Earth Systems Engr.
In
response to the global nature of the problems that Earth is facing
today and is likely to face in the near future, we have started a new
initiative called Earth Systems Engineering (ESE) in the
Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering at
the University of Colorado at Boulder. In general, the initiative emphasizes the role of civil, environmental
and architectural engineering in society and the interaction between
the built environment and natural and cultural systems. It is based on
the more general definition of ESE adopted by the U.S. National
Academy of Engineering in 2000:
“ESE is a
multidisciplinary (engineering, science, social science, and
governance) process of solution development that takes a holistic
view of natural and human system interactions. The goal of ESE is to
better understand complex, nonlinear systems of global importance
and to develop the tools necessary to implement that understanding”
The
term, Earth Systems Engineering, was first used by Allenby (1998) with
reference to industrial ecology. Industrial ecology is an emerging
field of engineering defined as “the multidisciplinary study of
industrial systems and economic activities, and their links to fundamental natural systems” (Allenby, 1999).
As
a first step in the ESE initiative at CU Boulder, a
NSF-sponsored
workshop on ESE was conducted at the University of Colorado at Boulder
on October 4-6, 2001. The workshop was three days in length and
brought together about 90 industry, government and university
participants from engineering, physical sciences, biological sciences,
and social sciences. The overall purpose of the workshop was
three-fold: (1) provide an intellectual framework for
interdisciplinary exchange, (2) provide recommendations on the future
course of engineering education, research, and practice
in the understanding of the interaction between natural and
non-natural systems at multiple scales from local to regional and
global, and (3) create an action plan to implement the
recommendations. More specifically, the workshop addressed the
interaction between natural systems and the built environment. Research,
education and outreach were addressed throughout the workshop. The
workshop participants unanimously proposed the following definition of the
“engineer of the future”:
“The
engineer of the future applies scientific analysis and holistic
synthesis to develop sustainable solutions that integrate social,
environmental, cultural, and economic systems.”
The
workshop participants also recommended that there is a dire need for a
transformative model of engineering education and practice for the 21st
century that: (i)
Unleashes the human mind and spirit for
creativity and compassion; (ii)
Expands
engineers’ professional and personal commitments to include both
technical and non-technical disciplines; (iii) Inspires engineers to
embrace the principles of sustainable development, renewable resources
management, appropriate technology, and systems thinking; and (iv)
Prepares engineers for social, economic and environmental
stewardships.
The
ESE initiative has been selected as one of five major initiatives in
the College of Engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder
along with Assistive Technologies; Bio-Technology; Computational
Science and Engineering; and Micro/Nano Systems for Engineering and
Life Sciences. In general, the ESE initiative involves all components
of engineering education, research and development, and outreach and
practice.
Earth Systems
Engineering is a general concept that embraces the principles of
sustainability, appropriate technology, industrial ecology, renewable
resources, natural step and natural capitalism, biomimicry, and system
thinking. Examples of application of ESE to engineering include:
engineering for developing communities; sustainable
infrastructure; green development and construction; city planning and design;
transportation; and restoration of natural systems; among many others.
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