| CODE | IME5001 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| TITLE | Technological Sustainability | |||||||||||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | |||||||||||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 10 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering | |||||||||||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | If the use of technology can be harmful to the environment, so it can be harnessed for sustainable development. This study-unit will focus on how the ethical use of technology is both necessary and desireable for ecological responsibility. It will do so through studying five sectors where technology is being utilized effectively to safeguard the envoronment and therefore for ecological flourishing: product development and manufacturing, transport, energy, water and waste management. Study-unit Aims: The study-unit aims to model ecologically responsible and sustainable technological use. It will do so through presenting concrete models of technological use in five discrete sectors that are crucial for daily life: product development, water, energy, waste management, and transport. Through studying these examples, students will not only appreciate how technology is part of sustainable solutions for the environment and in social life, but will also be invited to consider how in their particular professions they could also utilize technological innovation effectively and responsibly. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Understand the interaction between the three pillars of sustainability - environmental, economic and social; - Demonstrate the importance of applying a sustainability mind-set to technological activities that shape society; - Explain the effects and inter-relationship with the environment of industrial production, use of natural resources and materials and their movement through transportation; - Describe the relationship between sustainable development, product development, waste management, energy and water conservation, and sustainable mobility; - Be familiar with policies in these sectors and their influence on society, the economy and environment. 2. Skills By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Identify appropriate techniques to assess the environmental performance of an organisation, product or process; - Assess the benefits from clean production, low impact manufacturing and sustainable mobility and development; - Appreciation for the importance of responsible use of resources and technology in every sphere of life. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Sustainability Main text: • Striebig, Bradley, Adebayo A. Ogundipe, and Maria Papadakis. Engineering applications in sustainable design and development. Nelson Education, 2015. Supplementary: • Robertson, Margaret. Sustainability principles and practice. Taylor & Francis, 2017. Product development Main text: • Fiksel, Joseph. Design for environment: a guide to sustainable product development. McGraw Hill Professional, 2009. Supplementary: • Ashby, Michael F. Materials and the environment: eco-informed material choice. Elsevier, 2012. Water Main text: • Brown, P.G. and Schmidt, J.J. (2010). Water Ethics: Foundational Readings for Students and ProfessionalsPaperback Supplementary: • Berry, K.A. and Mollard, E. (2009). Social Participation in Water Governance and Management: Critical and Global Perspectives Energy Main text: • Energy Systems and Sustainability - Power for a Sustainable Future, 2 Ed., Edited by Bob Everett, Godfrey Boyle, Stephen Peake, and Janet Ramage, December 2011, Oxford University Press. Waste management Main texts: • Mc Dougal et al. (2012) Integrated Solid Waste Management: A Life cycle inventory. Blackweel Science. • Ministry for Sustainable Development, the environment and climate change. (2014) Waste management plan for the Maltese Islands. A resource management approach. 2014 -2020. Transportation Main texts: • Gudmundsson, H. et al. 2016. Sustainable Transportation. Indicators, Frameworks, and Performance Management. Springer, London. Supplementary: • European Commission. 2011. White Paper. Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area - Towards a competitive and resource efficient transport system. Brussels. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Seminar | |||||||||||||||||||||
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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