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The Society for the Environment has welcomed the launch of the new Environment Act as a critical step in the right direction in our collective efforts to address the climate and environmental emergencies, but implementation is the biggest challenge and opportunity.

Registered environmental professionals from iED and across sectors are key to successful implementation.

The Environment Act has now officially passed into UK law, which puts legally binding environmental targets in place for the UK and introduces the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) to hold government and public bodies to account.

Environment Secretary George Eustice said, “The Environment Act will deliver the most ambitious environmental programme of any country on earth.”

Chief Executive of the Society for the Environment, Dr Emma Wilcox CEnv, said:

“This legislation is a critical step in the right direction in our collective efforts to address the climate and environmental emergencies in the UK and beyond. But this is a steppingstone on our journey towards a greater goal. The next step is collective, sustained, expert-lead action.

Achieving the ambitions set out in the Act will require those with proven environmental competence and dedication to evidence based good practice and innovation, to be at the forefront of implementation. Registered environmental professionals within iED and across all sectors are therefore well placed to collaboratively lead on the actions needed.”

The Society for the Environment holds the register for over 7,600 registered environmental professionals who have achieved one of three registrations:

• Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv)
• Registered Environmental Practitioner (REnvP)
• Registered Environmental Technician (REnvTech)

For more information about the new Environment Act, including details of what it aims to deliver, view the Defra press release here.

Deadline: 4.00pm (GMT) Monday 31 January 2022

Engineering X’s Engineering Skills Where They are Most Needed Programme have launched a grant programme that aims to fund high impact, innovative projects. The programme will fund projects that develop domestic engineering capability to build, operate and maintain critical engineering infrastructures safely and/ or develop engineering capacity and skills needed most to adopt emerging technologies safely in countries in less developed, low, middle, or upper middle income countries that are ODA recipients (DAC list of 2021).

Grant expected outcomes and impact

The grant scheme will fund projects in countries where there is a clear need to improve capacity and capability for safe, innovative engineering that can make a distinctive difference, such as:

• skills and education interventions that will improve capacity and capability for safe and innovative engineering
• skill development that will reduce accidents, incidents and fatalities caused by unsafe engineering practices such as poor design, construction, inspection practices, operation, and maintenance of engineering infrastructures.
• projects that will contribute to safer working practices and more employable workforce including new graduates.

Grant objectives:

1. Supporting policy and partnerships which develop necessary skills at necessary scale to tackle existing or emerging engineering skills and safety challenges and take advantage of existing or emerging opportunities (e.g. Artificial intelligence, Industry 4.0, Smart agriculture, Solar energy, Additive manufacturing, Cyber security, etc)

2. Enhancing the quality of challenge-oriented educations in engineering institutions engineering universities, vocational/technical colleges, and apprenticeship providers, to tackle the existing or emerging engineering skills for safety chalenges and take advantage of existing or emerging opportunities to ehance safety. For example, health and safety training, curriculum upgrade of programmes etc.

3. Upskilling the capacity of the engineering and technician workforce, new engineering graduates, in order to enhance capability to leverage emerging technologies which will improve engineering safety practices that will lead to safer engineering infrastructures, for example health and safety training etc.

This programme will support ambitious, potentially disruptive projects and partnerships that leverage digital technologies to meet the above objectives, can evaluate and provide robust evidence of the project’s impact, and can ensure its long-term sustainability.

Grant funding framework

1. This grants scheme will provide funding between £50,000 and £80,000 to applicants to conduct activities in support of the programme objectives.

1.1 £50,000 projects: we will consider projects that need help to get started such as those developing prototype engineering education products that aim to enhance skills and improve safety of engineering infrastructures.

1.2 £80,000 projects: we will consider projects with greater scope that involve broader partnerships with industry, government, and regulatory and policy bodies, and that aim to make the most impact on skills for safety.

2. Matched resourcing (finance, in kind, other):

2.1 £80,000 projects: matched resourcing of up to 20% of the total project budget is necessary if applicants are applying for grants up to £80,000. For example, a £100,000 project would need £20,000 of matched support to attract an £80,000 grant.

2.2 not necessary but it is encouraged to demonstrate contribution and leveraged investment from applying partners.

Opportunity for recently graduated engineers: you may allocate between 5% and 10% of the grant to enhance the skills and employability of early-career engineers and new graduates. This could be internships (the Academy stands against unpaid internships) or other ways to engage graduates. We welcome other creative ideas that help achieve the programme’s outcome and impact.

Eligibility

Countries: less developed, low, middle, and upper middle income countries that are ODA recipients (DAC list of 2021) can apply.

Institutions: we welcome applications from universities, vocational/technical colleges, schools, professional engineering institutions, industry, and education providers from private and NGO sectors.

Partnerships: we encourage partnerships and coalitions with others in the broader environment, which may include organisations that demand skills (e.g., industry) or organisations who govern the skilling system, such as government bodies and agencies.

Diversity: The Academy is bound by the Equality Act 2010. The Academy is committed to diversity and welcomes applications from women and other groups who are currently underrepresented across engineering.

How to apply

All applications must be submitted via the online Grant Management System (GMS). The lead applicant or an authorised representative from the lead applicant institution must first register with the GMS and provide some basic log-in details to create a profile. Applications can only be submitted by the lead applicant. Please read the guidance notes before starting your application.

Contact and queries

If you have any questions, please contact Wahidullah Azizi, Programme Manager, Engineering X ‘Engineering Skills Where They are Most Needed’, at Wahidullah.azizi@raeng.org.uk.

Further information can be found here

Risk is an inherent part of all engineering activities, so it is essential that all engineers and technicians are able to identify, assess, understand and appropriately manage risk. It is also crucial to be able to communicate about risk to others, both professionals and the public.  

To support this, the Engineering Council, the regulatory body for the engineering profession in the UK, has issued updated Guidance on Risk. This guidance is suitable for engineering professionals at all career stages, and across all sectors and specialisms.

The Guidance on Risk describes the role of all those engaged in engineering in dealing with risk, and their responsibilities to society.

The revised Guidance on Risk sets out the key stages of managing risk and emphasises the need to exercise informed judgment and identify what is an acceptable level of risk – the risk appetite.

This Guidance sets out six principles to ensure all engineering professionals integrate understanding of the environment and sustainability of resources into all aspects of their work:

1. Apply professional and responsible judgment and take a leadership role
2. Adopt a systematic, broad and holistic approach to risk identification, assessment, management and review
3. Comply with legislation and codes, but be prepared to suggest or promote further improvements
4. Ensure good contextual communication with the others involved
5. Ensure that sustainable systems for oversight and scrutiny are in place
6. Contribute to public awareness of risk

Alasdair Coates CEng FICE MCIHT CMIOSH, CEO of the Engineering Council said:

“Engineers have a crucial role to play in assessing and managing risk, especially as they frequently work in safety critical areas. This updated Guidance on Risk supports individual engineers and technicians by providing key principles that can be incorporated into their daily practice with engineering teams, inter-disciplinary teams and when communicating risks to the wider public.”

The full Guidance on Risk leaflet, along with a convenient wallet card of the six principles, can be downloaded free from: www.engc.org.uk/risk

The Guidance is reviewed periodically and, following a consultation with the engineering community, this edition replaces and updates the previous Guidance. The Engineering Council also produces guidance on Security, Sustainability and Whistleblowing, in addition to the Statement of Ethical Principals, published jointly with the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng). This Guidance is reviewed regularly and can be found at: www.engc.org.uk/guidance

The President’s Medal is awarded to a Fellow of the Academy who has contributed significantly to the Academy’s aims and work through their initiative in promoting excellence in engineering.

To make a nomination please click here

Further information can be found here

Commissioned by HRH The Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh KG KT, Senior Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, for exceptional contributions to engineering through practice, management or education.

The medal is awarded biennially to an engineer of any nationality who has made an exceptional contribution to engineering as a whole through practice, management or education.

To make a nomination please click here

Further information can be found here

With the support of the Worshipful Company of Engineers, the Academy will be making five awards of £3,000 each year to UK* engineers in full time higher education, research or industrial employment, who have demonstrated excellence in the early stage of their career (defined as ten years or less since graduation from their first degree in engineering or equivalent qualification on the day of the submission deadline**). The Academy aspires to recognise excellence in both academia and industry

*By ‘UK’ we mean engineers who are either UK citizens or working in the UK for a period of not less than three years immediately before the year of awarding the prize.

** Any career breaks will be appropriately considered by the Committee.

From these five awardees, the Academy’s Awards Committee will select an overall winner who, in addition to his / her cash award, will receive the Academy’s Sir George Macfarlane Medal.

Nominations can be submitted by any individual or organisation.

Excellence may be demonstrated in a number of ways including, but not restricted to, individuals who have:

• Shown outstanding flair in promoting engineering in schools or groups or leadership of initiatives regionally

• Published work of significance that has attracted national and / or international attention evidenced by press or other citation

• Exhibited outstanding productivity in creativity evidenced by patents or designs.

• Made a demonstrable and significant contribution to the commercial success of a project / company

• Demonstrated outstanding leadership of a project or team within their company

There is no restriction on the engineering discipline of the individual.

The prizes will be awarded annually. The prizes will not be awarded if in any year the Academy so decides.

Submissions must give the following information:

• Particulars of the nominee.

• Citation of not more than 500 words.

• Curriculum vitae of not more than two pages

• Letters of support from two referees (not including the nominator and at least one from outside the nominee’s organisation). Letters of support should:

o   State your relationship to the nominee; include your title or position if applicable.

o   Explain your reasons for supporting the nominee in the body of the letter.

o   Make specific examples of how you believe the nominee has met the criteria of the award.

o   Convey enthusiasm for their work.

o   Be unique and written from the point of view of your association with the nominee.

o   Printed on organisational letterhead, if applicable.

Self-nominations are not accepted, however, if you are interested in this award but do not know of anyone to nominate you please contact the Academy.

Only completed nominations will be considered. Please ensure that the nomination form is complete with CV and letters of support at the time of submission.

Each nominator can submit no more than three nominations in any one year for the award.

Submissions are now open and will close at 5pm on Friday, 5 November 2021.

The Academy is committed to diversity and welcomes nominations and nominees from women and other groups who are currently under-represented across engineering, as well as recognising the full breadth of engineering.

Please direct any queries with respect to your nomination to awards@raeng.org.uk or telephone 020 7766 0630.

To make a nomination please click here

Further information can be found here

The award is named after past President and Academy Fellow Sir Denis Rooke and is normally awarded to an individual or small team (of no more than five) based in the UK that has supported the Academy’s aims and work through their initiative in promoting engineering to the public.

To make a nomination please click here

Further information can be found here