall & Cobbinah, Patrick Brandful & Akanbang, Bernard Afiik Akanpabadai, 2019. "Analysis of livelihood issues in resettlement mining communities in Ghana," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 1-1.
    20. Mikuła, Aneta, 2020. "Level Of Sustainable Development Of Counties In Poland," Roczniki (Annals), Polish Association of Agricultural Economists and Agribusiness - Stowarzyszenie Ekonomistow Rolnictwa e Agrobiznesu (SERiA), vol. 2020(1).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:5:p:1983-:d:328726. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.