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Civil engineers have a crucial role to play in helping meet the UN Millennium Development Goals by delivering the sustainable infrastructure underpinning economic growth in developing countries.
As a learned society ICE develops and shares best practice in engineering for development. The Institution also promotes the role of engineers in this field to Government, development agencies, donors and NGOs.
ICE has a long standing involvement in International Development. The Presidential Commission “Engineering without Frontiers” and Professor Paul Jowitt’s Brunel Lecture Engineering Civilisation from the Shadows demonstrated the engineering profession has a clear role and responsibility in working with others towards achieving the MDGs. The 2010 President’s Apprentice Scheme further addresses the challenges facing engineers engaged development work in An Engineering Project Delivery Plan for International Development and the UN MDGs.
The Institution collaborates with engineering organisations and NGOs worldwide in its development work. ICE signed a memorandum of understanding with Engineers Against Poverty, Engineers Without Borders UK and RedR to increase cooperation between the organisations. The Institution is the UK national member to the World Federation of Engineering Organisations (WFEO) and provides secretariat to the Commonwealth Engineers Council (CEC). The International Development Policy and Practice Panel leads ICE's international development activity. Key themes include:
Capacity Building – building domestic capacity in engineering and technology is a key factor in the achievement of economic growth in low income countries. ICE collaborates with the Royal Academy of Engineering and the African Engineers Forum in the Africa-UK Engineering for Development Partnership, aiming to strengthen capacity of the engineering profession in Africa
Procurement – in partnership with NGO Engineers Against Poverty, ICE has carried out research to assess how public sector infrastructure procurement procedures impact development. Conclusions and recommendations are published in three reports to date.
Transparency - ICE is a member of the UK Anti-corruption Forum and of the International Secretariat of the DFID funded Construction Sector Transparency Initiative (CoST)
Water Resource Management – in collaboration with Oxfam and WaterAid ICE held a series of events on Practical Integrated Water Resource Management. The conclusions of these panel discussions are compiled in Managing Water Locally, a report exploring how local water resources can be managed successfully by community-based institutions in support of state-level initiatives, where they exist.
Disaster Risk Reduction and Reconstruction – ICE supports the work of RedR and is a member of the Development from Disasters Network. The Institution seeks to ensure that built environment professionals are properly engaged throughout the post-disaster/post-conflict reconstruction cycle. The Built Environment Professions in Disaster Risk Reduction and Response guide published in collaboration with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the Royal Town Planning Institute and the Royal Institute of British Architect promotes best practice to non-technical decision makers involved in disaster management.
The ICE International division support the Institution’s international development activities - for further information contact Daphne Guthrie daphne.guthrie@ice.org.uk or +44 (0)207 665 2026