Education for sustainability and green skills in engineering: the Energy2win Project

Resumen

Universities as an organisation are increasingly aligned with the United Nations 2030 Agenda and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, however integrating these goals into degree content and competencies is less common.

The European Union and other international organisations are urging higher education institutions to accelerate training in sustainability skills to address the triple global crisis: economic, social and ecological. The Technical University of Madrid (UPM) leads the European Engineering Learning Innovation and Science Alliance (EELISA), funded by the European Commission's Erasmus+ Programme, with the aim of training engineers who contribute to society not only technological advances, but also ethical values, social equity and ecological vision.

Energy2win, a UPM project in the framework of EELISA, focuses on challenging students to improve their technical, green and soft skills. The project involves professors and students from four engineering faculties, who use the Challenge-Based Learning methodology to develop projects that also generate asocial impact through renewable energy. Iberdrola, a leading renewable energy company, supports the project by providing advice and technical support.

Students work in groups and are evaluated on the basis of their individual and collective performance. At the end of the semester, they receive an “EELISA credential” that validates the competencies achieved. The project is presented as a pilot experience with transferability to other universities.