Engineering: issues, challenges and opportunities for development ...

ENGINEERING: ISSUES CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR DEVELOPMENTFigure 1: Maslow’s hierarchy of needshostage, impeding progress toward the ultimate goal: optimizingconditions for sustained human development over anextended period of time.Self-actualizationEsteemLove/belongingSafetyPhysiologicalmorality,creativity,spontaneity, problemsolving, lack of prejudice,acceptance of factsself-esteem, confidence,achievement, respect of others,respect by othersfriendship, family, sexual intimacysecurity of: body, employment, resources,morality, the family, health, propertybreathing, food, water, sex, sleep, homeostasis, excretionIn the past there has been considerable focus on sustainability.Sustainability can be considered as a utopia, a world where thehuman race and the environment are in balance. Sustainabledevelopment is then the process whereby we try and get tothis balance point. But this has not been reached to date andinstead, the world is suffering from poor environmental health,a shortage of resources and the sickness of biosystems.Rather than focus on the abstraction ‘sustainability’, weshould shift our attention to securing a happier, more securefuture for people. The end needs to become the future successof human society in households, neighbourhoods, communitiesand nations. We must become clearer that from theperspectives of rationality and morality, the elements of sustainability:economics, environmental stewardship, and civilsociety, can never be considered as legitimate ends in themselves.They are always means towards a preferred future thatcreates greater opportunity for more people over a longerperiod of time. Sustainability is both a physical reality and apolitical choice.In a resource-constrained world – our world – a unified designapproach is the most rational pathway to long-term valuecreation. Taken seriously, a unified approach requires us toaddress issues in depth, in breadth, at their intersections, andover time. Behavioural psychologists, sociologists, physicists,anthropologists, economists, and public health officials allneed to be engaged in a broader definition of the design andengineering.Within this framework, ‘unified design’ becomes the mostrobust way to seize opportunities. It also prevents any singleinterest from capturing the idea of design and holding itThe challenge for the engineering profession is to moveupstream; to recognize the role that engineers should playin planning projects, timescale issues and budgets. Engineersneed to be seen as more than just technologists. It needs to berecognized that the engineering profession can excel at deliveringintegrated solutions.Sir Ove Arup said that, ‘Engineering problems are underdefined,there are many solutions, good, bad and indifferent.The art is to arrive at a good solution. This is a creative activity,involving imagination, intuition and deliberate choice.’ Engineersneed to be involved in that creative activity.How can engineers help to close the infrastructure gap?Closing the infrastructure gap represents an enormous opportunityto support the development of a sustainable builtenvironment that supports individuals and communities toreach their full potential. Realizing this opportunity requiresthat the actors involved in the design and delivery of infrastructureservices understand how these services will be bothsustainable and pro-poor in the local context. It necessitatesan understanding of the complex inter-relationships betweensustainable development, poverty alleviation and infrastructureservice provision, as well as appropriate mechanisms forengaging local community stakeholders in the design anddelivery process.The role of engineering in contributing to achieving the MDGscan be considered by:■■■■understanding the issue/opportunity;agreeing that the issue/opportunity should be addressedand is a priority;knowing what to do about the issue/opportunity and howit relates to other issues/ opportunities; andchoosing to do what we know how to do today and improvingon that tomorrow.The most well known needs-based approach is probablyMaslow’s hierarchy of needs, which is often depicted as a pyramidconsisting of five levels. The higher needs in this hierarchyonly come into focus when the lower needs in the pyramidare satisfied. Deficiency needs must be met first. Once theseare met, seeking to satisfy growth needs drives personalgrowth. Once an individual has moved upwards to the nextlevel, needs in the lower level will no longer be prioritized. Ifa lower set of needs is no longer being met, the individual will252