RESOURCES FOR THE ANALYSIS OF FUTURE AND
Globaltrends
UK HEIs seeking to be internationally competitive in a
rapidly changing world will need to anticipate and adapt
to change and embed global thinking across the
university and curricula.
UN Millennium Project State of the Future programme
DFID 2006 White Paper incl. the speeches of Hilary Benn
DFID Drivers of Change programme
Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit
UK Government’s Foresight and Sigmascan projects
Deltascan, Stanford University
UK Sustainable Development strategies and
priorities
Common features of these futures studies include:
■ The unprecedented nature of global challenges and
opportunities.
■ The increasing speed of change.
■ The interdependency and convergence of issues.
■ The high degree of complexity and uncertainty especially
in global systems such as the climate or economics.
■ The key role of science, engineering, technology and
innovation (SETI) driving forward and adapting to change.
Engineers are in the business of anticipating and planning
for the future. This is especially true in civil engineering
which relies on accurate design assumptions of future pop-
ulation, demand, technology and environmental extremes.
The trend within engineering is towards long-term business
models such as Private Finance Initiatives, Build Operate Train
and Transfer Projects and Public-Private Partnerships and this
requires engineers to take a long term perspective including
change within the local social and political context. Engi-
neers will need to factor in the impacts of climate change in
infrastructure design assumptions. These features of change
have important implications for educators. The challenge is
not only to update the curricula to reflect today’s world but
to prepare students with the skills and know-how they will
need in 10 or 20 years time. Prof. David Hicks, Director of
Centre for Global and Futures Education at Bath Spa
University has been a leading advocate of the need for a
futures dimension in education and its linkages with the
global dimension. Hicks defines futures education as the
term used internationally to describe a form of education
which helps students think more critically and creatively
about the future. In more detail it:
■ Enables students to understand the links between their
own lives in the present and those of others in the past
and future.
■ Increases understanding of the economic, social, political
and cultural influences which shape people’s perceptions
of personal, local and global futures.
■ Develops the skills, attitudes and values which encourage
foresight and enable students to identify both probable
and preferable futures.
■ Works towards achieving a more just and sustainable
future in which the welfare of both people and planet are
of equal importance.7
A business perspective
An industry study by the Royal Academy of Engineering
states ‘UK engineering degree courses must recognise the
changing requirements of industry’. The study further
stresses the importance of business, enterprise and innova-
tion skills, work placements and stronger linkages with
industry and there is a growing demand from students and
employers alike for the global dimension and global skills to
be embedded across higher education. However in seeking
to meet industry requirements, universities should guard
against perpetuating business models and technologies
which are unsustainable or socially irresponsible. If
engineering courses are to prepare graduates to work in a
global industry and for a future defined by globalisation and
the twin challenges of poverty and sustainability, it is essen-
tial courses reflect society’s needs and the needs of future
generations and not merely ‘the requirements of industry’
which may or may not be attuned to societal signals.
The business community is increasingly aware and sup-
portive of its responsibility to wider society and protection of
the environment. Polls of the business community continue
to document rising interest in corporate social responsibility
(CSR). Unfortunately, they also reveal significant lags in
implementing commitment to CSR.8 A recent McKinsey
global survey of business leaders suggests that few business
leaders believe that they yet do this well.9 The key to trans-
lating CSR commitment into business practice and
opportunity is making CSR practically relevant to the busi-
ness and this means aligning CSR with core business
operations and strategy.10
As Bjorn Stigson, President, World Business Council for
Sustainable Development (WBCSD) argues “[Business] must
address major social and environmental issues as part of [its]
business strategies because ultimately it makes good busi-
ness sense. A business’s long-term competitiveness - its
license to operate, innovate, and grow - will increasingly
depend on how it embraces societal challenges.” CSR has
evolved: broadened, deepened and become more aligned
A model for tomorrow’s global business
understand significance of societal
signals for company and sector
define
business success
in long-term
context
turn
understanding
into
opportunity
integrate opportunity into strategy
The Global Engineer Page 7