The changing face of engineering down under

Abstract

The paper explores the engineer's view and practical experience of social sustainability in infrastructure projects through a series of interviews. The focus is on the planning, design and construction phases of development, rather than the initial feasibility phase. The research was undertaken by a small group of sustainability consultants with 13 of their senior engineering colleagues in Australia and New Zealand. The research explored the engineers' experience of various social sustainability dimensions on projects, the level of importance placed on these and the degree to which the focus on these dimensions had changed over time. The authors suspected that the focus on social dimensions had changed over recent years but wondered if their engineering colleagues agreed? What unfolded through the research was a wider discussion on the value of community involvement in infrastructure development and on the evolving development of technical professionals through their experience in working in the field. The paper does not purport to develop universal truths that can be applied to the engineering professional generally; however, it does reflect that, at least within the experience of those interviewed, social sustainability issues had risen up the agenda.