Seminar Series 2005

2005 Conference on Terrestrial and Marine Interactions: Landuse Planning to Promote Marine Conservation

Design for Sustainable Communities: a new project-based class at UC Berkeley

Kate Huckelbridge
UC Berkeley

In response to an increasing demand for an engineering class that addresses problems faced by many developing communities, a group of UC Berkeley students have designed a project-based technical course focusing on sustainable and appropriate design. The main goals of the course are to: 1)Explore the vocational identity of engineers as public servants and the role of engineers in global community development, 2)Teach students about whole systems design and the principles of holistic technology design and implementation, and 3)Employ project-based experiential learning. In parallel with classroom discussion and case-based learning, multi-disciplinary teams of students will work with a local or international community to address real-world design problems, with a focus on innovative design solutions that are environmentally, socially and economically sustainable. Curricula that offer practical experience in combination with an emphasis on sustainable design solutions are the new paradigm for educating engineers of the twenty-first century.