Ethics, engineering and environment: is Hawking correct... is it all too late?

In 1999 an international benchmarking project, involving an annual delivery of an environmental ethics course was established between Auckland University of Technology (Auckland), RMIT University (Melbourne) and Wismar University of Technology, Business and Design (Germany). The impetus for this was twofold: firstly to addresscurriculum requirements under the Washington Accord, and secondly (and perhaps more importantly), to ensure that engineering graduates enter the workforce as advocates of good practice in the "4 Es": Ethics (social, cultural and moral), Environment (ecological and conservational), Economic (fiscal) and Engineering (technical). If durability is a measure of success, the project has done well; indeed, in 2005 a Norwegian university joined the project, and earlier this year, a Brazilian university has applied to participate. However, there is growing evidence that despite widespread public awareness of global issues, global environmental degradation continues unabated. This paper provides an overview of a recent and very pessimistic proclamation by renowned British physicist Dr Stephen Hawking, who concluded that there is no future for humanity on this planet. Although Hawking's views are not universal, (there are strong proponents of the opposite view), it is widely viewed that any solution to mitigate environmental collapse must involve a multidisciplinary approach, and that engineering would be pivotal amongst the disciplines involved. This paper explores the imperative of exposing undergraduates to the big questions in the "environment debate" in anticipation that they will, more effectively, be able to contribute to resolution of problems.