Over eight hundred delegates from all over the world converged in South Korea’s vibrant capital, Seoul, for the annual World Consulting Engineering Conference of the International Federation of Consulting Engineer’s (FIDIC) this past September. The conference was an open invitation to industry professionals from over 67 countries to engage in this year’s theme: Beyond Green: A New Paradigm. The particular focus was on the achievements and needed contributions of the engineering profession in sustainable development; a concept which continues to be as relevant today as it was in 1987 when the term was originally coined by the UN’s Bundtland Commission. Common global challenges like the economic crisis, climate change and resource scarcity are inevitably among the key drivers for sustainable development, not least of which in the infrastructure sector which constitutes the bread and butter of the consulting engineering industry worldwide. The conference recognized both the challenges and opportunities facing the engineering industry in this context, and succeeded in lending a voice to the spectrum of stakeholders working on raising the global standard in infrastructure development. Despite the diversity in cultures, backgrounds and areas of expertise represented at the conference, the underlying message was clear: sustainability will play a significant role in driving global priorities and investments in infrastructure, and the engineering sector including the entire public-private spectrum of players must work together to realize this new paradigm.
It was most befitting for South Korea to host this year’s conference, as it was an opportunity for participants to learn firsthand about the country’s ambitious targets and successes in developing a green economy. The conference was inaugurated with a Keynote Speech by Dr Soogil Young, Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Green Growth (how may senior level green growth task forces do we have in the Arab world today?). The green growth wheels were set in motion for Korea when President Lee Myung-bak declared in 2008 “low carbon, green growth” as the new development paradigm for the country. In only four years, Korea now boasts an impressive list of achievements based on a National Green Growth Strategy and Five-Year Plan (2009-2013). Success is driven by such ambitious targets as becoming the 7th ranking Green Economy globally by 2020. Korea seems to be on its way to achieving this goal; it is now the world’s second largest producer of LED lighting and a leader in tidal power production. In addition to the many advances on the technology front, the country has also seen significant growth in renewable energy investments, wide-spread adoption of energy efficient appliances, prevalence of green buildings, a boom in public transportation, improved climate change adaptation capacity and public awareness manifested in wider adoption of bicycles, hybrid cars, waste reduction and energy efficiency measures. Korea also launched the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), now a global knowledge platform on green growth endorsed internationally with 21 partner countries including Qatar and UAE to date. There is much to learn from Korea’s green growth story; the serious commitment by both the public and private sectors, and the cross-sectoral collaboration are inspirational and impressive by any measure.
Another key output of the conference was the unveiling of FIDIC’s 2012 State of the World Report on Sustainable Infrastructure. Geared at its audience of consulting engineers, the report tries to drive home a number of key messages: consulting engineers have the tools to facilitate sustainable projects but early integration of sustainability thinking in the project lifecycle is key. Lead author of the report, Professor Peter Guthrie of Cambridge University introduced the Sustainability Decision-Making Hierarchy at key junctures in the project development process: from the conceptual stage through to design, construction, operation and even the project’s end-of-life stage. The design and implementation of the London Olympic Park is presented as a mega-scale success story of sustainability decision making that starts early and is maintained throughout the project’s life; even today after the games have concluded. The FIDIC report addresses some of the major misconceptions associated with shifts towards sustainable design, including perceptions of increased costs and risks. The report shows that early sustainability planning can serve to mitigate unnecessary running costs of a project and improve the overall resilience of its assets. Without attempting to reinvent the wheel, the report offers its readers an overview of existing sustainability decision-support tools, rating systems, calculators and guidelines with the caveat that local context should be considered carefully and rating systems applied with a grain of salt as useful but by no means comprehensive. This report sets the theme for the conference proceedings that ensued.
Although concepts of green growth, green economy and sustainable development have been tackled widely in recent years, the three-day FIDIC conference shed light on these issues by addressing green growth progressively from three angles: the challenges, the opportunities and shifting the paradigm. Key outcomes were captured in three words from the closing session: Innovation, Inspiration and Incentive, referring in order to the role engineers need to play in innovating solutions, to the inspiration from convergence of stakeholders and finally to the incentives resulting from commitments by both the public and private sectors.
Among the 67 countries represented at the conference, the Arab World contributed participants from Egypt, Morocco, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. AFED’s own Secretary General, Mr Najib Saab, enriched the presentations of the second Plenary Session with a sneak preview of the Arab Ecological Footprint Report to be launched in Beirut this coming November. Despite the bleak state of affairs in some Arab countries, Mr Saab made reference to positive green developments in the region and the need for serious political will to sustain and grow such initiatives. Morocco’s Moncef Ziani – President of Morocco’s Federation of Consulting Engineers – presented the latest on green growth and sustainable development in Morocco. Delegates from Jordan also had a voice at the conference; the writer was fortunate to participate in the seminar on Climate Change and Sustainability: New and Emerging Challenges and Solutions by highlighting the opportunity for consulting engineers to play a role in climate change mitigation and adaptation projects, sharing a case study form Jordan. Young Professional’s from Jordan-based consultancy Arabtech Jardaneh highlighted the importance of female involvement in the sector, while the company’s Executive Managing Director and FIDIC Executive Committee Board Member, Mr Bisher Jardaneh, invited delegates to support Jordan’s successful bid to host the FIDIC world conference in 2015. It is hoped that the conference in 2015 will draw participation from regional players, and shed light on engineering excellence in the Arab World. One hopes that by then the region will have improved its ecological footprint, and can claim green successes of its own – Seoul Style.