The Journey of Engineering into Social Justice and Peacebuilding: A Review of the XV Conference of the International Network of Engineering, Social Justice and Peace

ABSTRACT

Since 2005, and thanks to the fostering of an interdisciplinary team of experts, academics, researchers, activists, engineers or related to it, the International Conference on Engineering, Social Justice and Peace arises, in the search for alternative approaches to make, live and educate in engineering. During this evolution of calendars and geography, fourteen meetings of the Engineering, Social Justice and Peace network had taken place, and number 15 was destined to be exceptional. Unintentionally, the fifteenth meeting had very different circumstances from the previous ones, not due to the ability to convene, or the growing interest in working on engineering committed to nature, society and human beings, but due to a historical situation that has made us rethink what until some time ago we took for granted. This event has been brewing since 2019, under the premise of being held in 2020. With several initiatives of the event, there was a work team, the approval of several presentations, workshops and activities, a tentative schedule, and the approach of the recognition "Technologies for Social Justice." However, nature gave us a warning cry to human beings and the coronavirus appeared on the scene, causing many transformations worldwide. Therefore, the event was postponed until 2021, and adjusted to the virtuality that has accompanied us since the health emergency arose due to the pandemic. In this context, adjustments were made to the composition of the team and the responsibilities assumed by its members. Still, despite the difficulties that this new scenario poses, the commitment to social transformation marked the way forward for the conference. After several meetings and tasks, between June 10 and 12, 2021, the XV International Conference on Engineering, Social Justice and Peace sees the light, with the promises of transforming our society from a diversity of ways of doing and living. This paper seeks to systematize the experience of the organizing team of the conference, so that the successes and errors that they had during the process are transformed into useful learning for the transformation of engineering towards one that is committed to communities.