5TH International Congress on Technology - Engineering & Science - Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia (2018-02-01)

Sector-specific Routines And Curricula For Eco-engineering In The Mediterranean

Many of the countries in the Mediterranean region are being negatively affected by climate change in terms of increased flooding and erosion as the littoral coasts erode and the number and occurrence of landslides due to changing rainfall patterns increase [1]. Ecological engineering is an emerging field of civil engineering concerned with the application of soils, plants, and water bodies in civil engineering design in order to prevent and mitigate against erosion, flooding, and shallow landslides. This holistic approach to solving engineering problems is seen as more sustainable then ’hard’ engineered solutions. Eco-engineering approaches currently represent a very small percentage of the stabilisation works undertaken due largely to gap in awareness and skills amongst civil engineering practitioners [2]. The aim of this study, part of a European project (ECOMED) is to explore the skills gap within the civil engineering industry in order to develop solutions and training aimed at eco-engineering specialisation within the Mediterranean region. At the preparatory stage of the project, preliminary surveys of the needs within the civil engineering industry were carried out, followed by a thorough analysis from the aspect of learning theory and motivation expectancy theory [3]. These surveys were used as a basis for detailed sector needs assessment and development of specialisation curriculum. Through the analysis, educational practices that need to change to embrace ecoengineering use in Mediterranean scenarios were identified together with gaps in the existing standards, routines and protocols of the sector [4]. The analysis suggested that posing an eco-engineering problem within academic or professional development context may not be motivating enough but there should be a clear definition of the effort which will lead to rewards for the student for which a subject-specific problem solving will be needed. Setting up an achievable goal and positive reinforcement throughout the training would provide the expectancy, while the instrumentality can be achieved through individual/group work and engaging in consultations with the academics/practitioners. Given the semi-empirical nature of eco-engineering, the accumulated experience within the sector throughout the Mediterranean environment was exploited by recording (un)sucessful case studies as well as protocols and approaches which will form part of the curriculum. These represent an essential source of information for developing more effective theoretical-practical tools and syllabus which, in turn, will support the specialisation process of the eco-engineering sector . Based on the above, a set of modular training offers can be developed and accredited jointly/dually at the project partner institutions. The overall modular scheme will offer eco-engineering training within an interdisciplinary context with endorsement and support of the industry and academic partners. With this, a long-term interaction scheme between enterprises and academia will be generated which will increase the employment opportunities (e.g. internships, other applied learning) for students, but also the double-loop learning [5] for the practitioners in the region. The proposed approach will lead to a multilateral scientific programme that emphasizes the vulnerability and proactive sustainable remediation (Mickovski, 2016) of the Mediterranean region.
Slobodan Mickovski, Craig Thomson, Caroline Gallagher, Guillermo Tardio, Paola Sangalli