the hong kong polytechnic university social and cultural 1

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Social and Cultural

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What to learn

• How engineering (projects) affects the social and cultural aspects

• How society or culture change engineering

• Social responsibilities

• How engineering can help solving social issues


Cultural and Social Dimension• Definition – what is cultural or social?• What is cultural

– Relating to the culture, that is, the habits, traditions and beliefs of a society

– Culture • The way of life, especially the general customs and

beliefs of a particular group of people at a particular time• 飲食文化 , PolyU student culture• Because we now have refrigerator so icy mooncake is

more popular


Cultural and social • Social

– Relating to society and living together in an organized way

– Relating to activities in which you meet and spend time with other people and which happen during the time when you are not working

– Now you use FaceBook instead of meeting your friends in person


Social dimension

• Social – related to society– It could be anything!

• Housing

• Waste treatment

• Poverty, etc

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Social issues• Poverty – jobs

• Lack of housing

• Lack of water – environmental

• Pollution

• Drug and alcohol abuse

• Can these be changed by engineering and how?

• These also related to sustainability!

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Cultural and Sociological Dimensions

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Engineering in a social context


Engineering changes our surroundings

• All changes to our surroundings affect us and the rest of the society we live in – and therefore will change society’s culture and social behavior– Any example based on PolyU?

• So all engineering advances and projects will affect the cultural and social aspects of our society


Engineeringtechnology Culture

society

environment


Surroundings change engineering

• The type of society and its culture will also affect the engineering projects – Any example in Hong Kong?

• High speed railway• MTR

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By its very nature engineering is closely related to society and human behavior. Every product or construction used by modern society are influenced by engineering design.

Engineering design is a very powerful tool to make changes to environment, society and economies, and its application brings with it a great responsibility (with great power comes with great responsibilty)


Engineering advances will affect the culture of our society

• Very old example– Hong Kong changes from agricultural to

industrial then financial society due to the advance in technology (agree/disagree?)

– Use of email instead of “writing letter” for communication, sending e-card, SMS, Whatsapp instead of a X’mas card

– Download music instead of buying a CD (when was the last time you pay for the music in your cell phone?)


More examples

• The MTR and road networks create many new “urban areas” which use to be remote areas

• Spend holiday in other countries, or in China due to the advance in aviation/transportation technologies

• Use octopus card instead of cash (culture or social?)


Culture changed by engineering

• Give one example how the Chinese culture is changed by engineering


How about society or cultural changes engineering?

• Any examples?

• How about “Tin Shui Wai”

• How about new cell phone design

• 塱原濕地



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Many Engineering Institutions have established codes of practice and codes of ethics to guide members and inform the public at large. Engineering projects can be subject to controversy (爭議 ). Examples from different engineering disciplines include the development of chemical weapons, the High-speed railway, the design and use of Sports Utility Vehicles and the extraction of oil. In response, some western engineering companies have enacted serious Corporate and Social Responsibility policies.



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Engineering is a key driver of human development. Sub-Saharan Africa in particular has a very small engineering capacity which results in many African nations being unable to develop significant infrastructure without outside aid. The attainment of many of the Millennium Development Goals requires the achievement of adequate engineering capacity to develop infrastructure and sustainable technological development.


We can end poverty 2015

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http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/



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All overseas development and relief NGOs make considerable use of engineers to apply solutions in disaster and development scenarios. A number of charitable organizations aim to use engineering directly for the good of mankind:Engineers Without Borders Engineers Against Poverty Registered Engineers for Disaster Relief Engineers for a Sustainable World Any similar organization in Hong Kong?


Cultural presence of Engineering

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•In our culture – what is the general perception of engineering?•Engineering is a well respected profession ?

•Yes/No? For example, in Canada it ranks as one of the public's mosttrusted professions.

•What is the situation in Hong Kong/Chinese culture

•Example – engineer is well respected?•Getting a “certified true copy”


Certify a copy of a document• http://www.hsbc.com.mo/1/PA_1_2_S5/co

ntent/website/misc/common-en/form-download/en/pdf/Limited_Company_Established_Overseas.pdf

• http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Passports/Applicationinformation/DG_174151

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Cultural presence of engineering

• Sometimes engineering has been seen as a somewhat dry, uninteresting field in popular culture(commonly abbreviated as pop culture), can be defined as the sum of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture(wikipedia)).

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One difficulty in increasing public awareness of the profession is that average people, in the typical run of ordinary life, do not ever have any personal dealings with engineers, even though they benefit from their work every day. By contrast, it is common to visit a doctor/dentist at least once a year, the accountant at tax time, and, occasionally, even a lawyer.


Personal dealing with engineers

• Examples?When would you require the service of an engineer?

I. Fixing your toilet/pumping?

II. Fixing your TV, network, or computer?

Do you respect whose “engineers” or do you regard them as “engineer”?

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• In Western culture

• This has not always been so - most British school children in the 1950s were brought up with stirring tales of 'the Victorian Engineers', chief amongst whom were the Brunel, the Stephenson, Telford and their contemporaries.

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Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806-1859)was best known for the creation of the Great Western Railway, a series of famous steamships, including the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship, and numerous important bridges and tunnels. His designs revolutionised public transport and modern day engineering.

George Stephenson (1781 – 1848) was an English civil engineer and mechanical engineer who built the first public railway line in the world to use steam locomotives and is known as the "Father of Railways".

Thomas Telford (1757 - 1834) was a stonemason, architect and civil engineer and a noted road, bridge and canal builder.



• How about examples in the Chinese culture??– Are there any famous Chinese engineers?–諸葛孔明 – 鲁班 ( 我国的土木工匠们都尊称他为祖师 )



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In science fiction engineers are often portrayed as highly knowledgeable and respectable individuals who understand the overwhelming future technologies. The Star Trek characters Montgomery Scott, Geordi La Forge, Miles O'Brien, B'Elanna Torres, and Charles Tucker III are famous examples. Most of the above are characters from Star Trek the Next Generation first shown in “September 28, 1987” Montgomery Scott – engineer from the original Star Trek TV series ( or the movie Star Trek release in 2009)Charles Tucker III – from the TV series Star Trek : Enterprise


The Enterprise


Image of an engineer in Chinese culture

• Any TVB drama features an engineer as major characters?

• Can you name an engineer (real or fictitious)• Is he an engineer?

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An Engineer?

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Cultural presence of Engineering• A new perspective of “Engineering”

• “Why do so many terrorists have engineering degrees?” but recently there is an article with such a title!!!!

“engineers, in particular, were three to four times more likely to become violent terrorists than their peers in finance, medicine or the sciences”



Occasionally, engineers may be recognized by the "Iron Ring"--a stainless steel or iron ring worn on the little finger of the dominant hand. This tradition began in 1925 in Canada for the Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer as a symbol of pride and obligation for the engineering profession.



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Some years later in 1972 this practice was adopted by several colleges in the United States. Members of the US Order of the Engineer accept this ring as a pledge to uphold the proud history of engineering.A Professional Engineer's name may be followed by the post-nominal letters PE or P.Eng in North America. In much of Europe a professional engineer is denoted by the letters IR, while in the UK and much of the Commonwealth the term Chartered Engineer applies and is denoted by the letters CEng.


Cultural and Social Dimensions

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• How is the work of engineers shaping the society?

• How can we accomplish engineering social responsibility nowadays and in the longer term?


Technology shaping social changes

• Reduction of poverty

• Improvement in health

• Lessened appeal of socialism

• Rise of living standard?

• Invention and discoveries

• Mass production

• Sustainable development

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Engineering Social Responsibility

• What do we mean by this? You have heard of corporate social responsibility ( 企業社會責任 ) – that is how organisations take into account the economic, social and environmental impacts of the way they operate. – For example include “lunch break” with pay

• As engineers, we can apply similar ‘precautionary principles’.

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Engineering Social Responsibility • There is an opportunity, and indeed a moral

obligation, for us to set a standard of engineering design that benefits the environment in both the long and the short-term.

• There are major forces at play: climate change, water shortages and energy issues, all of which mean we must constantly think about the overall sustainability of our designs.

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A Response to Climate Change• In response to climate change, going carbon

neutral is a way to reduce the impacts associated to the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions created during the business or production cycle.

• Given that climate change is a worldwide phenomenon, the concept of carbon neutrality is based on the principle that a GHG emissions reduction achieved elsewhere has the same positive effect as a reduction made locally.

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Why go carbon neutral?Motives to develop a robust corporate or product carbon-neutral strategy may be based on one or more of these elements:

• Regulatory. By voluntarily measuring and assigning costs to carbon emissions, a company can prepare for a future carbon-constrained economy in which GHG emissions are regulated and/or taxed.

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Why go carbon neutral?

• Financial. Effectively managing GHG emissions can help companies generate long-term value by cutting costs, reducing risk, and increasing revenues. Going carbon neutral can be a central part of this management strategy and can help to establish a framework for identifying and pursuing cost-effective emissions reduction and savings opportunities.

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Why go carbon neutral?• Marketing. Demonstrating environmental

leadership on the corporate, product, or service level can create strong brand presence, increase customer loyalty, and appeal to new clients and the general public. First movers in the area of carbon

neutrality are likely to gain an edge over business-as-usual competitors, particularly as environmental awareness and public opinion on climate change grows.

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Why go carbon neutral?• Corporate Social Responsibility.

Neutralizing GHG emissions is a powerful way to show stakeholders (e.g., customers, shareholders, community, nongovernmental organizations) that a company is taking responsibility for emissions and addressing climate change. By going carbon neutral, a firm can have a significant positive impact on world climate.

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Carbon offsets• When releasing GHG emissions into the

atmosphere, a company can effectively neutralize their global warming impact by purchasing carbon offsets.

• Offsets are emissions reductions achieved by projects elsewhere, such as energy efficiency investments, wind farms, or solar installations. By purchasing these reductions, a firm’s emissions levels and their net climate impact are reduced.

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Carbon offsets

• Offset purchases will form the final component of a carbon neutral program, supplementing measures taken to reduce the organization carbon footprint, including those related to internal reduction and green power purchases.

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Examples of carbon offset program

• Forest restoration project – Maple Ridge, B.C.– Maple Ridge, British Columbia is the site of a forest

restoration project that aims to create a forest that will continue to be healthy beyond the lifespan of the current generation of trees, maximize the amount of CO2 that can be sequestered (or absorbed), and emulate natural forest growth.

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Carbon offset program

• Landfill Gas Recovery Project – Niagara Falls, Ontario– The landfill gas recovery project - located in

Niagara Falls, Ontario - captures landfill gas from the East Quarry landfill and distributes it to a nearby plant that produces recycled content paper.

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A response to climate change

Carbon Neutrality

• Hence this term has been used to describe a variety of different policies, ranging from operational activities (e.g. running a Government department) to the planning of a new city.

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Case study

• Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City

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April 2007April 2007

Project MilestonesProject Milestones

November 2007November 2007


Introduction• Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city is the 2nd flagship

Government-to-Government project between Singapore and China after Suzhou Industrial Park.

• The project was mooted by then Singapore Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong 吴作栋 and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in April 2007.

• On 18 November 2007, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong 李显龙 and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao signed a Framework Agreement for Singapore and China to jointly develop Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city.

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Vision

• The Tianjin Eco-city's vision is to be "A thriving city which is socially harmonious, environmentally-friendly and resource-efficient – a model for sustainable development". This vision is underpinned by the concepts of"Three Harmonies" and "Three Abilities".

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Vision

• "Three Harmonies" refers to:– People living in harmony with other people,

i.e. social harmony– People living in harmony with economic

activities, i.e. economic vibrancy– People living in harmony with the

environment, i.e. environmental sustainability

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Vision

• "Three Abilities” refers to the Eco-city being:– Practicable - the technologies adopted in the Eco-city

must be affordable and commercially viable– Replicable - the principles and models of the Eco-city

could be applied to other cities in China and even in other countries

– Scalable - the principles and models could be adapted for another project or development of a different scale

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Site selection• The Chinese Government set two criteria for the

location of the Eco-city site:– (a) should be developed on non-arable (不可開墾的 )land– (b) should be located in an area facing water shortage.

• Four possible locations were identified:– (1) Baotou (Inner Mongolia) (2) Tangshan (Hebei province), (3)

Tianjin municipality and (4) Urumqi (Xinjiang).

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Site selection

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Location

• The Eco-city site is located 40 km from Tianjin city centre and 150 km from Beijing city centre.

• It is located within the Tianjin Binhai New Area – one of the fastest growing regions in China. Tianjin Binhai New Area is in turn located in the Bohai Bay region (which covers Beijing, Tianjin and part of Hebei Province), which has been identified as the next growth engine in China, after the Pearl River delta and Yangtze River delta.

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Location

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Development timeframe

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Tianjin Eco-city has a total land area of 30 sq. km. When fully completed in around 2020, it will have a population of 350,000 residents. The start-up area is scheduled for completion by end-2013.Prior to the development of the Eco-city, the site comprised mainly saltpans, barren land and polluted water-bodies, including a 2.6 sq km large wastewater pond.


Development timeframe

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Master Plan• The Tianjin Eco-city's Master Plan spells out the

approved uses of its land. The Plan attempts to strike a balance between competing needs, including the social, economic and environmental needs of the Eco-city. It was jointly developed by the China Academy of Urban Planning and Design, the Tianjin Urban Planning and Design Institute, and the Singapore planning team led by the Urban Redevelopment Authority.

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Master plan

• Bohai Rim Region – citius, altius, fortius

• Video

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-Pjq37Lhqg

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Other social issues

• Poverty– Lack of access to safe water and sanitation– Lack of facilities for adequate health care– Lack of access to education opportunities– Shortage of adequate nutrition– Lack of adequately paid employment– Inadequate or expensive transport facilities– Limited or expensive power supplies

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Why poverty alleviation projects failed?

• Lack of planning for ongoing operation and maintenance of the facilities

• Limited attention to the development of a sense of ownership

• Political interference and intervention• Allocation of funds to countries without a poverty

alleviation of their own• Corruption, leading to ineffectiveness of

investment

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Conditions necessary for sustainable reduction in poverty levels

• The local community must be empowered by the decision making process

• Local community must be involved in ongoing operation and maintenance

• Government must be involved in the project• Projects should lead to economic growth• Involvement of local community will improve the

chances of success

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Engineering solutions to poverty alleviation

• Engineering solution – sustainable • Life-cycle engineering – operational and

maintenance cost• Empowered engineering – involve local

professional and technical staff • Appropriate engineering – consider various

options that meet the engineering needs of the project and may adopt techniques of labour-based construction

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Case studies

• Australian remote aboriginal communities– Water supply, sanitation, health, housing etc

• South African roundabout HIV/AIDS initiative– A child’s playground roundabout bolted on top

of an existing borehole

• BP solar energy project, Philippines– Large scale implementation of solar power

across rural communities67


Water, energy and climate change

• Water and energy are linked– Essential to every aspect of life– Water can generate energy

• Global energy and water demand are increasing– Demands increase with income

• Water use and energy use impact and depend on ecosystems

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Water, energy and climate change

• Climate change will affect availability and use of both water and energy

• Technology, innovation, a sense of shared responsibility and political will are factors that bring real solutions as we strive to keep pace with increasing needs from a growing population

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After-class reading

Further reading on engineering projects relating to climatic change, resources depletion, poverty mitigation, etc. are strongly recommended.

Please refer to the work of the World Business Council on Sustainable Development on “Water, Energy and Climate change”.

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the hong kong polytechnic university social and cultural 1

Documents

social social relating

social context slide

engineering projects

social aspects

social behavior

engineering design

nature engineering

old example hong kong