Writing in Construction Europe, Neil Gerrard says that consulting engineers will play a crucial role in delivering both the green transition and the accelerating adoption of digital technologies. This is Part 2 of a two-part series.
… continued from Part 1.
Ferguson’s second objective is for EFCA to have a higher impact, particularly when it comes to topics that are at the top of the European agenda, including open building information modelling (BIM) and the European Union’s taxonomy for sustainable activities.
EFCA also hopes to make a greater impact on the New European Bauhaus initiative that aims to connect the European Green Deal to living spaces, and the Global Gateway, a new European strategy to boost smart, clean and secure links in the digital, energy and transport sectors.
“When you look at the reconstruction of Ukraine, for example, we are already having direct communications with the European Commission, and we want to do this more to get a higher impact,” Ferguson adds.
Meanwhile, she also wants to see EFCA build a stronger network, strengthening diversity in the sector, widening the profile of people who are attracted to EFCA, and providing different ways for the industry to engage with it.
And linked to that is her fourth objective: To be better connected. That means working alongside other industry bodies with similar interests and concerns and trying to work on common campaigns, she adds.
“It’s about trying to make EFCA better known in terms of its priorities and messages and making those partnerships stronger.
“We’ve also started in the last month is trying to make EFCA’s work a little bit more strategic and results oriented,” she says.
That involves using digital tools like dashboards to track how the various EFCA committees’ work is evolving and setting KPIs where appropriate. Ferguson said the aim was to create transparency for both members and those outside EFCA.
Attracting new talent
Meanwhile, consulting engineers have been telling EFCA that they are in the position of having more work than staff, Ferguson said.
She added, “They are concentrating a lot of effort on getting those projects delivered and probably not enough time to give more visibility to what we do.”
And while, as indicated in her objectives, EFCA aims to help boost the sector’s profile, the changes the industry is undergoing are also likely to help in its drive to recruit people.
“We find that sustainability and digitalisation are actually making our industry more attractive, and not only to engineers, but we are also attracting architects, scientists and other types of technical expert,” Ferguson said.
“I think what they’re attracted to is that we have a direct and tangible impact on improving people’s lives.
“They feel that they’re in an industry where, by improving basic services such as water supply, sanitation, waste, mobility, energy, telecommunications, they’re doing something very tangible for the world.
“They can also be involved in highly sophisticated projects like high-speed rail or green hydrogen plants or offshore wind parks. These are attractive projects.
“I think this is something that we need to also be more vocal about.”