Thirty-one individuals have been honoured with the title for their efforts to make infrastructure more resilient, sustainable and inclusive.
The ICE has recognised 31 individuals with the new title of Resilience Champions for demonstrating that their projects are helping to build an inclusive, resilient and sustainable world.
The programme, launched last summer by ICE President Prof Anusha Shah, aims to showcase best practice and inspire others working across the infrastructure and built environment industry.
It aligns closely with Prof Shah’s presidential theme of nature- and people- positive.
Prof Shah said: “Building a cleaner and greener world requires us to try new ways of working and collaborating across sectors, geographies and generations.
“Every decision we make must have sustainability, resilience and inclusivity at heart.
“Only then can we meet the challenges of climate change, biodiversity decline and social inequity.
“Our new Resilience Champions are setting an example – we all can and must learn from them.”
The first cohort of ICE Resilience Champions represent various organisations, including Stantec, Arcadis, Deltares, CIRIA, Gurney Environmental, and more.
How to become an ICE Resilience Champion
Applications are open to anyone who has held an active role within an engineering project that has demonstrated a commitment to the principles of ICE Resilience Champions.
They don't need to be ICE members, or engineers.
Applicants must provide details about how they have integrated resilience, sustainability and/or inclusivity into a project, scheme or initiative.
Projects don’t need to be complete but must be able to demonstrate that they have started to implement these themes within the initial project phases.
The initiative complements the institution’s existing Carbon Champions programme, which celebrates engineers who are making quantifiable carbon savings in their projects.
David Smith, co-chair of the ICE Resilience Champions Review Panel, has encouraged people to put themselves forward.
He said: “The more we celebrate good examples, the more we can inspire others to see how they can incorporate resilience, sustainability and inclusivity into their work.
“As an industry, we’re changing our focus to prioritise the benefits our work brings to current and future communities – Resilience Champions is a great way to showcase these efforts.”
Apply to become a Resilience Champion
Meet the ICE’s first Resilience Champions
These champions form a new community of leaders who are implementing the key themes of sustainability, resilience and inclusivity into their work.
Hollym Myers Lane Wastewater Treatment Works – Yorkshire Water, Stantec, Ward and Burke and Gurney Environmental
The coastline south of Withernsea in east Yorkshire, UK has been eroding faster and faster because of climate change.
This has meant that the town’s sewage treatment plant had to be relocated from its former cliff-top facility to a new site inland.
The resulting treatment works are more climate resilient, with an in-built capacity to cope with the more extreme weather events that are likely to be a feature of changing weather patterns.
Helping to eliminate untreated storm discharges, the works will protect public health and the quality of the bathing water for generations to come.
The client for the work was Yorkshire Water. It was designed by Stantec and built by Ward and Burke, with the Aero-Fac® process supplied by Gurney Environmental.
Resilient Champions on this project:
- Julian Bodger, Stantec
- Christy White, Stantec
- Charlotte Smith, Stantec
- Simon Hudson, Yorkshire Water
- Michael Smith, Yorkshire Water
- Louis Quartly, Yorkshire Water
- John Gillett, Gurney Environmental
- David Hernon, Ward and Burke
- Paul Scanlan, Ward and Burke (previously Project Sponsor, Yorkshire Water)
- Niall Mohan, Ward and Burke
Water as Leverage Cartagena, Colombia – Arcadis, Taller Architects, One architecture, Deltares, P3Nomads, Fundación Herencia Ambiental Caribe, JESyCA & Selfinver
Water has played a pivotal role in shaping the city of Cartagena, influencing its culture, architecture, and social dynamics.
However, rapid urban development, climate change, and socio-economic inequality are posing challenges to the city's water system, with access to clean water compromised.
To address these challenges, Colombia and the Netherlands have joined forces to develop the project ‘Water as Leverage (WaL) Cartagena’.
It aims to improve the city’s water system to help create better living conditions for all Cartageneros.
The project is currently in phase one, the design stage. Throughout the project, the team uses three themes to inform every stage of development:
- reducing the risk of infrastructure
- aligning resilience with urban development
- ecological restoration and preservation, and water quality improvement
Resilient Champions on this project:
- Jeroen Klooster, Arcadis
- Jorge Enrique Saenz, JESyCA
- Julian Restrepo, Taller
- Catalina Julio, FHAC
- Marilyn Narvaez, FHAC
- Cristal Ange, FHAC
- Travis Bunt, One architecture
- Obbe Wassenaar, P3Nomdas
- Miguel Montes, Selfinver
- Didrik Meijer, Deltares
Ciriabest tool – CIRIA & Stantec
![The tool calculates the benefits of blue-green infrastructure across various categories. Image credit: ciriabest [<a href="https://www.ice.org.uk/media/cbma5oyh/ciriabest-tool-diagram.jpg">click to enlarge</a>]](/media/cbma5oyh/ciriabest-tool-diagram.jpg)
CIRIA’s Benefits Estimation Tool (ciriabest) is an online application that calculates the benefits of blue-green infrastructure interventions.
It does this across 19 categories, estimating the monetary value of benefits, some which aren’t normally quantified. For example:
- Carbon reduction
- Water quantity and quality
- Air quality
- Crime prevention
- Biodiversity and ecology
- Recreation and tourism
The tool helps to demonstrate the added value that different approaches to traditional grey infrastructure solutions can offer.
Its main goal is to enable project teams to make robust business cases that give decision makers confidence in the value of projects to society, the environment and the economy.
For instance, the UK’s Department for Education has used this tool for its sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) for schools programme.
Resilient Champions on this project:
- Dr Andy Moores, CIRIA
- Dr Louise Walker, CIRIA
- Adrien Baudrimont, CIRIA
- Prof Chris Digman, Stantec
- Dan Bourne, Stantec
- Dr Bruce Hornton, Stantec
Apply today to become a Resilience Champion
Do you want to be part of sharing the latest and greatest solutions to address the climate crisis?
Help us deliver best practice by becoming an ICE Resilience Champion. Details on how to apply can be found at the link below.
Apply nowThe ICE Resilience Champions programme is supported by Heriot Watt University and Stantec.
