ICE Scotland chair: ‘we can do better for our members’

I’ve been involved in local civil engineering committees for nearly 20 years, and I’ve found it incredibly rewarding.

Being committee member has given me the chance to meet some great people and make some great networking connections.

Engineers from all over Scotland are represented through local ICE branches: Glasgow and West of Scotland, Edinburgh Area, Tayside and Fife and Highlands and Islands.

There are also many special interest groups and affiliation with the independent Aberdeen Association of Civil Engineers.

Since moving to Scotland 14 years ago, I’ve discovered what a unique opportunity there is for ICE members in the region to make a real difference.

Influencing decision making

We’re facing some difficult challenges here in Scotland.

The impacts of climate change, social issues brought on by poverty and inequality, and an increasingly aging and urban population are some of the major ones.

In my role as ICE Scotland chair, I’m excited to continue to collaborate to encourage sustainability in all its forms throughout the country.

The flexibility possible due to the devolved government in Scotland means the ICE has a real opportunity to influence decision making.

This is supported by a close-knit engineering community and initiatives such as the government’s Scottish Infrastructure Investment Plan.

As such, the ICE can ensure the focus remains on policies and projects that have sustainability and infrastructure resilience at their heart.

How do we do this?

The ICE Scotland External Affairs Committee brings together leading industry experts with high-level decision makers.

We’ve started a programme to develop policy guidance for a number of issues, ahead of the next Scottish government elections in 2026.

Another thing we do is run roundtable discussions, bringing together senior decision makers to brainstorm solutions and encourage collaboration. We’ve previously discussed how to scale nature-based solutions, and are planning to tackle the skills shortage soon.

Inspiring the next generation

As a mother to two tween girls, I was particularly delighted to hear about the new civil engineering badge developed with Girlguiding.

We're very fortunate to have our ICE education and inspiration officer, Alison Ward, coordinating all the STEM events across Scotland.

These events are greatly rewarding and really make a difference in teaching young people just how varied and interesting a career in civil engineering can be.

Encouraging members to become Fellows

At the other end of the career spectrum, we’re also really keen to continue encouraging members to apply for Fellowship, particularly women.

The ICE has been running networking events over the last few years in support of this objective.

Much needed progress is being made to increase the number of women at the top tier of membership.

I’m really pleased that there are several upcoming events aimed at continuing this trend and looking forward to supporting these.

Creating opportunities for knowledge sharing

I find there’s nothing that inspires true learning like playing a part in the ICE and promoting continuing professional development (CPD).

That can take many shapes, like organising knowledge events informing the wider engineering community of local projects, or technical updates on emerging technologies.

Our local committees work hard to ensure that opportunities for knowledge transfer and networking are available for all members.

Adapting to an evolving landscape

Since Covid, the nature of events has evolved.

One one hand, with more people working from home and less people in the city centres, opportunities for networking have decreased.

On the other hand, the reliance on Teams has led to a range of online knowledge events that are more varied than ever before.

How can we improve events?

The wider ICE strategy, and that of ICE Scotland, is to ensure that any event that is arranged offers high quality and relevant knowledge.

As regional chair, I’m determined that we can do better for our members.

We are reviewing the number and format of the events we offer so that we can benchmark improvements over time. We’re also looking to collaborate more across regions.

We will engage in more effective advertising to highlight some of the fantastic events that committee members work so hard to arrange, and speakers give up valuable time to deliver.

Please share your ideas

Our members’ ideas and time are at the core of all the work that the ICE does, and the key to improving our offerings in the future.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on the type of events you'd like to see more of, or any specific topics or projects you’d like covered.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me, or any other committee member.