Abstract:

Global change, enhanced by human interventions, is a major problem that humanity is facing at the moment. The environment has been gradually deteriorating since the Industrial Revolution to the present. The intensive and unsustainable use of resources, the territory occupation against its natural systems, and the unbalanced growth of the human population can transform the earth surface and cause considerable changes in the environmental balance. Moreover, the rapid development of societies since last century has demanded many infrastructures that are, in part, responsible for such environmental alteration.

Risk is defined by probability of occurrence and its consequences. The different Engineering fields apply their knowledge about natural processes to estimate costs and calculate risks associated with each possible solution. One of the major challenges facing engineering in the XXI century is the management of the current human demands regarding the rapid economic and social development, taking into account climate change and sea level rise. How to achieve, therefore, a balance between human actions and environment? It can be achieved through the so-called ‘Engineering and Environment’, i.e., an engineering that proposes more complex and innovative actions based on natural, sustainable, reversible, and adaptable processes. Considering always a global approach of the problem including all the factors and systems and their mutual interactions.

Consequently, this paper presents a methodology for introducing global change issues in engineering disciplines and training future professionals. For that, as part of the Master’s degree in Environmental Hydraulic and the Degree in Civil Engineering (University of Granada), class activities include:
(1) excursions to deteriorated areas (engineering constructions) and vulnerable coasts to sea level rise (for example, Rules dam (to analyze constructive aspects) and Granada coast (to study its impacts)), where students can study and propose alternative solutions that integrate human actions and global change;
(2) field surveys to collect and analyze data, and to propose suggestions for improvement that relate an environmental problem to engineering;
(3) the elaboration of work groups in class based on recent extreme events and their major recurrence; for example, the Emma phenomenon and its effects on the coast;
(4) teaching to engineering students through specialization courses, such us the course called ‘Met-Ocean variables analysis for the management of marine and coastal zones.

Applications with Python and Delft3D’, offered at the University of Granada (Spain). This type of learnings allows that students know and face real situations with different points of view. Moreover, they can share their knowledge, abilities, and attitudes during the realization of the activities. In conclusion, the propose of this paper pretends to train engineers that can take decisions based on a global world, which is connected to global tools, models, and observations, and that take into account solutions based on nature.

Keywords:

Climate change, engineering education, sustainability, risks, human actions.