Invitation - Oman Professional Engineers Network (OPEN) Event
Monday, 18th March 2019
6:00 PM to 8:45 PM
Venue: CBFS
Speakers Biography & Synopsis
Biography of Prof. Jean Venables:
Jean Venables is a Chartered Civil Engineer, a Director Venables Consultancy, and a leading consultant in flood risk and water level management.
Her current appointments are:
• Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Engineering, Environment and Computing at Coventry University
• Member of the UK’s Anglian (Central) Regional Flood and Coastal Committee
• Chairman of the Engineering and Environment Committee for WFEO (the World Federation of Engineering Organisations)
• Member of Council and the Technical Committee of RNLI, UK’s Royal National Lifeboat Institution
• Vice President (and former Chief Executive) of the UK Association of Drainage Authorities
• Member of the Royal Academy of Engineering’s International Committee
• President of the British Section of the IESF (Société des Ingénieurs et Scientifiques de France)
• Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers’ Presidential Commission on Governance.
Jean is a Past President of the Institution of Civil Engineers (2008-9) and in 2001 received the Garth Watson Medal for her contribution to ICE activities. Very unusually, Jean has been given three awards in the UK honours system: the MBE for services to civil engineering, the OBE for services to flood defence and the CBE for services to the civil engineering profession. She was also Chair of the Board of Constructionarium, which provides hands-on construction experience for civil engineering and other built environment students, in 2017-18.
The University of Kent, Kingston University, Abertay University and Nottingham University have awarded Jean Honorary Doctorates. In recognition of her extensive work for the ICE on the development of entry requirements and especially the moves to increase substantially the number and role of technicians and technician engineers in ICE, the Jean Venables Medal is awarded by the ICE for the best performance in the Technician Engineers Review.
Synopsis of Prof. Jean Venables’ Talk:
Flood Risk Management: past and future
In this talk, Jean will initially review briefly the history of how engineers and society have tried to deal with water in the environment. She will address recent developments in the approaches adopted such as catchment management, integration of approaches to dealing with potable water supply, droughts and flooding. It is important to consider how to both mitigate and adapt to climate change and its predicted effects.
Jean will then address the very wide range of issues and considerations, for flood risk management which, include spatial planning, warning systems, preparedness, natural processes, environmental considerations, sustainability and engineered hard defences. A limiting factor can often be the availability of funding as there are competing priorities in any country and then there has to be a system of prioritisation of actions.
Jean’s final section will look to the future and how we can improve our integration of approaches to all of these challenges, especially in the context of the predicted effects of climate change, whilst still recognising – and educating the general public that – whilst we can reduce the risk of flooding, we cannot (ever) eliminate it.
Biography of Prof. Roger Venables:
Roger Venables has been working on the connections and interactions between design, construction and operation of civil infrastructure and the environmental & sustainability agendas for more than 30 years.
From 1999 to 2015, he played a central role in creating, operating and developing CEEQUAL, the ICE-led Sustainability Assessment, Rating and Awards Scheme for civil engineering, infrastructure, landscaping and the public realm. From 1999 to 2004, he led the team that undertook a feasibility study for such a scheme and that then created CEEQUAL as a working tool. As Chief Executive (2006-15) he led the development and operation of the Scheme, including its transition from an environmental to a sustainability rating system. He stood down as Chief Executive in November 2015 when CEEQUAL was acquired by BRE.
From early in his independent consultancy, he worked with Jean Venables and ecologist John Newton to develop better outcomes at the interface between construction and the rest of the environment, whether green, brown or human.
From 2003 to 2010, he held a Royal Academy of Engineering Visiting Professorship in Engineering Design for Sustainable Development at Queen's University Belfast. In addition, he was a founding Visiting Lecturer at City University, London (now City, University of London) for the MSc in Construction Management since its inception in 2008, on which he taught a module on the environment, sustainability & CSR until 2017.
Roger's interest in environmental issues received a major boost in 1973 with a conference "Resources: Tomorrow's Dilemma" organised by the Association of London Graduates and Students of the UK Institution of Civil Engineers. Major later sustainability connections with ICE were as Chairman of ICE’s Environment & Sustainability Committee (2000 to 2003), and being the third ICE Brunel Lecturer on Delivering Sustainable Development, which he delivered in 22 locations in 2001 to 2003.
Synopsis of Prof. Roger Venables’ Talk:
Sustainability rating systems for buildings and infrastructure: What, why, how … and to what benefit?
Roger Venables has more than 30 years’ involvement in the challenge of improving the environmental performance of the built environment and how it is constructed. He has been a leading player in the progressive moves towards the application of sustainability principles to the framing, design, construction and operation of built environment projects, and especially infrastructure.
In this talk, Roger Venables will explain the fundamentals of sustainability rating systems for buildings and infrastructure, why they were developed, and how they are constructed and work. He will then explore and explain the benefits of using these systems – whether formally to acquire a rating or informally as guidance – and how those benefits can be and are gained outside the systems’ countries of origin.
His final section will address some of the continuing assessment challenges – for example increasing the number of metrics-based assessment questions rather than judgement-based questions. In addition, he will address how these systems could usefully be developed to assist clients, design and construction teams to maximise their contribution to climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Programme of the event
- 06.00 pm Refreshments, Networking & Prayers
- 06.25 pm Introduction of the distinguished speakers by Dr Elizabeth Salter CEng FIChemE, member of OPEN's SC
- 06.30 pm Prof Jean Venables Talk "Flood Risk Management: past and future"
- 07.20 pm Q & As
- 07.30 pm Prof Roger Venables Talk "Sustainability rating systems for buildings and infrastructure: What, why and how?"
- 08.20 pm Q & As
- 08.30 pm General Discussion, on the situation in Oman in relevance to the Talks, led by Mr Martyn Harris CEng FICE, ICE Oman Country Representative, and further Q & As
- O8.45 pm Closure.
