Third lecture held at Tampere University of Technology, sustainable development course for engineers (Spring 2013).

1. BIO-5006 Sustainable
Development
27.3.2013
-technology and sustainable development
-role of engineers and engineering ethics
annina.takala@tut.fi

2. What is technology?

3. What is technology?
• Technology is about skills and knowledge of human
beings on how to use natural resources and
ecosystems for their benefit
modifying environment, controlling it and adapting
to it
• Technology is about systems, equipment and
artifacts that people use to satisfy their daily needs.
Technology is not artificial. (Rytilä 2008)

4. Pre-industrial society
• Before industrialisation,
environmental impacts of human
activities can be considered to be
regionally limited (Mulder 2007)
• Humans were able to cause
significant impacts in local and
regional ecosystems (e.g. some
species became extinct,
deforestation) but the
functionality and carrying
capacity of ecosystems was not
compromised. (Honkasalo 2004)

5. Industrial society (Mulder 2007,
Honkasalo 2004)
• Work previously done by
humans themselves or domestic
animals was replaced by
machines  needed
remarkable amounts of energy
use of fossil fuels.
• Urbanization  human
settlements were gathered in
small areas  carrying capacity
of ecosystems was exhausted
locally

6. Response to environmental
problems
• Development of
environmental
technologies
– dumping (e.g. of waste in
pits),
– displacement (e.g. of
pollution by sewerage
and smokestacks)
– dilution (of gaseous and
liquid effluents)
• Not enough

7. Technology is to blame?
• Environmentalism combined many concerns associated
with technological development, that had existed already
earlier (Haila & Lähde 2003)
• The global environmental problems and their severity
have made people doubt the possibility of solving
problems by developing technology. (Honkasalo 2000)
 crisis of the industrial society

8. Technology will save us?
• The fulfilment of all these tasks [to solve challenges of
sustainable development] will require the reorientation of
technology the key link between humans and nature
(The World Commission on Environment and
Development 1987)
• Development of technology has made it possible to use
less energy and natural resources while at the same
time polluting less

9. Attitudes toward technology
(Mitcham according to Heikkerö 2009)
• Ancient skepticism
• The thought that technology is bad but
necessary or technology is necessary but
dangerous; these thoughts manifest
themselves in early Western philosophy.

10. Attitudes toward technology
(Mitcham according to Heikkerö 2009)
Enlightenment optimism
• Bacon, Galilei, Descartes
• Human beings are obligated to
cultivate and civilize (improve)
environment
• Development of mathematics and
natural sciences in the 17th
century
 nature can (and should) be
controlled  mechanistic world
view

11. Attitudes toward technology
(Mitcham according to Heikkerö 2009)
• Romantic uneasiness
(ambivalence)
– Rousseau
– Technology as a form of
creativity; needs to be
controlled otherwise it will
take over

12. What about today?

13. Attitudes towards
technology
• According to Finnish surveys on attitudes and values
(Haavisto & Kiljunen 2011):
– Techno-optimism of Finns has been in decline for the
tha past 20 years
– In the year 2011, 35 % were of the opinion that
technology can solve the problems of humanity,
whereas 43 % were more sceptical

14. Technological
development and
society

15. Technology and society
• Instrumental view
• technology is neutral
• based on the idea of rational human beings and the
ability to control development
http://xkcd.com/898/

16. Technology and society
• Technological determinism
• development of technology is guided
by internal logics
beyond cultural or political influence
• technological development guides
societal development
• e.g. development of ICT caused
globalization

17. Technology and society
• Technological voluntarism
(Niiniluoto 2000)
• do we want to control
technology?
• better understanding of the
complexities and dynamics of
technological development

18. ...technology and society
• Technology is not developed in isolation from society,
but the societal goals and structures impact it
• The relationship of technology and society is much more
diverse and complex than a linear relationship from
technology to society or vice versa
• The social and environmental impacts of technology are
revealed only when applied in practice and over time
technology can be used in different ways and it can become
immersed in culture and behavior of human beings in totally
unexpected ways
• We need more open discussion on the values and goals
of our society (Niiniluoto 2000)

19. The role of
engineers in
sustainable
development?

20. Engineers in society
• Traditional view: Engineering is value-free. Engineers
are responsible for the functionality of technology, it is
the users who are responsible for the actual use.
• Engineers as employees: do as they are told, loyal to
their employer
• However, at least in Finland engineers work mostly in
R&D, product development, sales and marketing or
strategic design and management
 act as experts and decision makers

21. The invisible profession?
• According to Michelsen
(1999), in Finland, engineers
have chosen an invisible role
in society
• Technological solutions
 part of infrastructure
 invisible?

22. Taking a more active role?
• "As engineers, we have both the abilities - and in my
personal opinion also a special responsibility - to help
identify technologies and solutions that politicians can
draw on when they must make decisions about the
world's energy future“
Søren Skibstrup Eriksen, Chairman of Steering Group on
Climate and Energy, IDA
• Future Climate - Engineering Solutions:
http://ida.dk/sites/climate/sider/default.aspx

23. WFEO and sustainable
development
• http://www.ch2m.com/WFEO/index.htm
• Goals:
– To describe the roles engineers play in improving human living
standards and protecting and restoring the environment.
– To review the accomplishments engineers have made toward
the sustainability goals defined in Agenda 21, the primary action
document of the 1992 Rio Summit.
– To summarize the ways that engineers can more effectively
meet the goals of Agenda 21 in the future.
• Of the 2500 issues in Agenda 21, 1700 seem to have
engineering or technical implications, and at least 241
appear to have major engineering implications.

24. Professional codes of
ethics

25. Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Code of Ethics
• Which issues in this Code of Ethics are related to
sustainable development?
• What is the role of engineers perceived to be?
• Are there any contradictions?
• Is something missing? Is something too much?
• Is it practical?
• Could you commit to it?
http://www.ieee.org/about/corporate/governance/p7-8.html

26. Homework
Check if your national engineering organisation (or
organisation representing your profession or field in
general) has a Code of Ethics or Code of Honour.
Please report on your findings in your learning diary.
You could also think about how engineers are perceived
in your home countries? Are engineers respected? Is
engineering and technology seen as important from the
point of view of sustainable development? How about
engineers themselves? Do they see themselves as
influential actors or just as employees who do as they
are told? Are engineers active in your society?

27. The Royal Academy of Engineering:
Engineering for sustainable
development – Guiding principles
(Dodds & Venables 2005)
The 12 Principles of Engineering for Sustainable
Development are:
1. Look beyond your own locality and the immediate
future
– In considering the effects of our decisions on the wider world,
we need to:
identify the potential positive and negative impacts of
our proposed actions, not only locally and soon but
also outside our immediate local environment,
organisation and context, and into the future
seek to minimise the negative, while maximising the
positive, both locally and more widely, and into the
future

28. ...12 principles
2. Innovate and be creative
– A sustainable development approach is creative, innovative and
broad, and thus does not mean following a specific set of rules. It
requires an approach to decision-making that strikes a balance
between environmental, social and economic factors.
– we are not seeking a ‘holy grail’ of a single ‘correct’ solution
– alternative solutions can be identified that fit with the sustainable
development approach
– it is very difficult to predict with certainty how these alternatives
will work into the future, so we need to provide options and
flexibility for change and other action in the future
– there are no guarantees that our solutions will be truly sustainable
– we therefore must do our best with the skills, knowledge and
resources we have at our disposal now

29. ...12 principles
3. Seek a balanced solution
– Approaches like the ‘three pillars’ and the ‘capitals’ seek to
deliver economic, social and environmental success all at the
same time, and so seek to avoid any product, process or project
that yields an unbalanced solution. This could be one that
generates significant environmental harm, that generates social
disquiet or that generates economic loss or spends public funds
inefficiently, because each of these should be characterised as
unsustainable.

30. ...12 principles
4. Seek engagement from all stakeholders
– Society will ultimately say what is needed or wanted for any
development, sustainable or otherwise. So reaching decisions in
this area requires:
• engagement of stakeholders to bring their different views,
perceptions, knowledge and skills to bear on the challenge
being addressed
• professional engineers to participate actively in the decision-
making as citizens as well as in their professional roles

31. ...12 principles
5. Make sure you know the needs and wants
• Effective decision-making in engineering for sustainable
development is only possible when we know what is needed or
wanted – the framework of the problem, issue or challenge to be
tackled. This should be identified as clearly as possible, including
identifying any legal requirements and constraints. We should use
teamwork and assistance of immediate colleagues to improve
problem definition.
• It is important to recognise that many engineering challenges are
driven by what people want to have – such as even better motor
cars – rather than just what they need – a means of transport. In
addition,‘wants’ are often characterised as ‘needs’ when they are
in fact just perceived needs, and a more modest solution may
ultimately be acceptable.

32. ...12 principles
6. Plan and manage effectively
In planning our engineering projects,we need to:
• express our aims in sufficiently open-ended terms so as not to preclude
the potential for innovative solutions as the project develops
• assemble and critically review historical evidence and forward
projections, and weigh the evidence for relevance and importance to the
plan
• encourage creative ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking
• define the desired outcome in terms of an appropriate balance between
the economic, environmental and social factors identified earlier
• recognise that ideas that may not be immediately practicable can
stimulate research for the next project, but also that they need to be
properly recorded if they are to be acted upon
• etc

33. ...12 principles
7. Give sustainability the benefit of any doubt
• This encapsulates the ‘precautionary principle’ and, to be
implemented, forces us to
– address the future impacts of today’s decisions. So we need to:
• demonstrate that improved sustainability will result from the actions
proposed
• act with caution where we consider that the effects of our decisions
may be permanent and/or if we do not have a full scientific
understanding of the issue or challenge being considered
• only discount the disadvantages and benefits of future events or
impacts when they’re very uncertain
• recognise that sustainable development depends on investing for
jam tomorrow and for bread and butter today.

34. ...12 principles
8. If polluters must pollute… then they must pay as well
• The environment belongs to us all and its free use for absorption of
our wastes or its unfettered exploitation are not sustainable. The
adverse, polluting effects of any decision should, in some way, be
paid for or compensated for by the proponent of an engineering
project, scheme or development; they should not be transferred to
others without fair compensation. In addition, it may be necessary to
anticipate future pollution prevention legislation if a long-term project
is to be sustainable.
• The challenge that this Principle thus presents is how to define the
‘cost’ or compensation that is appropriate. To determine how much
should be paid, or how much compensatory work should be done,
we need to work with costs that fully reflect the social and
environmental implications of a decision, and tools to undertake
such calculations are now available and being developed.

35. ...12 principles
9. Adopt a holistic, ‘cradle-to-grave’ approach
To deliver this approach, the effects on sustainability throughout the
whole life-cycle of a product or infrastructure scheme should be
systematically evaluated. We need to:
• use whole-life-cycle tools to improve our decision-making: whole-life-
cycle environmental assessment, whole-life-cycle costing, and
assessment of the social impacts over the whole life time of the
engineering challenge we are addressing – sometimes called
assessment of inter-generational equity – where the impacts of our
decisions on future generations are considered alongside the
present
• handle uncertainty by keeping open as many future options as
practicable
• ensure that the design is maintainable and that the materials are
adaptable for re-use or recycling

36. ...12 principles
10. Do things right, having decided on the right thing to do
• Adhering to the Principles explained so far should ensure that right
decisions from a sustainability point of view have been made in
relation to the circumstances that apply. The implementation of
these right decisions must then pay full regard to doing things right,
again from a sustainability point of view. To deliver this Principle, we
need to:
– retain the sustainability focus on the intended outcome right
through the implementation of the solution
– recognise that the intermediate processes of construction,
manufacture, production and transport can be resource-intensive
and need to be managed with an active sustainability orientation
– etc.

37. ...12 principles
11. Beware cost reductions that masquerade as value engineering
We are unlikely to arrive at our best decisions first time every time.
So we need to challenge ourselves and refine those decisions, whilst
remaining focused on the intended outcome. We therefore need to:
– avoid sacrificing the sustainability desires incorporated in a
design when seeking cost reductions
– include any adverse effects on sustainability in the ‘value
equation’ and value engineering
– be self-critical of our own fundamental assumptions and values
– be prepared to challenge our and others’ existing assumptions
– re-examine first preferences and submit them to re-appraisal

38. ...12 principles
12. Practice what you preach.
One’s own everyday practices should not be at variance with what is
being asked of others – you must not expect more of others than
you do of yourself. Be prepared to be accountable for your design
and engineering, and uphold by example the beliefs it reflects.
Change yourself before you seek to change others.

39. Summary...
• Engineers have a central role in sustainable
development
– developing sustainable technology (but that is not all,
engineers have potential for much more)
• Technology is an essential part of society
– but it is not the only thing
– engineers should take on a more active role in society
 sharing own expertise
collaborating with others

40. Materials, sources
• Blewitt, J. 2008. Understanding Sustainable Development.
Earthscan, London. (Ebrary)
• Honkasalo, A. 2000. Teollinen ekologia – uusi näkökulma
insinööritieteisiin. Vipu 1/2000. http://www.kaapeli.fi/~tep/vipu/2000-
1/honkasalo/teoleko.pdf
• Honkasalo, A. 2004. Työ ja ekotehokkuus. Suomen ympäristö 685.
http://www.environment.fi/default.asp?contentid=310673&lan=fi
• Macnaghten, P. & Urry, J. 1998. Contested Natures. Sage
Publications, London.
• Mulder, K. F. 2007. Innovation for sustainable development: from
environmental design to transition management. Sustainability
Science 2 (2), pp. 253–263.

41. …more…
• Haila, Y. & Lähde, V. (Ed.). 2003. Luonnon politiikka. Vastapaino,
Tampere.
• Hajer, M.A. 1995. The Politics of Environmental Discourse. Ecological
Modernization and the Policy Process. Clarendon Press, Oxford.
• Heikkerö, T. 2009. Tekniikka ja etiikka. Johdatus teoriaan ja käytäntöön.
http://www.tek.fi/ci/pdf/teknologia/etiikka/tekniikkajaetiikka.pdf
• Michelsen, K.-E. 1999. Viides sääty. Insinöörit suomalaisessa
yhteiskunnassa. Tekniikan Akateemisten Liitto TEK, Suomen
historiallinen seura SHS, Helsinki.
• Niiniluoto, I. 2000. Tekniikan filosofia. In Lemola (Ed. ). Näkökulmia
teknologiaan. Gaudeamus, Helsinki. pp. 16–35.
• Rytilä, P. 2008. Tekniikka on outo lintu. Kuntatekniikka 6/2008, pp. 38–41.
• Wals, A.E.J & Jickling, B. 2002. “Sustainability” in higher education: from
doublethink and newspeak to critical thinking and meaningful learning.
Higher Education Policy 15, pp. 121–131.

42. …and still some more
• The Light Bulb Conspiracy – a documentary (highly
recommended!)
• Dodds, R. & Venables, R. (Ed.) 2005. Engineering for Sustainable
Development: Guiding Principles. The Royal Academy of
Engineering.
http://www.raeng.org.uk/events/pdf/Engineering_for_Sustainable_Develo
• Korhonen-Yrjänheikki et al. 2011. Values and attitudes in engineering
education. Aalto University publication series, Crossover 1/2011.
Available:
http://retro.tek.fi/ci/tekstra/Article_Values_Attitudes_in_Engineering%20E