Engineering for peace and diplomacy

Abstract

A sustainable world must be a peaceful world, or it will not be. Engineers in the twenty-first century need to be more than providers of technical solutions, they also need to play an active role in peacebuilding efforts and contribute to diplomacy. This paper discusses the importance of developing peace engineering programs to educate global engineers with the attitudes, hard and soft skills, and knowledge necessary to work in the complex and challenging context of human development in their lifetime. There is an urgent need to develop an international community of practice in peace engineering and engineering diplomacy. The engineering profession must contribute to a culture of peace and take the lead in developing a peace-industrial complex.