Zimbabwe Institution of Engineers (ZIE), Engineering Council of Zimbabwe and its partners celebrate The World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development which was proclaimed by UNESCO at 40th General Conference in 2019. The World Engineering Day is celebrated worldwide on 4th March of each year.
The day offers an opportunity to highlight engineers and engineering’s achievements in our modern world and improve public understanding of how engineering and technology are central to modern life and for sustainable development.
The World Engineering Day 2021 (WED2021), with the theme “Engineering for A Healthy Planet- Celebrating the UNESCO Engineering Report”, will focus on celebrating the launch of the 2nd UNESCO Engineering Report “Engineering for Sustainable Development: Delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals”.
Ten years after the publication of the 1st UNESCO Engineering Report, “Engineering: Issues, Challenges and Opportunities for Development”, the new report highlights the crucial role of engineering in delivering the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development,
shows how inclusive and gender equitable engineering profession can bring about new perspectives and thus respond to the shortage of engineers, showcases of engineering innovations for implementation of the SDGs, analyses the progresses in and challenges in engineering education and capacity building, and summarizes the regional trends of
engineering development.
Finally, it gives recommendations for developing engineering for the SDGs, and calls for global cooperation with multiple stakeholders to promote development of engineering for the SDGs.
World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO), together with its members and partners, will celebrate the World Engineering Day on the day and will include hosting a series of webinars, Poster Design Competition, Videos Collection from Young Engineers, etc.
All engineering institutions, universities, and businesses are invited to celebrate the World Engineering Day.
Realizing the key role of engineering for humanity and its environment, UNESCO, with support of all its member countries and more than 80 engineering organizations worldwide, decided to proclaim the 4th March every year as the World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development.
This is an opportunity to engage with governments, industries, nongovernmental organizations and the public at large to address the need for engineering capacity and the quality of engineers to solve the world’s most pressing problems.
Engineering plays a key role in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as
it utilizes the principles of science and mathematics to develop practical applications in food, water, energy, environment, sustainable cities, natural disaster resilience and other areas which are crucial to all mankind.
It is also crucial to the development of new technologies enabling the 4th Industrial Revolution such as artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, robotics or quantum computing, etc. Engineering is at the heart of our modern world and will shape the future, as has been the case for millennia.
The World Engineering Day can be used to promote inclusive access to engineering for women and girls, and encourage young people, especially girls, to consider engineering as a career.
Engineering has also been recognised, as a key driver for sustainable transformation of Africa, through the African Union Science, Technology, and Innovation Strategy for Africa 2024 (STISA-2024). UNESCO Regional Office for Southern Africa in partnership with the African Federation of Engineering Organisations (FAEO) and other partners will be hosting a webinar as part of the day’s celebrations.
The main objective of the webinar is to increase the awareness of engineering, its impact on modern life and that it is crucial to advance the Sustainable development goals as well as national and regional development and industrialisation agendas. This webinar will also
provide a platform for presentation of the preliminary findings from the African component of the World Engineering Report. Another objective of the webinar is to encourage more young people especially girls and women to consider engineering as a career.
Registration Link: bit.ly/wed2021reg