SEFI@Work: Workshop: Responsible Research and Innovation in Engineering Education

17 May, 9-11am EST / 3-5pm CET

Few would argue with the idea that societies need engineers to design and build technologies which help to solve societal challenges on the one hand and are inclusive, ethical, and without unexpected negative impacts on the other. Such a vision leads many professional accreditation bodies to stipulate that engineers must receive ethics teaching as part of their education. However, when ethics is presented in philosophical abstraction it can seem like a remote add-on to a core technical training. In this workshop, we explore how engineering ethics can be taught through the framework of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) (Stilgoe et al 2013, von Schomberg, 2019) and the ways that it might aid engineers in navigating the social and ethical space within the setting of engineering design projects.

We give a brief overview of the RRI framework and share two case studies from contrasting educational contexts. We follow through with a workshop and discussion aimed at drawing out the main features of RRI that might be usefully embedded in our curricula.

Speakers:
Tom Børsen (Aalborg University, Denmark)
Kate Roach (University College London, UK)