Sustainable development integration in Greek schools of engineering: current situation, experiences and actions

Figures & data

Table 1 Overview of the data examined.

		Departments examined
No.	Universities examined	No.	Name of the department
1	National Technical University of Athens (NTUA)	9	AE, AMPS, CE, ChE, ElCE, ME, MEM, NAME, RSE
2	Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH)	7	AE, CE, ChE, ElCE, ME, RSE, URPDE
3	Democritus University of Thrace (DUTH)	5	AE, CE, EE, ElCE, PEM
4	Technical University of Crete (TUC)	5	AE, ECE, EE, MRE, PEM
5	University of Ioannina (UOI)	1	MSE
6	University of Patras (UPATRAS)	6	AE, CE, CEI, ChE, ECE, MEA
7	University of the Aegean (AEGEAN)	3	FME, ICSE, PSDE
8	University of Thessaly (UTH)	5	AE, CCE, CE, ME, PRD
9	University of Western Macedonia (UOWM)	2	EIT, ME
	Total number of departments examined		43
	Total number of undergraduate courses examined		5001
	Total number of graduate programmes examined		73
	Total number of graduate courses examined		2204
Notes: AE, Architectural Engineering; AMPS, Applied Mathematical and Physical Science; CCE, Computer and Communications Engineering; CE, Civil Engineering; CEI, Computer Engineering and Informatics; ChE, Chemical Engineering; ECE, Electronic and Computer Engineering; EE, Environmental Engineering; EIT, Engineering Informatics and Telecommunications; ElCE, Electrical and Computer Engineering; FME, Financial and Management Engineering; ICSE, Information and Communication Systems Engineering; ME, Mechanical Engineering; MEA, Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautics; MEM, Mining Engineering and Metallurgy; MRE, Mineral Resources Engineering; MSE, Materials Science and Engineering; NAME, Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering; PEM, Production Engineering and Management; PRD, Planning and Regional Development; PSDE, Product and Systems Design Engineering; RSE, Rural and Surveying Engineering and URPDE, Urban-Regional Planning and Development Engineering.

•Sustainability	•Waste minimisation	•Sustainable engineering
•SD	•Zero waste production	•Cleaner production
•Earth's carrying capacity	•Social justice	•Green process
•Social responsibility	•Depletion of natural resources	•Green chemistry
•Life cycle assessment	•Ecological footprint	•Design for sustainability
•Renewable energy	•Design for environment	•Generational equity
•Material/substance flow analysis	•Industrial ecology

Table 2 Top 10 Greek schools of engineering in terms of incorporation of sustainability issues into their undergraduate curricula.

No.	Name of the engineering department	University	Number of courses that are ‘sustainability’ related	Percentage (%)
1	Environmental	DUTH	13/110	11.8
2	Mechanical	UOWM	6/80	7.5
3	Urban-Regional Planning and Development	AUTH	4/58	6.9
4	Architectural	NTUA	6/105	5.7
5	Mechanical	AUTH	8/145	5.6
6	Environmental	TUC	4/83	4.8
7	Architectural	TUC	3/64	4.7
8	Rural and Surveying	NTUA	4/88	4.6
9	Chemical	NTUA	5/117	4.3
10	Architectural	DUTH	4/96	4.2

Figure 1 Top 10 M.Sc. courses in Greek schools of engineering in terms of incorporation of sustainability issues into their graduate curricula.

Figure 2 An overview of concepts and tools of IE.

Table 3 Actions performed for the integration of IE.

Action	Focus area	Aim
IE-related theses	Undergraduate students	Give undergraduate students the opportunity to work in depth with IE-related tools and principles.
IE-related graduate dissertations	Graduate students	Give graduate students the opportunity to work in depth with IE-related tools and principles and promote IE.
IE-related lectures	Undergraduate students	Introduction of SD and IE principles to undergraduate-related courses.
IE-work project	Undergraduate students	Give undergraduate students the opportunity to further expand their knowledge about IE.
Visit to industrial facilities	Undergraduate students	Give undergraduate students the opportunity to discuss with experienced engineers and visit real-time working environments.
IE-related research	Graduate students, industry	Further expand the knowledge about IE, publish prototype works and create synergies with industries.
Survey	Undergraduate students	Assessing the degree of knowledge of students regarding SD and IE-related issues.

Table 4 Score distribution according to gender and study year.

	Male		Female		Total
Study year	No. of students	Average score	No. of students	Average score	No. of students	Average score
1	33	2.15	14	2.20	47	2.18
2	23	2.21	11	2.38	34	2.29
3	23	2.21	13	2.13	36	2.17
4	23	2.44	11	2.44	34	2.44
5+	40	2.23	30	2.32	70	2.27
Total	142	2.25	79	2.30	221	2.27
Note: Italics indicate the performance of the fourth-year students which was the highest according to the survey performed.

Table 5 Knowledge assessment of the participants of the survey for various categories and topics.

Assessment category	Average score	Best-known topics for every category	Average score	Least-known topics for every category	Average score
Environmental issues	2.79
		Global warming	3.39	Salinity	1.76
		Climate change	3.26	Particulate matter	1.91
		Acid rain	3.26	Photochemical smog	1.99
SD	2.21
		Population growth	2.79	Inter- and intra-generational equity	1.67
		Social responsibility	2.62	Stakeholders' participation	1.81
		Connection between poverty, population, consumption and the degradation of the environment	2.55	Components of SD	1.96
Environmental tools, technologies and approaches	2.17
		Renewable energy technologies	2.99	Tradable permits	1.70
		Waste minimisation	2.61	Fuel cells	1.77
		Life cycle assessment	2.23	Product stewardship	2.00
Environmental legislation, policy and standards	1.67
		Kyoto protocol	2.11	EMAS	1.24
		Copenhagen summit, 2009	1.87	Rio declaration	1.44
		The Florence convention	1.83	Johannesburg summit	1.50
All categories	2.27
Notes: 1, not heard of; 2, heard of but could not explain; 3, have some knowledge and 4, know a lot.

Figure 3 Importance of SD according to the students' opinion (1, not important; 2, possibly important; 3, important and 4, very important).

Figure 4 Assessment of the contribution of the ‘ET’ course and the analysis of the potential of introducing an SD-related course.