A RESEARCH PROGRAM ABOUT A SHORT-TERM PBL APPROACH BASED ON THE SDG

Abstract

Increasing populations in urban areas create complex problems, such as access to drinking water, sanitation, housing, and traffic. Today's engineers are prototyping solutions for future cities. Engineering education must meet this challenge, with students developing knowledge in their engineering field while addressing Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Problem-based learning (PbL) is a valuable tool in engineering education, particularly for sustainable development. In PbL, students solve engineering problems by developing projects. For example, students in early courses can confront problems demanding low-tech solutions. The Federal Center for Engineering Education in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, offers short-term project experience (PbL) focusing on SDG in cities. For 48h, students tackle SDG problems from urban communities and are challenged to create low-cost solutions. In the end, they pitch their solutions to experts from NGOs, governments, and corporations. This article presents a short-term PbL approach for SDG supported by one case developed by the students and concludes with recommendations for a research program, aiming to understand the process and transform the projects into concrete, sustainable, social innovation actions applied to communities.