In today’s podcast we try to understand how the infrastructure investment we have planned across the UK can actually be turned into better sustainable outcomes for communities. 

To tackle this hugely important issue, my guest today is Professor Jim Hall, the 160th President of the Institution of Civil Engineers, professor of climate and environmental risks at the University of Oxford and commissioner for the soon to be wound down – or is it on - National Infrastructure Commission.

Now, in his inaugural speech to the ICE, Jim rightly pointed out that the infrastructure civil engineers provide is central to sustainable development. Yet, he added that, around the world governments continually struggle to provide those much-needed infrastructure services.

The question is why, and, of course, how can infrastructure professions start to really move the dial when it comes to ensuring that, for all the investment and enthusiasm, we are getting the right sustainable outcomes – the social economic and environmental outcomes from infrastructure systems we already have in place and from the new ones that are slated to be built as part of the on-going global drive towards economic and social growth.

Make no mistake, there are some huge opportunities ahead – but there are also huge challenges. Not least in a world increasingly led by climate change sceptics and vested corporate interests.

Well let’s find out what more the profession can do by chatting to an internationally recognised expert in strategic infrastructure planning.

Resources
ICE presidential address 2024
National Infrastructure Commission
National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority NISTA
NIC Needs Assessment 2
Infrastructure and Projects Authority