The United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are our world’s call to action on the most pressing challenges and opportunities facing humanity and our natural world. Recognizing the critical role that engineers play as technological leaders and stewards, the Canadian Engineering Profession and the Engineering Dean’s Canada (EDC) council believe that our profession has a pressing responsibility to address these challenges with urgency. This document articulates this responsibility and presents a call to action.
The six (6) Canadian Engineering Grand Challenges focus the thoughts and actions of our engineering community on the most compelling and critical issues facing Canada and Canadians today and over the next decade. This will also allow us to galvanize our engineering students and faculty to work towards solutions for these critical issues as a way to best contribute as a community to help address the UN SDGs.
- Resilient infrastructure
- Access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy
- Access to safe water in all communities
- Inclusive, safe, and sustainable cities
- Inclusive and sustainable industrialization
- Access to affordable and inclusive STEM education
All six areas are rooted in the climate crisis we face and can be related to the UN SDG.