PARIS, FRANCE, Mar 4, 2021 - (ACN Newswire) - Engineering has been an important profession, helping to tackle major issues such as poverty reduction, climate resilience, public health and sustainable development. "The foremost problem facing the world today is sustaining human development and preserving the planet. Whenever there is a problem, there is a need for engineering solutions," says Gong Ke, President of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO).On 4th March 2021, the annual World Engineering Day (WED) will convene under the auspices of UNESCO. As the UNESCO Director-General, Ms. Audrey Azoulay explains, WED will "celebrate the achievements of engineers and their contributions to sustainability and a better quality of life for all." This year, WED welcomes the high patronage of Emmanuel Macron, President of France and coincides with the launch of the second UNESCO engineering report, "Engineering for Sustainable Development" with UNESCO's partners, the WFEO, the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), Tsinghua University, and the International Centre of Engineering Education (ICEE), among many others. Representatives from over 10 different countries, genders and age groups from youths to adults, will speak at WED 2021. In addition, many more diverse engineering communities will join in over 50 WED events held concurrently in every continent around the world.
The WFEO is represented by over 100 national engineering institutions and 30 million engineers globally, leading the WED initiative to increase worldwide recognition of the important role of engineering in accelerating the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Engineering education and capacity building are keys to enabling the SDGs. Politicians can foster them; institutional investors can fund them; but only engineers can build them.
"World Engineering Day is an opportunity to recognize the important work that engineers need to do, in addressing climate change and developing technologies for a carbon free economy. It is engineering innovations that will achieve this goal. Engineers will ensure that cities are cleaner, more sustainable, smarter and livable. And importantly, engineers will ensure that everyone has safe clean accessible water, sanitation systems and affordable and reliable energy", says Marlene Kanga, Past National President of Engineers Australia and the Immediate Past President of WFEO.
Calling for more global action from multiple stakeholder groups, "We hope that this new UNESCO engineering report will help stakeholders from government, industry and academia articulate the value of engineering, inspire ideas to improve and innovate engineering, and help achieve the full potential of engineering to benefit the sustainable development of humankind and planet Earth," says Zhou Ji, Honorary Chairman of the Governing Board of the CAE and Co-chair of the Advisory Board of ICEE.
The advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution has brought technological advances in artificial intelligence, big data, Internet of Things and blockchain, transforming the ways people live and interact with their physical, biological and digital space. "These transformations can be seen in every field of engineering, profoundly affecting industrial systems, production and governance," says Audrey Azoulay.
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