World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development Date in the current year: March 4, 2024

According to Wikipedia, engineering is “the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items”. It is an extremely broad discipline that encompasses multiple specialized fields. The primary branches of modern engineering are chemical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering. They have numerous sub-disciplines; in addition, a number of engineering sub-disciplines are interdisciplinary or are not considered part of one of these four major branches.

Engineering and engineers are crucial for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations because they develop and implement technologies and infrastructure that benefit people in both developed and developing countries and are essential for climate change mitigation, economic growth, inclusion, and a better quality of life.

The implementation of engineering solutions in developing countries allows to give their populations access to basic human needs like clean water, sanitation, and reliable energy sources. In all countries regardless of their economic development and stability, engineering technologies are required to mitigate the effects of climate change and other environmental issues, accommodate the growth of cities without impairing sustainability, prevent or at least reduce the destruction caused by natural disasters, etc.

The celebration of World Engineering Day was initially proposed by the World Federation of Engineering Organizations, an international NGO under the auspices of UNESCO that represents the engineering profession globally. The UNESCO General Conference approved the proposal and designated March 4 as World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development in November 2019.

World Engineering Day has been observed annually since its inaugural celebration on March 4, 2020. It is supported by many national and international professional organizations and associations for engineers, NGOs, educational institutions, and corporations. The main goals of the day are to highlight the achievements of engineers in today’s world, raise public awareness of the central role of engineering and technology in modern life and sustainable development, and promote engineering as a career that gives an opportunity to make the world a better place.

World Engineering Day events include, but are not limited to, hackathons for engineering students, seminars and webinars, conferences, presentations, panel discussions, workshops, talks, live streams, social media campaigns, and more. There are both on-site and online events; the latter allow engineers from all over the world to exchange expertise and collaborate to advance the profession on a global scale.