The fact of placing competences and outcomes learning at the heart of the academic activity means overhauling the curricular architecture of higher education in Europe. Some universities have undergone important transformations moving toward a competence-based learning environment, while others maintain traditional curriculum packaged formats. In the realm of the European Higher Education Area, this paper examines the use of competence-based initiatives in curricular development for engineering degrees with special focus to the Spanish case. Although the concept of competence and competence-based learning has a long history in education and training research, these terms are still very diffuse and demand a clear conceptualization. In the first part of this paper, we provide a conceptual overview and a critical reflection of competences as implemented in a wide range of settings, including its origins, key concepts, and definitions. Next, we discuss the purposes, principles, pitfalls, and processes that enable defining a map of competences within engineering education. Lastly, we present a pilot project involving curriculum development and faculty enhancement within a competence-based learning initiative in electronic engineering.

The 'state of the world' has become an object of growing concern during recent decades. For this reason educators have been asked to contribute to public awareness and understanding of the problems and challenges related to our planet's future, in order to make possible citizens' participation in well-grounded decision-making. In spite of these appeals, attention paid by science teachers and science education researchers to the present state and future of the world is still very slight and constitutes a serious missing dimension in science teachers' education. In this article we describe a workshop conceived to favour a better teacher perception of global problems and possible remedies, as well as the promotion of more favourable attitudes towards the incorporation of these issues in the curriculum. Results of the implementation of this workshop are presented.