Sustainable Systems Engineering Course Design: Design for Systems and Society

Abstract

The new Sustainable Systems Engineering program at the University of Calgary aims to disrupt sustainability education by imbedding a systems approach and regenerative design mindset throughout. This paper provides an overview of a second-year design course, SUSE 301, Design for Systems and Society. The course introduces students to concepts of design for circular economy, regenerative design, and design for justice. Underlying all of these concepts is the idea of transformative learning through a systems thinking approach. Course assignments include chapter studies and discussions, critical reflection through a praxis experiment, and community-engaged design project. Overall, we hope to foster mindsets to develop engineering students who are able to fundamentally shift the discourse on sustainability engineering within industry, and critically reflect on the role of engineering itself. This course aims to provide students with the necessary tools and mindsets to foster real change across engineering industries to better support the interrelated elements of our society and planet.