Research Study
Phuong’s research examines the process of change which seeks to embed Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) within engineering education in higher education. The research seeks to position current activities of engineering institutions within an ESD conceptual framework and provide insights into paradigm and pedagogical alignment with sustainability. The study will take place in the Asia Pacific region as various academic institutions and engineering education initiatives form the basis of the study. A key outcome of the research is the formation of a framework for the development of an ESD plan in engineering education, particularly in the context of developing countries.
Biography
Phuong had her first degree on Environmental Engineering at the Hanoi University of Technology in Vietnam from 2000 to 2005 and has graduated with an excellent grade, ranking 1st in the Institute. Her dissertation focusing on the catalytic treatment of nitrous oxides from industrial emission was awarded the 1st prize in the University’s Student Research Award and won the 3rd award in the National Student Research Contest – the Vietnam Foundation for Technological Creation. During university, Phuong was involved in a number of environmental projects sponsored by NGOs (namely the World Bank) and the Vietnamese Government as a project leader and project member to raise awareness on environmental issues for different public groups ranging from kindergarten children, university students to local people in remote rural areas.
After graduation, she worked for the Vietnam Cleaner Production Centre (VNCPC) – a focal point of the UNIDO/UNEP network of national cleaner production centres where she took responsibilities as the project manager for an industrial project, in collaboration with the UNEP International Environmental Technology Centre (UNEP-IETC), to promote technologies to improve resource efficiency in Vietnamese manufacturing companies. Phuong also acted as a local trainer for the project “Environmental Management Accounting in South East Asian Countries” (EMA-SEA) sponsored by InWEnt – Capacity Building International, Germany. In 2006, she took the role of Secretary for the National Organising Committee of the 7th Asia-Pacific Roundtable for Sustainable Consumption and Production (APRSCP 7) at its preparation stage before leaving for England to pursue her Master’s study.
Being given the Shell Centenary Scholarship, Phuong completed an MPhil course in Engineering for Sustainable Development at the University of Cambridge in 2007 which was a great inspiration influencing her choice of topic for her PhD study. For the dissertation, she chose to focus on the sustainability assessment of natural resources governance using fisheries as an example. She then worked for the Sustainability Project at ITRI, an UK based organisation working on behalf of the world’s major tin producing companies. Phuong was in charge of the global survey and research on tin consumption and recovery in different tin using sectors. She also joined the team working on the development of an industry certification scheme to ensure due diligence is taken into account by all stakeholders along the supply chain and the procedures allowing this to happen are in place at all stages in the metal’s life cycle.
Phuong started her PhD study at IRIS in October 2009 (Email: pnguyen@glos.ac.uk)