World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development

Today, March 4, is World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development. This day was established as an initiative of the United Nations in collaboration with the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO).

World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development aims to promote engineering as an opportunity to make the world a better place.

Engineering has always played a key role in the development and well-being of humanity. At Grupo Álava, we want future generations of engineers and scientists to be able to devise solutions to local and global challenges. There are four basic principles for making this happen:

• First and foremost, inclusion—through universal access to new technologies and basic utilities such as water, electricity, the Internet, and so on. All of this is intended to enable societies to develop in a peaceful and healthy environment.
• Second, climate change. By creating new infrastructure and processes that enable the reduction of emissions and help ensure survival in the face of potential adverse weather events.
• On the other hand, it is important to consider sustainable economic development. Let’s build in a way that meets the needs of the population, but also those of the environment. Respect for the environment is essential to achieving this.
• We must not neglect innovation by incorporating the latest technologies into areas that have traditionally been left out of the digital transformation.

Engineers play a key role in promoting a new global model of sustainable development, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) . The main reason for this is that their work has a significant social and environmental impact, and their technical expertise is indispensable. They are responsible for driving innovation, both technologically (the Internet of Things, robotics, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, etc.) and through new methods that help citizens continue to obtain the resources they need without putting the planet at risk.

UNESCO, as a specialized agency of the United Nations, prioritizes activities that raise awareness of engineering as a career, as well as those that encourage young people to study science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

As engineers, we have a great responsibility to society. The technological solutions we implement have the power to change the way things are and people’s lives. We can contribute to sustainable development by combining individual ethical principles, professional ethics, and corporate social responsibility.

Jose María Almazán, Vice President of Sales at Grupo Álava.

At Grupo Álava, we work with various companies and strive to reduce our economic, environmental, and social impact. Based on this and the criteria of our ecosystem, we launch initiatives that contribute to the development of society.