CPW’s ‘INWED 2023: Sustainability in the Second City’ roundtable discussed how sustainability is a significant opportunity to bring more women into engineering
Held at CPW’s city centre office on Colmore Row, the event saw a ten-strong panel of local experts discuss a wide range of topics for International Women in Engineering Day.
Items discussed included Birmingham’s journey to net zero by 2030 and how far funding will stretch, how engaging with educators will help boost industry diversity and even the pros and cons of well recognised sustainability accreditations.
The all-female panel featured a variety of built environment experts
The vent was optimistic in tone, recognising the new ideas being brought into the industry by young minds.
The panel explored how cost and assurances could be potential barriers to success as well as how the gap between vision and reality can impact the processes of value engineering and design.
The panel was hosted by CPW and chaired by Charlotte Dove (Cartwright Communications).
Attendees included:
- Hannah Kissick (CPW)
- Michelle Ward (CPW)
- Tiv Kaur (AA Projects)
- Isabel Scruby (HUB Residential)
- Dr Monica Mateo-Garcia (Birmingham City University)
- Justine Doody (Wates)
- Rosie Peach-Robinson (EDGE)
- Rachel Care (Turner and Townsend)
- Ellie Hignett (Birmingham City Council)
- Lois Taylor (Naismiths).
Increased diversity and more women in engineering will bring new solutions to achieving net zero
Hannah Kissick, associate in innovations and sustainability at CPW, said: “It was very inspiring to host an event attended by women with impressive and extensive experience in the built environment. The range of topics we covered and the enthusiasm for collaboration during and after the session definitely gave me confidence that more solutions can be found for our journey to net zero in Birmingham and for creating a more accessible industry.
“Where there is a challenge there is always an opportunity, and this event reminded me that we can harness the interest in sustainability among the younger generation to position engineering as a key industry needed to meet sustainability targets.”
Education and retrofitting skills will be key to delivering net zero
Ellie Hignett, principal portfolio officer – Route to Net Zero Carbon at Birmingham City Council, said: “It’s so important that occasions like International Women in Engineering Day continue to be celebrated and events like the one hosted by CPW continue to be supported. They bring important stakeholders together and enable vital industries like engineering to debate how we can overcome shared challenges – like net zero.
“While funding plays a key role in what we can achieve in Birmingham, we must also invest time in education. Without the people needed in positions to focus on net zero, there is no infrastructure to carry out the work. We must also continue to use cooperation between the public and private sector to create a baseline for what is achievable, with retrofit being a very topical example amid ongoing debate around the best approach.”
