Jan Jonker visits Mondragon University to reflect on sustainability, transitions and excellence in engineering
Jan Jonker visits Mondragon University to reflect on sustainability, transitions and excellence in engineering
Jan Jonker visits Mondragon University to reflect on sustainability, transitions and excellence in engineering
Professor Jan Jonker's visit to Mondragon University provided an opportunity to delve into some of the key ideas that inspire the EE4M ("Engineering Excellence for the Mobility Value Chain") project, focused on preparing future engineers to face complex technological and sustainability transitions, strengthening systemic and transdisciplinary skills, and connecting engineering training with the changing needs of industry and society.
The EE4M project arises as a response to the transformation that the European mobility value chain is undergoing, from the sourcing of raw materials and manufacturing processes to recycling and the reintegration of materials into new life cycles. The emergence of disruptive technologies, decarbonisation targets, changes in mobility models and new societal expectations are redefining the sector and require a parallel evolution of engineering training.
This vision was very present in the debates generated during Jan Jonker's visit. His contributions contributed to broadening the reflection beyond specific technologies or isolated sustainability initiatives, addressing systemic transitions that simultaneously affect technologies, organizations, value chains and regional ecosystems. This perspective reinforces one of the fundamental premises of EE4M: the incorporation of intelligent and sustainable concepts requires not only transforming production processes, but also evolving organizations, ways of working and learning processes.
One of the most important messages of the visit was that the engineers of the future will need much more than a solid scientific-technical base. In this context, skills such as systems thinking, interdisciplinary collaboration and an understanding of how social, cultural and economic dimensions interact with technological solutions are particularly relevant. From this perspective, engineering plays a key role in responding to challenges such as climate change, resource scarcity or the energy transition, integrating technological innovation with economic competitiveness, environmental performance and the needs of society.
The dynamics and workshops developed together with Jan Jonker offered an enriching framework to delve into issues such as transitions to more sustainable models, collaborative value creation, governance and ecosystem thinking. In particular, the dialogue highlighted the importance of understanding transformation processes beyond the boundaries of each organisation. MONDRAGON's cooperative ecosystem provided a particularly relevant context to explore how cooperation, interdependence and collective approaches to value creation can contribute to driving more far-reaching industrial and social transitions.
Jan Jonker's contribution reinforced and expanded a central idea of the EE4M project: engineering excellence cannot be understood solely as a set of technical capabilities. In an ever-evolving mobility value chain, excellence increasingly requires understanding complex systems, collaborating across disciplines, continuously developing new competencies, and connecting technological innovation with organizational, environmental, and social transformation.
In this sense, the visit enriched the reflections developed within the framework of EE4M by incorporating concepts such as collective value creation, ecosystem thinking, cooperation, governance and organisational transition. All of them provide complementary perspectives to understand how the different actors involved in industrial value chains can jointly respond to the complex challenges associated with sustainability.