Engineering holds the potential to tackle some of our most urgent social and environmental challenges – but is the system supporting it fit for purpose?
Across the sector, cracks are becoming harder to ignore. Engineering standards often lag behind the needs of a decarbonising world. Policy and procurement processes reward risk-averse choices over long-term impact. Dominant narratives continue to sideline diverse voices and alternative approaches. And concerns around skills shortages continue to grow, pointing to deeper issues in how we prepare engineers for the challenges ahead.
To truly meet the demands of this moment, we need more than incremental changes within individual organisations. We need a fundamental rethink of how engineering is taught, practised, and valued.
Enter the Systems Change Lab. This radical initiative brings together an intergenerational network of changemakers to reimagine the system – from education and ethics to policy, communication, and the roles and values of engineers. The aim? To reshape engineering with sustainability, equity and global responsibility at its core.
This March, the 2025 edition of the Lab launched in London, welcoming over 70 engineering educators, professionals, students, and innovators. Together, they examined the wider system, explored shared challenges, and began shaping a collective roadmap for change.
The story so far
Launched in 2023 in partnership with the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Systems Change Lab has already made an impact. Through in-person sessions and online workshops, over 200 changemakers from 25+ universities and 22 organisations contributed to two major outputs:
The Reimagined Degree Map – a tool to help universities redesign engineering degree courses for the 21st century, developed in partnership with the Royal Academy of Engineering.
The Sustainability Toolkit – a practical guide to embedding sustainability into engineering teaching, developed by the Engineering Professors’ Council.
But while these achievements mark meaningful progress, there is still work to be done. To drive change at the pace and scale demanded by today’s challenges, we must also interrogate the practices, priorities, and power structures that shape the engineering industry. Only by challenging assumptions across the whole system can we truly align engineering with the needs of a rapidly changing world.
Relaunching the Lab: How the day unfolded
The Lab’s relaunch kicks off a four-phase journey leading to real action. In this first phase, participants focused on discovery – surfacing the most pressing systemic challenges and spotting opportunities for meaningful intervention.
The day opened with a keynote from Kayley Thacker, MEng Chemical Engineering student at the University of Birmingham. A participant and speaker from the Lab’s previous iteration, Kayley shared reflections on the continued need for curriculum-level change in engineering education and the momentum building toward something bigger.
The agenda was anchored around two core elements:
1. Exploring systems change in engineering
Using the “Three Horizons” framework – a tool for mapping the journey from present systems to preferred futures – participants stepped back from the typical linear problem-solving approach that engineers are used to applying, to explore broader cultural and structural issues. This session invited honest dialogue around where the system is, where it needs to be, and how we can get there. Some of the key outputs, split into the three horizons, were as follows:
2. Defining priorities for change
In the afternoon, focus shifted to identifying key themes the Lab should pursue. With support from facilitators at Ramboll, who are offering strategic guidance throughout the programme, participants generated ideas and voted on priorities. The emphasis was to focus on either tackling barriers or unlocking enablers of systems change.
A crucial reflection from the day’s activities was the importance of trusting the process. The Lab isn’t about rushing to conclusions. It’s about building a network, creating shared ownership, and laying the foundations for meaningful change.
“We’re not all on the same page, but we’re all keen to help write the same book.”
– Participant of the Lab
Turning ideas into action
With the discovery phase complete, the Systems Change Lab now enters its next chapter – Define. This stage is about challenging entrenched thinking, exploring bold ideas, and prototyping new approaches.
To drive this work forward, the Lab will introduce Task and Finish Groups – small, participant-led teams focused on the key themes identified at the event. These groups are still under review and will be finalised ahead of the in-person gathering in May. Each group will have access to support, resources, and collaborative space to move from insight to action.
We’ve taken the insights gathered from the relaunch and narrowed them into six provisional focus areas:
- Education and Upskilling
- Challenging the Standards
- Roles and Values of Engineers
- Communication and Stories of Change
- Policy and Risk
- Nurturing changemakers and inclusive cultures
At our next in-person gathering in Bristol on Tuesday 20 May, participants will begin to define the key problems to be addressed by the Lab through the Task and Finish Groups.
Be a part of the change – Join the Lab
While many organisations are grappling with the issues facing engineering behind closed doors, the Lab offers something different: a shared, open space to work through complexity together – across the sector, disciplines and generations.
Whether you’re an educator, student, practitioner, or policymaker, your voice matters in shaping the future of engineering. If you’re passionate about building a better engineering system, we would love for you to a be part of the change.
Register here to be kept in the loop with upcoming events, developments and outcomes from the Lab. For questions, visit our FAQs page or reach out to [email protected].
“Come along and have a go. You’ve got to be here to appreciate the energy and motivations and the types of conversations we’re having.”
– Daphne Chang, The Open University
