I don't remember exactly where we were the first time I viewed
the earth, but I remember getting out
of the space suits in the mid-deck of the space shuttle,
and then floating back up.
And then having a chance to actually get my full view
out the window-- to get close to the window
in the view of the earth.
And what struck me was just the overall beauty of the planet,
and specifically with the blues of the oceans
and the whites of the cloud formation.
Planet Earth.
We have all seen this photo, or similar pictures
thousands of times.
It was taken on one of the Apollo missions
in the early 1970s.
And when you think about it, that's
actually not very long ago, only 50 years ago.
No human being had ever seen planet Earth
from this perspective.
At that time no one thought that one day, only 50 years later,
there might be a problem with life on this planet.
This week will all be about sustainability, but what
actually is sustainability?
If someone asked you this question,
you can answer with a simple statement.
You can just say, sustainability is
the art of living well on a finite planet.
Too easy.
Of course there is much, much more behind this statement,
and this is what we will explore this week.
So let's start with a finite planet.
This one planet Earth is all we've got to live on.
The more people we are, the more we produce and consume,
the more we put this earth and the system under pressure.
Scientists have worked out that human influence has now
irreversibly changed the functions of the system.
In other words, we have already transgressed
some of the planetary boundaries that define a safe operating
space for humanity.
You will learn what these boundaries are
and why they matter, but it is not only
about the natural environment.
As you will see this week, both society and economy
are two other important domains for sustainability.
As with planetary boundaries, we can actually
define social boundaries, or you could
call the minimum social and economic standards
that we have to achieve or maintain in order
to be truly sustainable.
You will learn about principles for sustainability,
and how they can be applied to engineering.
More than ever engineers need to find
holistic and effective solutions to currently
unsustainable practices.
You will learn what it takes to think and act
as a sustainable engineer.
You might have heard about sustainable engineering
or industrial ecology or circular economy, perhaps.
All these are concepts that take civil and environmental
engineering to the next level by considering interactions
between the technical, ecological, social, and
economic systems, and by avoiding shifting problems
from one area to the other.
In addition to attending the face
to face lectures and workshops, we
encourage you to go through all the online activities
available on Moodle, such as the interactive slides
and the simulation.
Well, I hope you enjoy the course during this week,
and I will see you in class.