Conference: Engineering4Society 18 19 June 2015

Raising awareness for the societal and environmental role of engineering and (re)training engineers for participatory design.

A recent UNESCO report (*) affirms the importance of engineering as the driver of innovation, social and economic development, while stressing the need to transform engineering education, curricula and teaching methods to emphasize user relevance and a problem-solving approach. Considering technology’s transformative role in tackling societal challenges, engineers can contribute better to the development of solutions when they possess a deeper understanding of social and environmental contexts, the preciousness of natural resources and are willing to leverage participatory approaches.

The Engineering4Society conference aspires to make a larger call to engineers to pay attention to the way we think about the consequences of design, materials used, manufacturing processes, and waste disposal practices. It will explore the nexus between communities, the environment, education, business, design, and professional engineering. This project represents a series of invitations to create new ways to “design” a sustainable future based on social and environmental concerns that includes not just human beings as central actors but human beings in reciprocal relationships with nature.

Similarly, the Engineering4Society conference will explore burning issues in the social sector today and how engineers, in collaboration with stakeholders, can provide creative solutions to address such problems as poverty, exclusion, addiction, discrimination, violence, hate, and disabilities. The conference will offer a multidisciplinary platform, looking at inspiring examples from all over the world.

The Engineering4Society conference is organised by the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in collaboration with the Thomas More University College. It is morally and financially supported by the John E. Fetzer Institute (USA) and technically cosponsored by the IEEE Society on Social Implications of Technology.

Scientific quality is supervised by our Programme Committee. Conference language will be English.

The conference will take place June 18 th & 19 th, 2015 in Leuven (Belgium), in the historical buildings of the Beguinage, a medieval, walled part of Leuven fully restored at the end of the 20th century.

(*) document available at: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001897/189753e.pdf

Topics:

Topics and areas of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Engineering case studies focusing on the environment and related social factors

• Examples of adapted curricula relevant to the theme of the conference

• Engineering cases that helped bring more harmony, understanding and compassion

• Projects highlighting the contexts of “engineering for society” in engineering curricula

• Methods of teaching and/or practicing participatory design in engineering

• Inspiring examples of Engineering4Society in practice

  Call for Papers

  If you are interested to share your experiences, learn from others and help us building a future where engineers can play an even more active role in society, we kindly invite you to present a paper at this conference.

  We expect following types of contributions:
  long (8 p.), short (4 p.) papers & ignites (very short messages/poster messages)

  We are currently collecting abstracts (two pages) intended for presentations. The scientific management of Engineering4Society will be using the widely deployed Easychair platform. The abstracts should be uploaded in pdf to: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=engineering4society

  If you are not yet an Easychair user, the system will suggest creating a new user login.

  Deadline for abstract submission is February 16, 2015. Abstracts will be reviewed by our Programme Committee and you can expect our feedback by March 9, 2015.