Engineering Change Lab – USA (ECL-USA) Summit 11, The Imperative of Climate Change and the Future of Engineering, featured a deep dive into how engineering and the engineering community might be transformed by the way it responds to the emerging risks of climate change. Using the State of California as a case study for inquiry, participants in the summit explored the roles the engineering community can play within and across the private sector, public sector, and the non-profit sector to catalyze action, facilitate communication, foster collaboration, drive innovation and entrepreneurship, and shape climate change public policy.
In the final exercise of the summit, participants reflected on the potential emergence of a “noble purpose” for the engineering community centered on the climate change imperative. The intent of a “noble purpose” is to unite, energize, and motivate people within and across organizations, and to fulfill their desires for meaning and contribution in their work lives. A noble purpose statement can quickly and clearly communicate how individuals and organizations can contribute to a cause, such as climate change, that benefits society and nature in a meaningful way…. Read More