Engineers Without Borders UK: Empowering Young People to Accelerate the Clean Energy Transition

Efficiency for Access runs the Efficiency for Access Design Challenge, which is funded by UK aid and the IKEA Foundation, with the support of Engineers Without Borders UK. As part of our Solar Appliances for Our Planet campaign, we spoke to Luke Smith, Programme Manager, and Charlotte Trick, Communications and Marketing Manager, Engineers Without Borders UK, about the importance of empowering young people to help accelerate a just and inclusive clean energy transition.

Why is it important that young people are involved in accelerating the clean energy transition, and how can they get involved?

We are now in the UN Sustainable Development Goals’ Decade of Action and time is of the essence. Alongside those that currently design for change, actions and initiatives led by young people could trigger the necessary momentum to scale energy access and local innovation.

The clean energy sector is fast-growing and set to create more than 42 million jobs by 2050. This will provide huge opportunities for innovation and scale, but this needs to happen in an equitable and inclusive manner to ensure that those most affected by energy access have their voices heard and that the technology improves their lives rather than enforcing impractical change to their lifestyles.

For that to happen we need the current and next generation of engineers and designers to challenge the status quo and be confident in their agency in the sector. We can’t afford to do the bare minimum. Be curious, ask questions, go out of your comfort zone and talk to the ones who don’t agree with you.

How does Engineers Without Borders UK engage young people in ensuring a safe and just future for all?

As a movement that was founded by students in 2004, young people have always been central to our organisation and our mission to put global responsibility at the heart of engineering.

University Chapters, which are a national network of students, have been a significant part of promoting our mission, embodying positive action through their extracurricular activities, working with both the communities in and outside of their universities. The projects and activities they deliver allow students to trial ideas and concepts, as they begin their careers and journey as globally responsible engineers.

In 2011, inspired by the EWB Challenge run by Engineers Without Borders Australia and New Zealand, we launched the Engineering for People Design Challenge. This encourages individuals to broaden their awareness of the social, environmental and economic implications of their engineering solutions, during a pivotal moment in the student’s career. Since its inception, the Design Challenge has been delivered in South Africa, UK, Ireland and the USA, to over 50,000 students.

In 2019, we joined Efficiency for Access to collaborate on the delivery of the Efficiency for Access Design Challenge, a global, multi-disciplinary competition that empowers teams of university students to help accelerate clean energy access.

We recognise that the responsibility to create change does not just rest on the shoulders of young people. As such, we are committed to shaping and influencing engineering education, as well as the sector at large, to encourage the positive change needed to ensure a safe and just future that is rooted in our globally responsible principles.