Service learning as a catalyst for sustainable change in Ecuador

The student chapter of Engineers Without Borders at Tufts University allows students the opportunity of service learning while exploring sustainable solutions to real world problems.Interdisciplinary teams research potential technologies and propose implementation strategies, conduct laboratory research at the university on performance trade-offs, and then gain field experience by traveling to the target community to develop personal relationships which support sustainable social change.One such investigation has focused on water quality in the highlands of northern Ecuador with student teams responsible for evaluating local conditions, providing education to local stakeholders, and assessing the impact of the project on both the community and the team members involved in the project.Communication of survey results helped the village to identify municipal project priorities that would unify the community.This social process, initiated by the student visit, resulted in successful attainment of a grant to construct a water filtration facility for the community based on the water quality sampling test results and on a pilotscale technology demonstration of slow sand filtration.