Course-PM

BOM280 Sustainable development for civil engineers lp3 (7.5 hp)

Course is offered by the department of Architecture and Civil Engineering

Contact details

Examiner: Jesper Knutsson (jesper.knutsson@chalmers.se)

Teacher: Sebastien Rauch (sebastien.rauch@chalmers.se)

Student representatives

TISAM   mohamad.alahmadali@gmail.com    Mohamad Alahmadalali
TISAM   emma.cambrant@gmail.com Emma Cambrant Widén
TKSAM   ekbergvilma@gmail.com   Vilma Ekberg
TKGBS   selma03.johansson@icloud.com    Selma Johansson
TKSAM   mattsson.molly2@gmail.com       Molly Mattsson

purpose

The course will provide in-depth knowledge and understanding of the sustainability challenges that society and the built environment are facing, as well as knowledge of the ongoing sustainability issues, as well as the frameworks within which this work is carried out and the specific challenges that arise when there are conflicting goals, so-called wicked problems.

The student should be able to critically examine and evaluate the political, ethical and economic conditions that form the basis for how sustainability work is formulated and carried out. Furthermore, the student will gain an understanding of how politics, science and engineering applications interact in different types of solutions to sustainability problems. The problem formulation and analysis in the course is based on the Local, National and Global Sustainable Development Goals and other important international policy frameworks. Furthermore, the sustainability problem is analyzed from different socioeconomic contexts, including developing countries.

Schedule

TimeEditLinks to an external site.

Course literature

The literature in the couse comprise of a mix of resources, from website, report, scientific literature and book chapters. All literature are available either direct access to online resources or as downloadable files from canval.

Week	Reading Materials
1	SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation – United Nations (2015) (UN SDGs) (website)
2	1. Pahl-Wostl, C. (2007) – Transitions towards adaptive management of water facing climate and global change, 21(1), 49-62. 2. Case Study: Integrated Water Management in Singapore – PUB Singapore (website) 3. Case Study: Copenhagen’s Cloudburst Management Plan (Report)
3	None
4	Romano, O., & Akhmouch, A. (2019) - Water Governance in Cities: Current Trends and Future Challenges.Water, 11(3), 500. https://doi.org/10.3390/w11030500 Wamsler, C., & Brink, E. (2014) - Planning for Climatic Extremes and Variability: A Review of Swedish Municipalities’ Adaptation Responses. Sustainability, 6(3), 1359-1385. https://doi.org/10.3390/su6031359
5	None
6	1. Kemi, Adeye  (2014) – Chapters 7-9 in Water Efficiency in Buildings: Theory and Practice. 2. US EPA – WaterSense at Work (EPA WaterSense).
7	None
8	none

 

Course design

The couse “Sustainability for civil engineers” focuses on the challenges in identifying and negotiating sustainability goals and pathways. In the course we will adapt role playing and use the water sector as a playing field to explore challenges and solutions that are applicable to any field. You will learn about sustainable water management, but the reflections and assignments will encourage you to generalized the knowledge and skills that you acquire throughout the couse.

Week	Topic
1	Introduction	Gives an overview of the course objectives, structure, and learning goals. We will talk about how the course is organized and pedagogic goals. Introduction to roles.
2	Water and Sustainable Stormwater Management	This week focuses on the foundational principles of water management within urban environments, emphasizing sustainability and the challenges posed by urbanization, pollution, and water scarcity. It also introduces sustainable stormwater management as a critical component of urban water systems. We will explore global frameworks such as SDG 6 and learn about adaptive management strategies for addressing climate and global change impacts on water systems. Through case studies we will examine integrated water management and innovative stormwater solutions, such as cloudburst plans and green infrastructure, highlighting how cities adapt to water challenges.
3	Supervised groupwork	Groupwork introduction
4	Urban Water Governance and Climate Resilience	This week focus on interplay between policy frameworks, governance structures, and climate resilience strategies in sustainable water management. It emphasizes the importance of regulatory and institutional frameworks in shaping effective responses to water challenges.
5	Unsupervised group session	Not mandatory
6	Water-Efficient Building Design and Technologies	This week centers on the role of innovative building systems and technologies in reducing water consumption and enhancing sustainability at the building scale. It highlights the trade-offs and benefits of implementing water-efficient solutions. We will learn about practical solutions such as greywater recycling, rainwater harvesting, and smart water systems through a combination of lecture and a role-playing debate. The debate challenges students to consider stakeholder perspectives, including cost-effectiveness, technical feasibility, and regulatory compliance.
7	Supervised groupwork
8	Presentations & Reflections	Concludes the course with group presentations. Reflects on the learning experience, the challenges of integrating stakeholder perspectives, and the application of engineering and sustainability principles in real-world contexts.

Changes made since the last occasion

Significant adjustments to the assignments were made to reflect on previous course outcomes.

Learning outcomes

After completing the course, the student should be able to: 

1. Account for the fundamental sustainability challenges in society and the built environment, and describe ongoing work and frameworks in the field of sustainability.
2. Explain the connections between politics, science, and engineering in the development of sustainable solutions for the built environment sector.
3. Apply knowledge in sustainable development to identify and evaluate realistic/innovative solutions to specific sustainability problems in the built environment sector.
4. Critically analyze the political, ethical and economic aspects that affect the formulation and implementation of sustainability work in the built environment sector.
5. Integrate knowledge from different areas to formulate strategies, policies and approaches to meet sustainability challenges in the built environment sector.
6. Critically evaluate different sustainability strategies and measures based on their long-term effectiveness and ethical consequences, and be able to argue for and against different approaches based on a wide range of criteria. 

Examination form

The final grade is based 50% on the individual assignment and 50% on the group work, including presentation and feedback. The final grade will be reported as fail, 3, 4 or 5. Instructions for hand in assignments are given below.

A) Individual Assignment

Guided Integrative Reflection on Sustainable Water Management (Individual)

Objective

The purpose of this assignment is to assess the student’s ability to critically analyze sustainability challenges in the built environment, using course concepts, literature, and role-based perspectives. The assignment emphasizes structured analysis, systems thinking, and reflection on trade-offs between technical, political, economic, and ethical dimensions of sustainable water management.

The assignment is individual and accounts for 50% of the final grade.

Assignment Task

You are required to submit a structured integrative reflection report based on your assigned role in the course.

Rather than formulating your own research question, you will respond to a set of mandatory analytical questions. These questions are directly linked to the weekly themes of the course and ensure a common analytical foundation across all submissions.

You must answer all questions below. Each answer should be grounded in:

• course literature,

• lectures and discussions,

• role-playing activities,

• and at least one concrete example or case per question (from course material or comparable real-world contexts).

Mandatory Analytical Questions

Q1. Framing the Sustainability Challenge

(Weeks 1–2 | approx. 400 words)

From the perspective of your assigned role:

• Identify one key water-related sustainability challenge relevant to urban development.

• Explain why this challenge is a wicked problem involving conflicting goals.

• Describe how this challenge relates to relevant policy frameworks (e.g. SDGs, national or EU-level policy).

Q2. Adaptive vs Conventional Water Management

(Week 2 | approx. 350 words)

• Describe how a traditional “prediction and control” water management approach would address the selected challenge.

• Explain how an adaptive water management approach differs.

• From your role’s perspective, discuss the advantages and limitations of adopting adaptive management.

You must explicitly refer to Pahl-Wostl (2007).

Q3. Governance, Policy, and Decision-Making

(Week 4 | approx. 350 words)

• Identify which governance levels (local, regional, national) most strongly influence decision-making related to your challenge.

• Discuss conflicts or tensions between stakeholders.

• Reflect on the constraints and opportunities your role faces within existing governance structures.

Q4. Engineering Solutions and Trade-offs

(Weeks 3 & 6 | approx. 400 words)

• Identify two relevant engineering or technical solutions addressing your chosen challenge.

• For each solution:

  • describe one clear benefit,

  • describe one significant limitation, risk, or trade-off.

• Discuss how economic constraints, regulation, or social acceptance influence feasibility.

Q5. Systems Perspective and Role Interaction

(Week 7 | approx. 400 words)

• Identify which other stakeholder roles are most critical for achieving a sustainable outcome.

• Describe at least one conflict between your role’s priorities and those of another role.

• Provide an example where compromise or coordination is necessary to move forward.

Q6. Role-Based Reflection and Learning

(Cross-cutting | approx. 300 words)

• Reflect on what you found most challenging about acting within your assigned role.

• Describe how the role-playing exercises influenced your understanding of sustainability decision-making.

• Identify one insight from the course that you consider transferable beyond water management.

Report Requirements

• Length: Maximum 2,500 words

• Structure: Clearly labelled sections corresponding to Q1–Q6

• Format:

  • Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt

  • Line spacing: Single or 1.15

  • Margins: 2.5 cm

• File format: PDF or DOCX

• References: Properly cited using a consistent academic referencing style

B) Group Assignment

Decision-Based Sustainable Water Management Plan for an Urban Development (Group)

Objective

This group assignment aims to assess the ability to apply sustainability principles, engineering knowledge, and stakeholder perspectives to a realistic urban water management context. Emphasis is placed on decision-making under constraints, explicit trade-offs, and interdisciplinary collaboration.

The group assignment (including presentation) accounts for 50% of the final grade.

---

Fixed Scenario

All groups work with the same base scenario:

A new urban district for approximately 8,000 residents is planned in a Northern European city.
The area faces:

• increasing pluvial flood risk,
• seasonal water stress,
• ambitious climate targets,
• and an existing centralized water and wastewater system.

You may make reasonable assumptions, but you may not change the overall context or scale.

Group Roles

Each group represents a multi-stakeholder planning team. Roles include:

• Municipal Environmental Administrator

• Municipal Water & Sewage Authority

• Sustainable Architect & Landscape Architect

• Property Developer

• Sustainable Building Systems Consultant

• Urban Planner

• Community Representative

All roles must be explicitly represented in the report.

Assignment Task

Your task is not to design an idealized system, but to select, justify, and defend a limited set of strategic choices for the urban development under realistic constraints.

The group must make and justify one choice in each category below.

Mandatory Strategic Decisions

1. Stormwater Management Strategy (choose ONE)

• A) Nature-based / green infrastructure dominated

• B) Hybrid grey–green system

• C) Primarily engineered / grey infrastructure

You must justify your choice and explain why the other two options were not selected.

2. Building-Scale Water Strategy (choose ONE)

• A) Water efficiency measures only

• B) Greywater reuse

• C) Rainwater harvesting

3. Governance and Implementation Model (choose ONE)

• A) Strong municipal control

• B) Public–private partnership

• C) Market-based or incentive-driven approach

4. Climate Risk Prioritization (choose ONE)

• A) Flooding

• B) Drought

• C) Heat stress

Report Structure

1. Context and Constraints

(approx. 400 words)
Describe the development context, key sustainability challenges, and constraints (economic, regulatory, technical).

2. Selected Strategies and Justification

(approx. 1,500 words)
For each mandatory decision:

• describe the selected option,

• justify the choice using technical, environmental, and socio-economic arguments,

• explicitly discuss trade-offs and rejected alternatives.

3. Stakeholder Role Perspectives

(approx. 700 words total)
Each role contributes a short section (~100 words) describing:

• main priorities and concerns,

• one compromise they had to accept,

• how the final plan addresses (or challenges) their role’s objectives.

4. Policy, Governance, and Implementation Pathway

(approx. 500 words)
Discuss:

• relevant policies and regulatory frameworks,

• governance mechanisms needed for implementation,

• barriers and enabling factors for long-term success.

5. Reflection on Trade-offs and Collaboration

(approx. 300 words)
Reflect on:

• the most difficult trade-offs faced by the group,

• how stakeholder perspectives influenced decisions,

• lessons learned about sustainable urban development.

Report Requirements

• Length: 3,800–4,000 words (excluding references and figures)

• Format:

  • Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt

  • Line spacing: 1.5

  • Margins: 2.5 cm

• File format: PDF

• References: Minimum 10 academic or professional sources

• Figures: Diagrams and tables encouraged where relevant

Group Presentation

• Duration: 10–15 minutes

• Focus on key decisions, trade-offs, and stakeholder perspectives

• Each role must briefly present their viewpoint

• Visual support required (slides, diagrams)

Assessment Criteria

Criteria	Description	Weight
Engineering Solutions	Feasibility, creativity, and technical accuracy of water management solutions. Clear engineering justifications with diagrams/models.	25%
Broader Sustainability Challenges	Depth and integration of solutions addressing energy, climate resilience, equity, and land use. Ability to connect these challenges to water management.	25%
Stakeholder Perspectives	Insightful reflection on each role’s priorities, challenges, and compromises. Demonstrates understanding of stakeholder dynamics and conflicts.	15%
Policy and Governance	Understanding of relevant policies and regulations. Quality of policy recommendations and governance insights.	15%
Clarity and Structure	Logical organization, clear language, appropriate formatting. Effective use of diagrams and visuals to support content.	10%
Use of References	Quality and integration of sources. Proper citation style and depth of research.	10%