”The Road Less Travelled”: Engineering With Vulnerable Communities Through NGOs

Abstract

Since the explosion in growth of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) dedicated to community development in the 1990s, these organizations present new possibilities for engineers to serve, work and design with communities without the perils of short-term trips. But how do engineering teams go about identifying NGOs that are effective, responsible, and accountable to the communities they hope to serve? How do engineering students understand how to work in these organizations that historically have not been part of traditional engineering career pathways - “The Road Less Travelled”? This paper presents a conceptual model for understanding, partnering, and building relationships between engineering teams and NGOs, organizations that rarely figure in the employment landscape of engineering. It proposes that sustainable community development (SCD) projects require a level of embeddedness in communities, engagement, continuity and logistical maturity that most engineering schools with community-engagement programs are ill equipped to provide by themselves but that in partnership with properly selected NGOs they might be ready to deliver. Moving beyond the dangers and perils of trips to "save the poor," the Humanitarian Engineering (HE) program at Colorado School of Mines (Mines) is developing new interactions with socially responsible and accountable NGOs to ensure that communities are empowered through engineering projects for sustainable community development. To ensure that these projects can better serve and empower communities, this paper shows 1) how engineers can map their partnerships with NGOs; 2) how to develop engineering design courses where students learn human-centred problem definition and explore design challenges with NGO partners; and 3) how to develop relationships with NGOs so students can have community engagement opportunities even under severe international travel restrictions like those we face today in the midst of a global pandemic.