The role of environmental engineering in introducing sustainable development

Sustainable development is perhaps the most important idea of our present time. This concept anticipates major civilisational change on the ecological, social and economic level. In this paper the discussion is extended to ethical, technical, legal and political aspects. The tremendous scope of these changes makes it reasonable to expect this new vision of development to achieve the status of a “Revolution” comparable with those known from the past: the agricultural, scientific and industrial revolutions. To make this happen, we need not only the knowledge given by the social sciences, but also technical means. This is the aim of environmental engineering, which is shaping the human environment. The second part of the article is showing the connection between sustainable development and environmental engineering, especially in the field of energy issues, which must include the shift from fossil fuels to other sources of energy.