THERE are several mechanisms that can be enabled by a university to pave way towards sustainable development.

This was addressed by Professor Mark Spearing from University of Southampton during the Brunei International Conference in Engineering and Technology (BICET) on January 25, 2011.

Describing sustainable development as "coming up with solutions to the 'perfect storm"', that is, the convergence of several issues (food, water and energy concerns) resulting from population growth and the subsequent urbanisation, all the while trying to decelerate climate change.

He said that various disciplines under the umbrella of one university have to work together through research to come up with solutions against this "perfect storm".

An interdisciplinary approach means that "no one science or technology on its own has all the answers", he said, adding that while engineering and technology have many solutions to issues of sustainable development, these two disciplines only form "a tiny piece of the overall picture".

"As an example, an engineer can think 'about making better, stronger and longer-lasting composite containment vessels or wind turbine blades' to store hydrogen gas and harvest wind energy," he said.

"We have to always have a view of the wider system of policy and regulatory issues in which the engineering and technology are being delivered in," he explained.

"To do so, we often have to help change human behaviour to interface the use of technology in a productive way."

"The solution might be a regulation that says you all will be rationed water or energy, for example," he remarked, "or it could be in the form of a softer encouragement for people to behave in the right way by having them take showers rather than baths, to turn off lights or not use air-conditioning so much or a mixture of both."

To make this kind of impact, Professor Spearing said that university researchers have to be active, by having influence on the national and global policies and at the same time, do their own basic research on science or engineering.

He mentioned that his university colleagues, Professor John Shepherd and Professor Robert Nicholls have roles in advising policy on climate change; with the former leading a major Royal Society report Towards a Low-Carbon Future, while the latter has been appointed as the review editor for the upcoming Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report.

University researchers can also lead an initiative to make public as much data as possible, particularly government data.

"Putting it out there in the public domain using the world wide web as the vehicle, has a huge capability to contribute to the green economy," he said. "Data is power. Data is profit. Data is influence."

"While there are obviously security and cyber security issues about making defence data public, there is a lot of data that actually will benefit by being made public," Professor Spearing highlighted in his talk.

"Just by having access to data could alert people to opportunities," he said. "It forces people to ask questions and in some cases, it allows people to make a business out of seizing the opportunity just by having the data, by seeing where there is a need or deficiency."

"It actually focuses the people's minds and change behaviour in a very powerful way," he continued.

He related that with an online overview map of the world's bicycle sharing schemes (http://bikes.oobrien.com/) to get people out of their cars and use bicycles, people can feed in data where this kind of service are available and in turn, identify where there might be a need to put a bicycle repository.

Besides giving public access to data, a research university has to have collaborations with both the government and industry as well as strong international links to drive sustainability forward.

"In some cases, the solution comes through working with start-up and spin-out companies," he added, citing that University of Southampton have created 12 successful spin-out companies since 2000.

Professor Mark Spearing presented his paper "Sustainable Development Through Engineering and Technology" at the Rizqun International Hotel.

The Brunei Times