One of the joys of running an awards programme within the ever-evolving world of transportation and engineering means finding yourself in a prime position to observe sectoral change and a shift in priorities. When reading nominations for the CIHT Awards 2022, six major priorities are very apparent:

1 A shifting from grey to green

There are a number of schemes where ‘grey’ infrastructure has been effectively blended with ‘green’, with all the associated benefits. For example, people in higher density environments enjoying the benefits of shade provided by tree planting and the addition of water features.

CIHT is currently looking at the area of green infrastructure – as well as sustainable drainage – in detail. Therefore, it’s very encouraging to see impressive case studies in the CIHT awards programme this year - many of which are showcasing some innovative solutions and demonstrating a great understanding of what we are hoping to help achieve throughout the country.

2 Carbon reduction requirements are driving innovation

It’s really encouraging to see the sectors grasping carbon reduction with their full mettle through the awards entries, with initiatives such as active travel schemes to encourage modal shift behaviour. A fundamental shift has been seen in innovations that reduce carbon in the sector, for example, with the use of technology to bring down carbon levels in the atmosphere, by managing congestion.

Net zero legal requirements is a growth area and will continue to be a core focus. It’s also encouraging to find awards entries discussing ‘new’ materials such as graphene and other biogenic binders.

3 Resilience is building

Resilience is a popular theme - resilience to the effects of climate change through increased flooding resilience, and also resilience from a safety point of view. We’ve seen examples of how to make the road network more resilient and the use of smart technologies such as registering stopped vehicle detection on a motorway.

The biggest resilience to climate change comes from people, whether it is an individual’s resilience, a staff resilience or an entire organisation’s cultural resilience.

4 Many paths to achieving inclusivity

It’s great to get a sense that the sectoral agenda has a real injection of inclusivity. The entries highlight the many different routes available to make the network more accessible - with projects that support people with different types of disabilities and other long-term health conditions.

5 Community engagement is the way to enact change

As the pandemic has shown, we can engage and interact with people in so many different ways. Digital engagement of course, and really genuine and meaningful engagement with communities is something that we're seeing more and more frequently. The sector has made a lot of improvements in this area.

Effectively engaging with communities is still a challenge, and getting it right – and sharing learnings from where it's really been done well – is important. Not just for communities, but also for the workforce tasked with putting projects in place and managing change.

6 Social value gaining traction

The introduction of the Public Services Act in 2012 required the industry to measure the economic impact of a project. One decade on, and the focus is shifting to include the social impact of projects. It's becoming more of a part of procurement within organisations but we need to amplify these examples more and share the lessons.

It's about demonstrating that a project’s transport scheme not only has economic, connectivity or timesaving benefits, but also wider benefits for communities. A project can unlock other value too, such as facilitating a return to the workforce for the long-term unemployed.

John Challen was in conversation with Justin Ward, head of policy and technical at CIHT.