CC Sep-Oct 2023
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INDUSTRY news<br />
UPSKILLING OUR FUTURE CIVIL ENGINEERS<br />
Bentley Systems has<br />
announced the finalists of<br />
the <strong>2023</strong> Going Digital Awards<br />
in Infrastructure. The annual<br />
awards program honours the<br />
extraordinary work of Bentley<br />
software users advancing<br />
infrastructure design, construction,<br />
and operations<br />
throughout the world. Twelve<br />
independent jury panels, representing<br />
12 award categories,<br />
selected the 36 finalists<br />
from over 300 nominations<br />
submitted by 235 organisations<br />
from 51 countries.<br />
Engineering consultancy<br />
Curtins and Symetri Europe<br />
have collaborated for the third<br />
consecutive year to deliver<br />
Curtins’ Civil Engineering and<br />
Sustainable Infrastructure<br />
Insight Programme, which aims<br />
to provide training for civil engineering<br />
students and equip<br />
them with skills for the future.<br />
Since 2020 the five-week summer<br />
programme has been contributing<br />
to the uptake of young<br />
people into civil engineering<br />
roles. Through exposure to the<br />
dynamic nature of civils and<br />
infrastructure projects, Curtins<br />
hopes the scheme will help to<br />
reduce the shortfall in civil engineering<br />
graduates in the long<br />
term, whilst improving skills in<br />
this specialism. Students from<br />
every university in the UK and<br />
Ireland undertaking a civil engineering<br />
course were invited to<br />
participate, resulting in the<br />
largest cohort to date.<br />
The students benefitted from<br />
exposure to real-life projects<br />
and tutoring, as well as leading<br />
software and training packages.<br />
Much of the content delivered<br />
across the five modules has<br />
pivoted around sustainability,<br />
with an emphasis on green<br />
infrastructure, carbon calculating<br />
and innovation. Topics also<br />
included digital delivery, master<br />
planning, BIM and the cornerstones<br />
of engineering: People,<br />
Place, Nature, and Variety.<br />
In addition to technical learning,<br />
non-technical modules<br />
were provided around career<br />
pathways, marketing, and interview<br />
skills. The programme is<br />
set to be repeated in 2024.<br />
www.curtins.com/careers<br />
GOING TO THE <strong>2023</strong> GOING DIGITAL AWARDS?<br />
Representatives from the<br />
finalists’ organisations will present<br />
their projects to a panel<br />
of independent judges to<br />
determine the winners and<br />
meet with global press and<br />
industry executives at the<br />
<strong>2023</strong> Year in Infrastructure and<br />
Going Digital Awards event,<br />
which will be held at the Marina<br />
Bay Sands in Singapore,<br />
<strong>Oct</strong>ober 11-12, <strong>2023</strong>.<br />
Full details on the <strong>2023</strong> finalists<br />
are available here:<br />
www.bentley.com/events/goin<br />
g-digital-awards/finalists<br />
CAN ESG STRATEGIES DRIVE INVESTMENT?<br />
PlanRadar has launched its<br />
latest whitepaper, ESG in<br />
the real estate industry, which<br />
primarily explores how ESG<br />
strategies are helping to drive<br />
investment within the construction<br />
industry across Europe,<br />
and the role digital tools play in<br />
securing future finance.<br />
From the outset, the White<br />
Paper highlights that Environmental,<br />
Social and Governance<br />
practices are more than just<br />
meeting regulatory guidelines,<br />
they offer sizeable business<br />
benefits. This could explain why<br />
52% of private equity investors<br />
implement ESG as a strategy<br />
to boost asset value, and half<br />
implement an investment policy<br />
that includes ESG specifically.<br />
The report draws on existing<br />
research from leading consultancies,<br />
including Deloitte,<br />
highlighting how ESG due diligence<br />
is making construction<br />
companies involved in low-carbon<br />
building and green property<br />
development attractive to<br />
investors. Recent estimations<br />
put global ESG assets at a<br />
value of more than $23 trillion.<br />
One of the report’s key findings<br />
is that property owners<br />
focused on achieving ESG<br />
goals often experience higher<br />
ROI, and goes on to suggest<br />
the quicker sustainability targets<br />
are met, the faster the<br />
return. This has placed growing<br />
emphasis on integrating<br />
ESG strategies into the technical<br />
due diligence of real estate<br />
assets to reap greater rewards,<br />
including understanding a<br />
building’s current condition<br />
and the potential cost of<br />
repairs and compliance with<br />
building regulations.<br />
However, the report also<br />
acknowledges that achieving<br />
this aim is no overnight fix<br />
since the integration process<br />
can be lengthy, relying on<br />
third-party expertise to evaluate<br />
data, compile reports and<br />
align objectives. It also comes<br />
at a substantial upfront cost,<br />
with evidence-based data,<br />
which shows processes and<br />
regulations have been correctly<br />
followed for safe and habitable<br />
buildings. ESG data collection<br />
and reporting is<br />
demanding, given the breadth<br />
of continuously emerging standards<br />
and regulations, coupled<br />
with maintaining robust<br />
records of project documentation,<br />
contracts, plans and protocols<br />
across fragmented project<br />
supply chains.<br />
ESG in the real estate industry<br />
with PlanRadar is available to<br />
download now as a free eBook:<br />
https://www.planradar.com/gb/<br />
ebooks/esg-in-the-real-estateindustry-with-planradar/<br />
<strong>Sep</strong>tember/<strong>Oct</strong>ober <strong>2023</strong> 9
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