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(2014/02/09) Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering
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analysis.

3.4.1.4. Systems Thinking in Engineering

The world we are living in is a world of systems and many of our problems and questions rise from inside a

system. It is a necessity that future engineers comprehend systems and view the so they can face problems in

a more reasonable way. Knowing about -organizing, dynamic, feedback systems are often not predictable or
controllable. Instead of trying to foresee the future and prepare for it, systems thinkers try to ask the right

questions and study the behavior of the system. Then, they can interfere in a system at leverage points, where

modifications will lead to the desired result. This would help prevent instances where engineers impose

changes to a system that offer a temporary solution but aggravate the situation in the long term by affecting
the equilibrium.

Viewing a problem through a systems thinking lens allows engineers to understand the elements and their in-

terrelationships from different perspectives (economic, societal and environmental) and at different levels
(local, regional and global). In the realm of engineering, systems thinkers can face problems from perspecti-

ves other than those involving only technical considerations.

3.4.1.5. Integrating Systems Thinking in Engineering Education

Especially in engineering education, it is crucial that trained engineers are capable of employing systems

thinking as a tool in finding sustainable solutions to real-world problems. The American Society of Enginee-

ring Education recommends that:

teams, to teach pollution prevention, life cycle analysis, industrial ecology, and other sustainable

engineering concepts

According to the Egan introduction to the generic skills should form part of existing formal training courses

for built environment professions In order to successfully achieve this objective, systems thinking concepts

and applications must be included in the educational curricula.

If environmental

are used appropriately, they can help systems regulate themselves when an external factor like pollution is
imposed on them. Thus, there is no longer a need to interfere in the system from outside in an attempt to eli-

minate pollution. Further, the systems perspective offers the opportunity to observe the environmental im-

pacts of a product during different stages of its life cycle.

Clearly engineering education should equip students with the engineering systems thinking ; and analyze and

synthesize systems with different levels of complexity.!

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