As we stand at the cusp of the fourth industrial revolution, digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, the Internet of Things, Big Data, Blockchain, Robotics, 3D technologies, and many more have become the means and solutions to many of the world’s problems. Most recently, these technologies have assisted in the global fight of the COVID-19 pandemic and other societal problems. Together with these innovative techniques, the concept of circular economy and its relevant tools such as life cycle costing, life cycle impact assessment, materials passports, and circularity measurements have been implemented in a number of sectors in different countries for the transition from a linear “take, make, and dispose” model towards a more circular model, which has shown positive results for the environment and economy. In this article, with the help of implementation, prototyping, and case studies, we explore how these technological advancements and innovative techniques are used in different sectors such as information and communications technology, the built environment, mining and manufacturing, education, healthcare, the public sectors, and others to provide an opportunity to understand and resolve the agreed upon framework in 2015 by 193 countries, that is, the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

The United Nations Member States created a common roadmap for sustainability and development in 2015. The UN-SDGs are included in the 2030 Plan as an immediate call to action from all nations in the form of global partnerships. To date, a handful of countries have achieved substantial progress toward the targets. The climate–water–energy–food nexus is being advocated as a conceptual method for achieving sustainable development. According to research, frameworks for adopting nexus thinking have not been the best solution to clearly or sufficiently include thoughts on sustainability. Therefore, there is much room for other solutions; these are in the form of newer Fourth Industrial Revolution digital technologies, as well as transitioning from a linear economy to a circular economy. In this paper, we come to understand these two models and their linkages between climate, water, energy, and food; their application and challenges, and, finally, the effects on the UN-SDGs. It was found that both circular economy and newer Fourth Industrial Revolution digital technologies can positively support the nexus as well as directly address the UN-SDGs, specifically SDGs 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, and 13.

In 2015, the United Nations Member States developed a collective blueprint for sustainability and development. The 2030 Plan includes the 17 UN-SDGs, which are an immediate call for action from all countries in the form of a global collaboration. To date, a number of countries have made significant strides in achieving the goals. One solution is the transition from a linear economy to a circular economy. Together with this, new 4IR innovative technologies has helped many countries in their transition to a circular economy as well as achieving the SDGs. Countries and organizations have also adopted environmental, social, and governance reporting as another technique, and have become mandatory in some regions and organizations. The economy of South Africa is beset by poverty and inequality, considerable unemployment, carbon-intensive, water insecurity and slow GDP growth. Furthermore, the COVID-19 epidemic has caused the economic crisis to worsen further and emphasizes the need for a new development strategy to spur economic recovery. In this paper, we will compare South Africa’s sustainability and circular economic road map to the rest of the world, and we suggest solutions and policies that can be put in place for the future benefit of the country.

There has been a shift towards the acceptance of community engagement and service-learning as a pedagogical tool in the fields of engineering, engineering technology and the built environment. The Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) program in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) was implemented at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) in the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment and this article shares the best practices and lessons learned as the program developed. As EPICS-in-IEEE requires, the partners included UJ students and faculty members, a non-governmental organization (NGO), Engineers without Borders-UJ, and secondary school learners (the pre-university component) from UJ Metropolitan Academy. The EPICS-in-IEEE technical design and development phase was constituted and used as a guideline. The results of this project demonstrated at least six positive implications: university final-year/capstone engineering design projects and exit-level outcomes were achieved; participants worked as a team on engineering-related projects for a local NGO and its community; the project prepared engineering graduates for the professional world; the initiative took the engineering, engineering technology and built environment disciplines to the community through the “social innovation” EPICS-in-IEEE concept; and the UJ value system was instilled while achieving technical/professional outcomes in preparing students for careers in the private, public and non-profit sectors. How to cite this article: HOOSAIN, Mohamed Sameer; SINHA, Saurabh. Integrating ‘Engineering Projects in Community Service’ into engineering curricula to develop graduate attributes. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in the South, v. 2, n. 1, p. 60-75, Apr. 2018. Available at: http://sotl-south-journal.net/?journal=sotls&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=22 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/