In this article, the author discusses the function of case studies in educating engineering students for sustainable development. The author highlights the importance of introducing and effectively integrating case studies on sustainable development into the traditional engineering disciplines, how examples of both good and poor practice (of sustainability) can inform and assist students to better understand the concept of sustainability, and how students can apply these concepts to both their academic and practical engineering applications within employment. The benefit of case studies is that they allow students to visualise how sustainable development can be applied to all engineering decisions and also give them the capacity to understand the social, environmental and economic considerations associated with all projects, as well as in the application of their knowledge and skills to make informed engineering decisions.