ENVIRONMENT
Although a university graduate in
materials and design, Peter Easton
(pictured, inset) veered off into civil
engineering, and has become an
associate at Mott MacDonald working
in ood risk management. Given his
role in the environmental sector, CEnv
registration was a natural step
for him, he explains. “I like
having it, but I wouldn’t be
able to measure its impact
on my career. I think that it
re ects what I do, which is a
balance of engineering and
the environment.”
Continues Easton: “As
part of a team working on a
project to manage ood risk
in Salisbury, I was able to
promote the wider bene ts that creating
a riverside park would bring to Salisbury
including enhanced tourist experience and
the wider city connectivity, habitat creation
and health bene ts, as well as a catalyst
for an improved public realm in this part
of the city. The Salisbury Riverside park
concept (pictured) has now been endorsed
by the council and incorporated into its
published master plan.”
For Dr Deborah Andrews PhD IEng
CEnv FRSA (pictured, top inset, p12),
the quali cation is about leading the way
for others. “It’s a good way of promoting
awareness about the movement and the
society among the design profession. I
don’t think that there are actually very
many design engineers who are Chartered
Environmentalists. I’m a torch-bearer, but
a non-carbon emitting eco-friendly torch.”
She is associate professor of design
at London South Bank University, and
originally signed up when applying to be an
Incorporated Engineer.
She adds: “I get students to think
about how they live, outside of studying
sustainable design.” She adds: “It’s trying
to get them to think about their lives as
well. They are part of the problem, as well
as part of the solution.”
Like Hogwood, she says that the CEnv
quali cation offers particular credibility in
preaching for the environment, in her case
among both students and peers.
Since coming on board, she has helped
embed sustainability in South Bank’s
engineering design curriculum. She helped
introduce new
environmental modules
such as ‘sustainability
week’ in the rst year, new in
2018. That programme forces students to
take sustainable as well as unsustainable
positions in design challenges relating to
food, clothing and transport. “Considering
bad practice as well as good practice
emphasised the message,” she recalls.
Another feature is a ‘design for the circular
economy’ module in the second year, in
which students have to perform a paperbased
lifecycle assessment exercise on a
packaged good. In addition, some go on to
consider a sustainable design topic in their
nal year project, such as former student
Adge Grif n, whose project proposed
recycling used corks and other waste fabric
to make hotel spa sandals (pictured, p12).
Continues Andrews: “We’ve also been
looking at plastics last year. We’re trying
to get away from the idea that all plastics
are bad; but at the same time, not all
plastics are good. It’s a matter of context.
For example, many older people would
die if we cut out plastic use completely,
because stents and many medical devices
are polymeric.
It’s about getting the balance right,
and the wider context of sustainable
materials.”
What does connect all three
Illustration: Howard Wilcox/Mott MacDonald
members is a self-conscious sense of
moral duty toward the environment. For
Andrews, a self-described ‘passionate
environmentalist’, this is a personal
obligation. She explains: “I try to think
about the environment in my life. I don’t
have a car – though I’m a member of a car
club. I cycle to work, walk, take the train,
am a vegetarian, blah blah. I try to practice
what I preach on the environment.”
Easton says that he takes it upon
himself to talk about environmental
matters to other engineers “who don’t
always think about the environment”.
Another factor that links all three is
the belief that the general public aren’t
suf ciently aware of the human impact on
the planet. For example, Easton states: “I
talk to a lot of people who say, ‘I thought
that rivers just took care of themselves’.
People are surprised when I tell them that
I don’t think that I’ve ever worked on an
unmodi ed river, a natural river.”
HOW TO APPLY FOR CENV REGISTRATION
IED is one of 24 bodies licensed by the Society of the Environment to award the CEnv registration.
To be successful, applicants need to demonstrate their competence in four areas:
Application of knowledge and understanding of the environment to further the aims of sustainability
Leading sustainable management of the environment
Effective communication and interpersonal skills
Personal commitment to professional standards, recognising obligations to society, the
profession and the environment
For more details about the breakdown of those competences, and practical application information,
see www.is.gd/ocived
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