Intersecting Issues of Sustainability and Inclusivity in Engineering Education

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to submit manuscripts for a Special Issue of Sustainability entitled “Intersecting Issues of Sustainability and Inclusivity in Engineering Education”. We see sustainability and inclusivity—and the ways in which we educate and engage students and the general public about those concepts—as being among the most pressing issues facing society today. Indeed, a focus on these two concepts, broadly conceived, brings together many elements of the United Nations’ sustainable development goals to transform our world.

We hope that researchers from a range of disciplines find ways to connect to this theme. A wide range of research areas are invited to this Special Issue, as demonstrated by the following questions—though please note that this list is not exhaustive:

• How can we effectively teach issues of sustainability and inclusivity together, across all levels of both formal and informal education?
• How does “engineering” intersect with environmental, economic, and social sustainability?
• Who tends to engage in the work that bridges sustainability and inclusivity?
• When we think about sustainability education, what populations tend to be areas of focus? What populations seem to be left out of the conversation?
• How do issues pertaining to environmental justice intersect with sustainability, and what are the implications for education?
• How might we critically interrogate “sustainability”? What are the different ways in which “inclusivity” is encompassed within that term? How does that vary internationally or across regional contexts, and what are the implications for education?
• What role does extracurricular engagement play in including underrepresented groups to further their education on sustainability topics in higher education?
• Why do identified problems persist in institutional systems which promote sustainability but underserve specific populations?
• How can online education increase access to information for marginalized groups interested in gaining access to information about sustainable engineering practices?

In this Special Issue, original empirical and theoretical research articles and reviews are welcome, and we hope to incorporate a wide range of disciplinary perspectives.

We look forward to receiving your contributions. 

Dr. David B. Knight
Guest Editor

Dr. Nicole Barclay
Dr. Frederick Paige
Dr. Xiaofeng “Denver” Tang
Dr. Andrew Katz
Assistant Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.