Rapid changes in our environment and our societies are forcing us to become more conscious of our role in the world. Science and technology are employed in a worldwide competition for military and economic power. The impacts of this competition have global implications. We have entered a phase in which global developments are in conflict with basic requirements for human survival. Large stocks of weapons of mass destruction, the
overexploitation of limited common resources, and a heavily unbalanced world economy provide fundamental challenges to human civilisation and may even threaten its existence. Engineers and scientists play a key role, both in developing new knowledge that might threaten international security and in providing positive solutions for the future. They are as much a part of the problem as they can be a part of the solution. == Activities ==