Environmental education and sustainable development in engineering field

Education is an important component that could influence and shape the practice and culture of caring for the environment. Based on educational needs with regard to environmental and sustainable development (ESD), particularly in the engineering field, efforts are being made to see the extent of the implementation of educational mission in accordance with the ESD concept. This paper emphasizes the need to review the various components of ESD in teaching and learning at the undergraduate level at the Faculty of Engineering & Built Environment (FKAB), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), with the aims of improving the ESD education. A survey was conducted on the faculty students across all discipline in the FKAB. There are five departments in FKAB and most of them agreed that at least one course had emphasis on ESD. Environmental elements in the field of engineering education should be formally provided to the students to enable them to understand the overall concept of environmental conservation, protection and enhancement. In this respect, appreciation for the complexities and interconnectivity of various environmental components shall ensure that decisions and actions made in all engineering undertakings will treat the interest of environmental sustainability as very important