Developing Sustainable Graduates Equipped with the Critical Skills to Lead the Transition to a Circular Economy

Workshop Recommended citation: Byrne, R., & Pick, L. (2025). Developing Sustainable Graduates Equipped with the Critical Skills to Lead the Transition to a Circular Economy. In Kangaslampi, R., Langie, G., Järvinen, H.-M., & Nagy, B. (Eds.), SEFI 53rd Annual Conference. European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI), Tampere, Finland. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17631698. This Conference Paper is brought to you for open access by the 53rd Annual Conference of the European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI) at Tampere University in Tampere, Finland. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License. DEVELOPING SUSTAINABLE GRADUATES EQUIPPED WITH THE CRITICAL SKILLS TO LEAD THE TRANSITION TO A CIRCULAR ECONOMY R Byrne a, 1 and L Pick b School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering The Queen’s University of Belfast, Northern Ireland a ORCID 0009-0009-8369-7715 b ORCID 0000-0003-0629-4698 Conference Key Areas: 1. Engineering skills, professional skills, and transversal skills. 2. Sustainability and society in engineering. Keywords: critical/emergent graduate skills, sustainable graduates, circular economy, curriculum design, student engagement ABSTRACT The Fourth Industrial Revolution is upon us and is reshaping societies in how we live, work, operate and interact with each other. Globalisation, technology advancement and the advent of artificially intelligent brains, that could potentially replace the human brain, or certainly complement it, have fast-forwarded countries into rapidly changing economic landscapes (World Economic Forum, 2025). Attainment of Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 (SDGs 8 and 12 particularly relevant to engineers) have been added to the mix along with the EU’s goal to be the first major economy to have transitioned to a circular (green) economy by 2050. This presents challenges to engineers of the future, and to educators attempting to equip engineering graduates with the critical, professional, and transversal skills to contribute and deliver on these government level economic aspirations. Key stakeholders, governments, firms, accrediting bodies and educators are agreed upon the traditional graduate employability skills such as communication, problem solving, innovative thinking etc. However, engineering graduates will be required to navigate through a complex, dynamic and sustainable world throughout the course of their careers. Educators require greater clarity around critical and emerging skills requiring introduction or further development into engineering curricula. 1 Corresponding Author R Byrne [email protected] This workshop will focus on two key areas which are the critical and emerging professional and transversal skills engineering graduates require to launch their engineering career along with exploring opportunities to engender greater levels of student engagement with their professional development study. 1 INTRODUCTION AND RATIONALE 1.1 Introduction The advent of globalisation together with the rapid pace of growth in technological and logistical infrastructures, overlaid with machine learning and artificial intelligence, has resulted in the emergence of several key areas, positioned below. This generation of engineering graduates coming into industry have an expectation that business will be sustainable and therefore the engineer must be sustainable. Skills experts suggest that sustainability is currently in the graduate’s DNA (Fitzsimons, Young Enterprise NI cited in Ulster Business, 2024). The ‘big skills’ debate continues with policy decision makers hungry to know what types of skills will be required over the next 5-10 years. “Businesses are struggling to get to grips with sustainability and what it means. The reality is it’s thinking about how you can do things in a more sustainable way.” “The language between education partners and business needs to be clearer” (Wilkinson, Dept for the Economy cited in Ulster Business, 2024). Stronger relationships between industry and educators are key to delivering on the skills agenda. The pace of technology advancement overlaid with AI development presents challenges to educators in terms of curriculum planning. The real risk is that what is being planned now may well be out of date by the time the student graduates in 3-5 years. Kamp (2020) refers to Industry 4.0 evolving into ‘Society 5.0’ and states “Anything that can be automated, will be. Routine tasks are becoming increasingly automated, while newly created jobs require different competencies.” Higher Education engineering programmes should aim to equip graduates with the technical, professional and personal skills to meet current and future needs of industry. Engineering students are content to develop their technical skills but appear to see little merit or value in developing their professional and personal skills and struggle to connect their acquisition of knowledge and professional skills in relation to a role in enterprise. Jones et al., (2015) reported upon “the impact of a work placement across different disciplines by calculating the treatment effect for each of Aston University's five schools. It would appear that Business School students and Engineering students appear to reap the benefits of a work placement relative to students from the other schools” Jones et al., 2015 cited in Studies in Higher Education, 42(6), 976–992. A comparative study of alumni views between 2004 and 2020 on attributes and skills required in industry, several respondents highlighted the need to develop well rounded engineers who are equipped for the world of work with current technical skills supported by industrial acumen and appropriate professional and personal skills (Pick et al., 2021). 1.2 Rationale In consideration of the above introduction, this workshop proposal therefore focuses on two key areas of research into the professional and transversal skills for engineers. 1. Identification and prioritisation of the emerging and critical skills that professional sustainable graduates require to journey through the 21st century. 2. Identification of current strategies, practices and alternative assessment methods that increase student engagement levels in developing professional, transversal skills. The research findings shall provide a ‘sense check’ of current professional skills being developed and assessed, identify both the critical and emergent skills required for 2030 and beyond whilst also prioritising/ranking the skills which can then be correlated with the existing body of research literature of industry and government skills requirements. This research will contribute to and inform existing research and further research in this area. Primary Research has already been undertaken with industry professionals, and a survey of Year 2 students is presently live. 2 WORKSHOP OBJECTIVES 2.1 Target audience The target audience includes educators in professional skills and transversal skills areas; industry professionals; curriculum planners; recent graduates; PhD students. This range of audience stakeholders will provide balanced and rounded perspectives from the graduate, the researcher, the employer/industry, the educator, and the education manager. Where possible, a mix of the various stakeholders will be allocated to each group. 2.2 Expected learning outcomes Workshop participants can expect to benefit from engaging in constructive dialogue and activities that will spark ideation and generate concepts which can be applied to their own institutions. 1. Identify and prioritise the emerging and critical skills that professional, sustainable graduates require to lead the transition to a circular economy by 2050. 2. Identify alternative (non-traditional) assessment and feedback methods for these critical skills. 3. Explore and share current strategies, practices and methods that increase levels of student engagement in developing professional, transversal skills. 4. Consider how ideas and/or concepts generated can be embedded into the participant’s pedagogy. 3 WORKSHOP DESIGN 3.1 Time plan Table 1. Time plan Run time Activity Notes 5 min Introduction Landscape setting: SDGs (8+12) EU aspiration of a circular economy by 2050 – Need for “sustainable engineering graduates” 15 min Interactive Activity 1 ELO 1 – Identify and prioritise the emerging, critical skills required to develop graduates with a sustainable mindset. 10 min Feedback and Discussion Clearly articulate/present what has been learned around ELO 1. Key emergent, critical skills. 10 min Interactive Activity 2 ELO 2 – Identify and share current best practice strategies/methods that enhance curriculum development and foster student engagement. 10 min Interactive Activity 3 ELO 3+4 – Ideate and share alternative and/or novel assessment & feedback strategies/methods at module/programme level that will develop the sustainable graduate. 10 min Discussion and Conclusions Clearly articulate/present what has been learned around ELO’s 2,3+4. Alternative/novel ideas and best practices around assessment & feedback and student engagement strategies. Summarise identified methods of embedding ideas/concepts into pedagogy. 3.2 Interactivity Workshop participants will be formed into pairs/groups to foster collaboration, discussion and sharing of valuable insights around the key areas positioned at Section 1.1 of this workshop proposal. The workshop will be structured to include several interactive activities via physical mediums. Participants will be asked to ideate, conceptualise and envision, thereby positively contributing to research that will generate valuable recommendations for curriculum development and foster collaboration amongst educators, industry professionals and students. ELO 1: Identification and prioritisation of critical and emerging skills to develop a sustainable mindset • Independent consideration of critical and emerging skills that future graduates need to lead the transition to a more sustainable future (Think, Pair, Share) • Sort and categorise emerging themes • Prioritise the skills posited by each small group • Feedback and share with the wider group ELO 2: Consideration of how best practice strategies /skills development is currently embedded into the participant’s pedagogy • The wider group considers the critical areas of skills development that have been prioritised and shared • Groups identify and share current strategies/methods that enhance curriculum development whilst increasing levels of student engagement for engineers ELO 3+4: Identification of alternative/novel (non-traditional) assessment and feedback methods for the prioritised skills required to develop a sustainable mindset • Using the learning gained from ELO 1+2, each small group considers/ideates/shares alternative assessment and feedback strategies/methods that will develop the sustainable graduate • Facilitate small groups to stimulate ideas for innovative programme/curriculum development and integration • Feedback and share with the wider group 4 WORKSHOP RESULTS Eleven conference delegates attended the workshop, forming 5 paired groups. During each of three activities, groups were asked to write their findings on colourcoded post-it notes and stick on to A1 paper to aid data collection. The ‘Top Three’ findings of each activity are presented in Table 2 below: Activity 1: Table 2 – Column 1 Delegates identified the critical and emerging skills that sustainable graduates will need to lead the transition to more sustainable futures and shared their ‘Top Three’ skills with the wider group. Activity 2: Table 2 – Column 2 Delegates identified assessment strategies and methods currently used to develop graduate skills and shared their ‘Top Three’ current strategies and methods. Activity 3: Table 2 – Column 3 Delegates considered/ideated alternative assessment and feedback strategies to embed into pedagogy to develop the sustainable graduate and shared their ‘Top Three’ novel strategies and methods. Table 2. Collation of Activity Data 1. Critical & Emerging Skills 2. Current Strategies & Methods 3. Novel/New Strategies & Methods Systems thinking (soft) PBL – mini transdisciplinary/realworld open-ended problem. Systems thinking presentations. Drawing rich pictures. Macro transdisciplinary group projects with emphasis on open ended and industry relevant. Combine hard and soft systems thinking assessment. Multiple peer assessments. Systems engineering (societal impact) PBL Ecology Footprint. Project Report. Projects that provide novel challenge, systems thinking, design thinking, incorporate standards. Presentations to assess skills/oral exam. Critical thinking & Problem solving Learning portfolio. Art-based project. Longitudinal reflection: interviews, journal, reflective journal (how view changes over time). Scenario based role playing. Negate the problem – design worst possible solution. Interdisciplinary/ Knowledge banks Peer reviewed multiple choice creation Interdisciplinary projects to develop functional expertise. Working with ambiguity Transdisciplinary projects (Macro: /PR/Media) Seek to integrate ambiguity through teaching pedagogy. Scientific literacy/tools (SDGs/calculate carbon footprint) Bridging the gap between calculus and sustainability – integrate into Math (business) assessments Building sustainability awareness of how engineering impacts our planet. LCA calculations (comparative exercise). Stakeholder analysis End of placement presentation. Teacher shadows industry. Attributes: Adaptability/Empathy/ Care Implications identification from many spaces/components sourcing etc. Art-based workshop (care). Excursion to nature and collective reflection. Value literacy: morals/consequences/s ocial responsibility DISSEMINATION: The outworkings of the workshop shall be shared with participants who wish to continue to collaborate in this area of research. A follow up virtual meeting will be planned to develop actions and potential scholarly outputs. The workshop outputs will be benchmarked against a variety of skills matrices, and a mapping exercise will be conducted to include Northern Ireland Skills Barometer 2023-2033 and Engineers 4 Europe SKILLS STRATEGY: Anticipating Skills Requirements for the Engineering Profession (2024) (Accessed online: September 2025) REFERENCES Danske Bank. (2024). The big skills debate: tackling the issues and challenges ahead. Ulster Business Periodical, May 2024. Engineers 4 Europe SKILLS STRATEGY: Anticipating Skills Requirements for the Engineering Profession (2024) Jones, C. M., Green, J. P., & Higson, H. E. (2015). Do work placements improve final year academic performance or do high-calibre students choose to do work placements? Studies in Higher Education, 42(6), 976–992. Kamp, A. (2020). Navigating the Landscape of Higher Engineering Education. Northern Ireland Skills Barometer. Skills Barometer: 2023-2033 - Information Pack Pick, L., McCartan, C., Fee, K., & Hermon, P. (2021) Gauging the impact of CDIO and momentum for further change. In Proceedings of the 17th International CDIO Conference, hosted online by Chulalongkom University & Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi, Bangkok, Thailand, June 21-23, 2021 World Economic Forum. (Accessed online: March 2025) Fourth Industrial Revolution | World Economic Forum