2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Sustainable development is no longer an option – it is a necessity. The availability and diversity of natural resources are increasingly threatened due to population growth, overconsumption, and climate change. These global impacts compel urgent action to mitigate adverse effects, adapt, and safeguard our future. Traditional engineering curricula have not sufficiently equipped students to address sustainability challenges. To bridge this gap, it is essential to integrate effective strategies and tools that strengthen sustainability concepts in engineering education. This study examines sustainability literacy among engineering students and evaluates the impact of targeted sustainability education in preparing them to tackle critical sustainability issues in industry, society, and the built environment. Specifically, the Engineering for One Planet (EOP) framework was introduced and implemented in two higher education institutions’ civil engineering technology, construction management, and environmental sustainability curricula. Through pre- and post-course assessments of students’ awareness and applications of sustainability concepts, we investigated the implementation of the EOP framework in fostering sustainability literacy among students in civil and environmental engineering-related programs based on initial implementation in nine courses reaching 272 students. 142 complete paired pre- and post-course responses were collected from the survey participants in eight of the courses. Descriptive statistics and the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test was used for the analysis. Preliminary findings suggest that students exhibit an improved understanding of sustainability concepts and feel more empowered to address sustainability challenges following explicit exposure to coursework aligned with the EOP framework. The findings from this study will guide engineering educators and stakeholders seeking to integrate sustainability principles into their curriculum. Instructors can better prepare future engineers to lead the charge in creating a more sustainable and resilient world by enhancing sustainability education in engineering courses.