Environmental accountability vital in engineering education: Rizwana Hasan

Adviser urges ethical, climate-focused approach at Dhaka engineering symposium

At a Dhaka engineering symposium, government adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan urged universities to pair technical skills with environmental accountability, stressing ethical responsibility, climate resilience and stronger accreditation to ensure future engineers can meet Bangladesh’s sustainability and development challenges.

Engineering education must match technical excellence with social and environmental responsibility if it is to serve the country’s long-term interests, Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Adviser to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the Ministry of Water Resources, said on Tuesday (December 9).

Speaking at the 4th International Symposium titled “Ensuring Quality in Engineering Education through Accreditation” at Hotel InterContinental Dhaka, she said the true quality of engineering education is achieved only when it embraces environmental justice, social equity and climate resilience.

Rizwana Hasan noted that Dhaka is earthquake prone, affected by river erosion and frequently hit by waterlogging, which makes it essential for engineering initiatives to prioritise long-term environmental impacts, local community needs and sustainability. Decisions taken by engineers deeply shape the country’s development trajectory, she said, adding that ethical responsibility, environmental awareness and the ability to think beyond conventional infrastructure planning must be included in accreditation frameworks.

She also highlighted the need to align academic curricula with international standards amid the growing number of engineering graduates and private universities. Expressing optimism about the event, she said the symposium would help generate recommendations to improve curricula, strengthen practical training and enhance institutional capacity so that engineers can contribute more meaningfully to sustainable development.

Speaking as a special guest, Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb, Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser for the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, said the symposium had opened up new opportunities to expand collaboration between academia and industry, improve graduate employability and strengthen research and skills development.

The event brought together several distinguished participants, including Dr Nur Yazdani, Sheng Huang Endowed Professor at the University of Texas at Arlington, Prof Engr Megat Johari Megat Mohd Noor, Chair of the Dublin Accord and Prof Dr Md Sabbir Mostofa Khan, General Secretary of the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh. The session was presided over by Prof Dr Tanvir Manzur, Chairman of BAETE.

At the close of the symposium, participants underscored the need to modernise engineering education and reinforce the accreditation framework in line with international standards.