• Engineers declare a Climate and Biodiversity Emergency on the first annual World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development
• STEPS Engineers Week taking place across Ireland with more than 900 events and 91,500 participants

Ireland needs an education system that will produce more engineering graduates with the skills needed to meet the climate-change challenge, Ireland’s former permanent representative to the UN David Donoghue has said.

He was speaking at the launch of a new Engineers Ireland report, ‘Engineering 2020: A barometer of the profession in Ireland’, which found that almost three-quarters (74%) of the Irish public surveyed in the report said they believe that engineers have an ethical obligation to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss. The launch took place as STEPS Engineers Week continued nationwide, with more than 900 events being staged and 91,500 participants involved across the country.

David Donoghue, who co-chaired the negotiations which produced the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the UN’s historic global plan to end poverty by 2030, said that engineering, with its established capacity to develop solutions to society’s biggest challenges, had a clear role to play to ensure that everyone in the world has access to clean water, sanitation, reliable energy, and other basic human needs.

David Donoghue said: “Engineers are central to sustainable development and are uniquely placed to help the world meet critical goals including ending poverty, protecting the planet, and ensuring prosperity for all.  Ireland's education system should help the country to address the challenges set out in SDG areas such as climate change, clean energy, water quality, and manufacturing by producing graduates and professionals with the critical skills and expertise required. This means second- and third-level curricula that prepare engineers, both in technical and in human terms, to build a more sustainable world.”

The Engineers Ireland report was launched on the first annual World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development, a new UNESCO international day that aims to highlight the achievements of engineers and engineering in the modern world and to improve public understanding of how engineering and technology is central to sustainable development.

Marguerite Sayers, Engineers Ireland President, also speaking at the launch, declared a Climate and Biodiversity Emergency following a motion at the Engineers Ireland Council: “Engineers Ireland recognises that climate breakdown and biodiversity collapse are the most serious issues of our time. The Council of Engineers Ireland acknowledges the considered opinion of the scientific community that transformational action is required to achieve meaningful outcomes.

“The planet has ecological limits and a finite biocapacity, and a paradigm shift is required to realign humanity’s ecological footprint within this capacity. Indeed, with our existing technologies and fossil fuel dependence, we will fail to achieve our existing commitments. Engineers Ireland is adding our voice to those of professional bodies and other organisations around the world by declaring a Climate and Biodiversity Emergency. We will be a leading voice for sustainability and our members will take action to address the impact of the emergency,” Sayers added.

Engineers Ireland Director General, Caroline Spillane, said: “World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development is a new opportunity to increase the profile of engineering as a career and highlight how the profession can change the world for the better. It offers a fresh platform, falling as it does during STEPS Engineers Week, to engage governments, industry and the public on the importance of engineers and engineering skills to create and deliver solutions for sustainable development. This year, in addition to the latest trends in engineering, the report highlights the vital contribution the profession needs to play in achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals – and the expectation the public has that engineers should lead the drive to build a better, sustainable future.

“We are delighted that the World Engineering Day takes place during our STEPS Engineers Week, which brings the fascinating world of engineering to life in communities throughout Ireland. This week aims to inspire today’s children to engineer the Ireland of tomorrow. Engineers Week is a fantastic week to showcase the profession to primary and secondary students and highlight the ways engineers in Ireland are pushing the limits of ingenuity and innovation,” Spillane added.

Despite Brexit concerns, the new Engineering 2020 report found the high demand for engineers continued through 2019 and the outlook for 2020 is positive. Seven-out-of-ten engineering employers expect their financial position to improve in 2020 and engineering organisations would like to hire more than 5,000 engineers in 2020. Indeed, rather than Brexit or the housing shortage, skills shortages continue to be engineering organisations’ largest barrier to growth. The Engineering 2020 report also found that almost two-thirds of Irish adults (three-quarters of 16-24 year olds) are interested in finding out about new ideas in science and engineering. 

The launch of ‘Engineering 2020: A barometer of the profession in Ireland’ at the Engineers Ireland offices also included contributions from: Fionnghuala O’Reilly, Engineers Week Ambassador, Miss Universe Ireland and NASA Datanaut; Joe English, Engineering Manager at Intel; Damien Owens, Chair of the International Engineering Alliance; Una Beagon, Assistant Head of School, School of Civil and Structural Engineering at Technological University Dublin; Thomas Adams and Sriram Kishore, Masters students at NUI Galway; and Richard Manton, Deputy Registrar & Policy Officer at Engineers Ireland.

Now in its 14th year, Engineers Week 2020 is taking place nationwide until Friday, March 6.  It is coordinated by Engineers Ireland's STEPS programme and funded by Science Foundation Ireland, the Department of Education and Skills and industry leaders ARUP, ESB, Intel and Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII). To find out more about events taking place around the country visit www.engineersweek.ie

To access the Engineering 2020 report in full, visit: https://www.engineersireland.ie/Professionals/News-Insights/Campaigns-and-policies/Reports/Engineering-barometer