Many of the challenges engineers seek to address through their work - from increased access to clean water and transportation to climate change adaptation - are inextricably tied to human rights, and addressing them holistically requires embedding human rights frameworks into engineering practice. In turn, efforts to advance human rights can be strengthened by incorporating engineering expertise, problem-solving approaches, and novel technologies.
To explore these concepts, the National Academy of Engineering Cultural, Ethical, Social, and Environmental Responsibility in Engineering program and the Committee on Human Rights of the National Academy of Sciences conducted a symposium on November 18-19, 2024. Participants discussed ways to increase awareness of the role that engineers play in protecting and promoting human rights and explored ways that human rights-based approaches in engineering might help engineers and human rights experts solve pressing challenges. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussion of the symposium.
Table of Contents
Front Matter 1 Introduction 2 Bridging Human Rights and Engineering 3 Human Rights and Engineering Education 4 Engineering to Promote Climate Justice 5 Addressing Inequalities in Public Infrastructure 6 A Human Rights-Based Approach to Engineering and Inclusive Transportation 7 Introduction to Day 2 8 Participation and Inclusion in Engineering Decision Making 9 Seeking Justice and Remediating Human Rights Harms 10 Integrating Human Rights Principles into Systems and Product Design 11 How to Conduct a Human Rights Assessment of Artificial Intelligence 12 Summary Observations and Closing Remarks References Appendix A: Symposium Agenda Appendix B: Biographical Sketches of the Symposium Speakers, Moderators, and Planning Committee Members
