Green Growth Narratives in Engineering Codes of Conduct

Thursday, July 16, 2026, 8:00 PM

Session: SOC Poster Session (Virtual 2) (Virtual)

Green growth, characterised by environmentally sustainable economic growth, has emerged as a dominant force in sustainability discourse, influencing policymaking in the UK and internationally. This project seeks to assess the role of green growth in engineering practice through the lens of system dynamics. Causal loop diagrams expressing the narratives found in literature that support and criticise green growth are developed through a well-established coding methodology. This insight into the narratives present in green growth literature is compared with Professional Engineering Institutions’ codes of conduct (also called codes of ethics), revealing overlaps in attitudes towards innovation, economic factors and sustainability strategies. Evidence that supports and undermines the feasibility of green growth in UK engineering is discussed and alternative policies are proposed based on a framework of leverage points. The findings of this research suggest that engineering codes of conduct must be updated to reflect a broader perspective on the environment beyond its role as a provider of economic inputs.