2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Despite decades of research and countless proposed solutions, global sustainability challenges continue to intensify. Engineers design greener technologies, optimize energy use, and model environmental systems—yet we often find ourselves in the same loop, generating new solutions that fail to solve the deeper problem. This paradox suggests that the root issue is not technical but mindset-based. In engineering education, sustainability is frequently presented as a problem to be fixed rather than a relationship to be understood.
This study explores how introducing Indigenous perspectives on sustainability—particularly those emphasizing interconnectedness, reciprocity, and long-term stewardship—can reshape students’ understanding of their role as engineers. Drawing inspiration from Native American worldviews, undergraduate engineering students were asked to reflect on how their design philosophy might change if they viewed the environment not as a resource but as a living partner. Their reflections were analyzed for shifts in mindset, systems thinking, and ethical awareness.
Preliminary findings indicate that exposure to Indigenous sustainability perspectives fosters humility, relational awareness, and a deeper sense of responsibility. Students began to articulate sustainability as an ongoing relationship rather than an optimization problem. The study concludes that the persistent failure of sustainability efforts lies not in our lack of innovation, but in the worldview that drives our innovations. Transforming engineering education to include Indigenous perspectives may offer a pathway out of the sustainability loop—helping future engineers think not only about efficiency, but about harmony, reciprocity, and belonging within natural systems.