Pavel Livotov, Mas'udah, Arun Prasad Chandra Sekaran
CONTEXT Ecological challenges associated with the global economic development have intensified the need for university graduates that are capable of rapidly finding environmental-friendly solutions to complex problems and can successfully implement eco-innovative concepts. As major negative implication of the technological progress is attributable to its environmental impact, numerous approaches and methods have been developed in the last three decades to support sustainable and eco-friendly product and process development, such as Life Cycle Assessment, Eco-Design, Green Engineering and others. However, engineering curricula still contain too few offers for a structured eco-innovation and development of new solutions providing significant environmental advantages. PURPOSE OR GOAL As engineering graduates and specialists frequently lack the advanced skills and knowledge required to run eco-innovation systematically, the paper proposes a new learning materials and educational tools in the field of eco-innovation and evaluates the learning experience and outcomes. This programme is aimed at strengthening student's skills and motivation to identify and creatively overcome secondary eco-contradictions in case if additional environmental problems appear as negative side effects of eco-friendly solutions. The paper evaluates the efficiency of the proposed interdisciplinary tool for systematic eco-innovation including creative semi-automatic knowledge-based idea generation and concept development. It analyses the learning experience and identifies the factors that impact the eco-innovation performance of the students. APPROACH OR METHODOLOGY/METHODS Based on a literature analysis and own investigations, authors introduce a manageable number of eco-innovation heuristics with particular focus on the identification of underlying eco-inventive principles used in the natural systems created through evolution. Finally, the paper proposes a comprehensive method for capturing eco-innovation principles in biological systems in addition and complementary to the existing biomimetic methods and other eco-innovation approaches. It shares the experience in application of eco-innovation tools at the Offenburg University, involving students from different years of study and with different knowledge levels. ACTUAL OR ANTICIPATED OUTCOMES The proposed educational approach equips students with the advanced knowledge, skills, and competences in the field of eco-innovation. Analysis of the student's work allows one to recommend simple-to-use tools for a fast application in process engineering, such as for example strongest inventive operators for solving of environmental problems. For the majority of students in the survey, even the small workload has strengthened their self-confidence and skills in eco-innovation. CONCLUSIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS/SUMMARY The proposed interdisciplinary eco-innovation tool can be integrated in the discipline‐specific subjects and can be recommended for specialists, engineering educators, and creators of eco-innovation methods. Copyright © Pavel Livotov, Mas'udah, Arun P. Chandra Sekaran, 2021.
Offenburg University, Germany; Politeknik Negeri Malang, Indonesia; Sri Sivasubramaniya Nadar College of Engineering, India