The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ascertains that we are heading for catastrophic global warming caused by human actions in its latest status report. This is obviously a cause for concern for the future, not least among young people who rightly demand that we take action now.
In the Education for the Future campaign, pupils and students have advocated that green transition and sustainability must become a recurring theme from the beginning of primary school to the MSc level. And in the spring, the previous Danish Minister for Higher Education and Science, Ane Halsboe, declared that she is open to a revision of the educational institutions' objects clause to include sustainability and green transition. Whether Jesper Petersen, our new minister in the area, is also, time will tell. In any case, as a university man, I can only applaud the idea.
I am also pleased to tell the many new engineering students that sustainability is a fundamental element of all DTU's study programmes. And this year, we are formalizing this further by introducing a charter, which means that students have to consider sustainability in all project assignments and products.
They will experience that—through the knowledge they acquire in their studies—they will have new opportunities to act and take an active part in the green transition.
As engineering students, they thus acquire tools for developing technological solutions that can meet many global climate challenges. But we will also tell them that technology and natural sciences cannot stand alone; they must be linked with a broader understanding of social conditions, equality, and ethics.
For example, wind turbines are an excellent technology for providing renewable energy. Still, they need to be integrated into the landscape and society so that people do not feel that technology interferes with and impairs their quality of life. Likewise, we can use algorithms and artificial intelligence to develop useful diagnostic tools. Still, if you are not aware of the principles and assumptions on which they are based, any prejudices and stereotypes will be reflected in the finished tool. Every technology has pros and cons; the engineer must always bear this in mind.
Technology should not be developed only for the most resourceful people but for everyone. Technological solutions can, for example, help those who are physically or intellectually impaired and contribute to fewer citizens being worn out or experiencing that they are unable to contribute to society. Therefore, engineering students are also encouraged to work with inclusive and accessible technology.
We educate the engineers of the future to act sustainably and influence the world in a sustainable direction. We also educate them to think sustainably in an environmental, economic, and social sense.
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