DTU: Engineering curriculum to be aligned with SDGs, VC at international conference

NEW DELHI: Delhi Technological University (DTU) vice-chancellor Prateek Sharma announced that the curriculum of all engineering courses will be aligned to Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) for ensuring sustainability through educational and research efforts.

The announcement was made during the interdisciplinary conference on environment and sustainability hosted by the university’s department of environment engineering in collaboration with the Perfact Group.

The single-day conference was aimed to discuss the need of interdisciplinary inputs for improving environmental quality and achieving sustainability. “It was a step towards promoting sustainability-related issues for social well-being through the institute's academic and research activities,” the institute said.

Academics from around 12 different universities of the United States (US), including environmentalists, social scientists, economists, as well as other stakeholders were present at the conference.

The institute said that Amar Sawhney of Miami-Dade College, US has agreed for inter-university collaborative efforts with DTU, especially in the areas of urban settings and green infrastructure.

Jessica Barnes from Northern Arizona University, who is also a coordinator for the visit of AIIS professors, spoke about the need for linking the physical factors with social factors and human behaviour- related factors to reach effective sustainability.

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Evelyne Delgado-Norris from Chicago State University, US, also expressed his views on the role of behavioural change of humans towards environmental issues. Norris also highlighted the role of education and communication to connect to the masses, which can bring significant positive impacts towards attaining the SDGs.

The delegation from US universities was informed about the environment and sustainability- related initiatives that were being adopted by DTU. They also visited the vermifiltration-based sewage treatment plant and waste to energy plant in DTU campus.

Moreover, the institute has decided to devise a policy for effective management of plastic waste in the campus, to calculate the carbon footprint of DTU, and to carry out an environmental audit of DTU in association with Perfact Group.