Engineering Action: Quarterly Update
International Coalition for Sustainable Infrastructure (ICSI)
Our mission is to make resilience and sustainability key to every decision in the infrastructure lifecycle
We've had an exciting and productive few months at ICSI. As we move forward from a busy spring, I’m thrilled to share some updates on our recent activities.
In April, I was delighted to publish a piece in The Institute of Asset Management 's Assets Magazine on nature-positive approaches in engineering and asset management. June was a whirlwind of activity, starting off with a trip to Bonn for #SB60, where ICSI took part in a session on operationalising the Sharm El-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda alongside the High-Level Climate Champions . The month ended with London Climate Action Week 2024, where we hosted two events: one on evidence-based decision-making for climate action and a second that convened engineers and insurers to discuss scaling up adaptation finance for resilient infrastructure.
Building on previous collaborative efforts, we are also pleased to announce a strategic partnership with Resilience First to advance thought leadership in our shared areas of interests.
Looking ahead, we have exciting activities planned for Climate Week NYC and Innovate4Cities in Montréal, where we'll continue to put sustainable and resilient infrastructure on the agenda. If you'll be at either conference, we would love to connect!
Lastly, don't miss the final call for contributions to the upcoming Climate Resilient Infrastructure Report: A Focus on Technology.
Happy reading!
Executive Director, International Coalition for Sustainable Infrastructure (ICSI)
FINAL CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS: The Climate Resilient Infrastructure Report: A Focus on Technology
📣 💥 We are accepting final submissions for the third issue of our Climate Resilient Infrastructure report!
Issue 3, A Focus on Technology, will showcase available roadmaps, tools and emerging digital technologies, as well as projects and initiatives that have incorporated them. The report will explore how digital technologies can enhance decision-making for #climateresilience and #adaptation throughout the lifecycle of #infrastructure.
We are seeking submissions from a range of sectors and geographies across three categories:
🌍 Project or solution case studies
🌍 Knowledge products and thought leadership
🌍 Collaborative initiatives
The report series is ICSI’s key contribution to the High-Level Climate Champions #RacetoResilience campaign and also tracks progress on the implementation of the Sharm-El-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda #SAA outcomes. Issue 3 will be launched at #COP29.
Nature-positive engineering and asset management
We were delighted to be featured in the April issue of Assets Magazine, which focuses on the theme of #resilience. ICSI Executive Director, Savina Carluccio, wrote about the importance of adopting nature-positive approaches in engineering and asset management to build a safer, more resilient future.
We have also started work on the Lloyd's Register Foundation ’s next Global Foresight Review on the topic of Nature-positive Engineering. Watch this space for some exciting updates on this project.
Welcoming a new Risk and Resilience Director at ICSI
In May, ICSI was delighted to welcome George M. Karagiannis, PhD, CEM® to the team as Risk and Resilience Director. George is leading on multiple projects and initiatives including the 'Turning the World Risk Poll into Action' project, funded by Lloyd's Register Foundation and delivered by ICSI in partnership with UCL.
Previously, George has worked as Greece’s Deputy Secretary-General for Civil Protection, and as Technical Officer at the European Commission Joint Research Center, where his area of expertise revolved around emergency management, critical infrastructure protection and hybrid threats.
In this piece published on Open Access Government, George explains why strong early warning systems need to be established in every country and how telecommunications are playing an increasingly significant role in navigating natural hazards.
ICSI at the #SB60 Bonn Climate Change Conference
ICSI's active role in delivering the Sharm El-Sheikh adaptation agenda (SAA) was highlighted at the #SB60 Bonn Climate Change Conference during a session on Scaling Implementation and Financing Adaptation Solutions.
The importance and urgency of building adaptation and resilience in our infrastructure systems and built environment cannot be stressed enough. ICSI, along with other SAA implementation partners, will continue to pursue ambitious goals, implementing solutions at pace and scale to meet the challenges posed by climate change.
ICSI and Resilience First announce their strategic partnership.
ICSI and Resilience First are pleased to announce a new strategic partnership that will prioritise collaboration through joint thought leadership, knowledge sharing and convening. This partnership builds on an existing collaborative relationship between the two organisations, which have worked closely for many years.
Savina Carluccio , Executive Director of ICSI said: ‘I am thrilled about this new strategic partnership with Resilience First. With their vast network of businesses, they provide invaluable access to the private sector in the built environment and beyond. We look forward to collaborating with Resilience First colleagues on advancing thought leadership in our shared area of interests, in particular climate resilience and adaptation.’
Resilience First is the premier business network focused on improving organisational resilience with the purpose of creating a safer, more secure and sustainable future.
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Recent events
London Climate Action Week
Evidence-based decision-making for climate action
As part of #LCAW24, ICSI partnered with the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) and the High-Level Climate Champions team to co-convene an event on enhancing evidence-based decision-making for climate action in urban infrastructure.
Hosted by Bentley Systems, the event saw a host of engaging discussions with industry leaders exploring the role of technology in advancing climate resilience in cities. Thank you to all who participated!
➡ Read key insights from the event in this blog by Robert Parlett
Scaling up adaptation finance in infrastructure: a dialogue between engineers and insurers
On 26 June, we were pleased to kick off the first in a series of roundtable discussions focused on scaling up adaptation finance in infrastructure, aimed at bridging the gap between the engineering community and key decision-makers in adaptation financing.
As part of London Climate Action Week , leaders from the #engineering and #insurance communities came together to share their perspectives on de-risking investment in adaptation and resilience and to discuss how they could collaborate to remove blockers.
The discussion explored challenges and best practices in assessing, quantifying and communicating risks and returns, and identifying tangible actions to scale up adaptation finance through cross-sector collaboration.
This roundtable series is convened by The International Coalition for Sustainable Infrastructure (ICSI) ,the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (GCoM) , and the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) and sponsored by Mott MacDonald and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) .
Thank you to all who took part and to Howden for kindly hosting the event.
➡ Read key insights and takeaways from the discussion in this blog by Arabella Liu
Webinar series: Key messages from CDRI’s Biennial Report on Global Infrastructure Resilience
On 9 July, in collaboration with the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure , ICSI was pleased to co-host the inaugural webinar in the DRI dialogue series on CDRI’s Biennial Report – Global Infrastructure Resilience: Key Messages.
The webinar reinforced that complete estimation and visualisation of the resilience dividend can provide a solid economic imperative for investing in infrastructure resilience.
Presenters delved into the framing of infrastructure resilience as a multidimensional challenge, encompassing domains such as social and economic resilience, infrastructure governance, asset resilience, service resilience, systemic resilience, and fiscal resilience. A showcase of the Global Infrastructure Risk Model and Resilience Index (GIRI) data platform facilitated the visualisation, querying, analysis, and access to the GIRI results. Speakers also explored the role of Nature-based Infrastructure Solutions in achieving infrastructure resilience.
The session featured:
Upcoming events
DRI Dialogue series: A Deep Dive on Nature-based Infrastructure Solutions (NbIS)
Following the inaugural webinar this month, the DRI Dialogue Series will continue with a session focussing on the intersection of finance and nature-based infrastructure solutions (NbIS) for disaster-resilient infrastructure (DRI) in September.
Drawing on findings from the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure Biennial Report, the session will look at practical examples showcasing the potential of NbIS and intersectional pathways with climate finance.
Further details to be announced shortly.
Innovate4Cities
The Innovate4Cities conference is a city-focused research and innovation initiative under the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (GCoM) alliance and is leading the charge in revolutionising how cities worldwide address climate challenges.
ICSI is hosting and participating in several events throughout the conference, focussed on:
The full programme will be announced later this month. Stay tuned for more!
📅 10-12 Sept 2024
📍 Le Westin Montreal
➡ See more
Climate Week NYC
ICSI will be in New York City once again for Climate Week. Keep an eye out for details of ICSI events happening throughout the week. Let us know if you’ll be there too!
📅 22-29 Sept 2024
📍 New York City