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Keeping Envision Front and Center on the World Stage

7-June-2022

Back-to-back events in May 2022 provided opportunities to put Envision® front and center on an international stage. Recognition of Envision as a transformative framework for sustainable infrastructure keeps growing, and below are some key activities President and CEO Anthony Kane and Managing Director Melissa Peneycad undertook to continue that momentum.

Anthony Kane speaking at the Envision Italia Event (left) and at the University of Genoa (right).


Envision Italia and University of Genoa Keynotes

While in Italy for the Envision Italia Conference, Kane gave a presentation on sustainable infrastructure at University of Genoa, on May 25. A 550-year-old university well known for its program in sustainable architecture, engineering, and design, Università di Genova provided an opportunity for Kane to speak about the state of sustainable infrastructure in front of an audience of faculty and students (some of whom are using Envision in their master theses!). The next day, he traveled to Rome to deliver a keynote address at the Envision Italia Conference, organized by our Italian partner, ICMQ. Senior leaders representing the companies, operators, and ENV SPs that make up the Envision community in Italy were in attendance. The event’s return to an in-person format after more than two years delivered valuable project updates and lessons learned on developing sustainable infrastructure in Italy. In the same week, ISI was also pleased to announce that another Italian project had received an award through Envision Italia, the Bologna Bypass Project.

 

ISI’s Melissa Peneycad moderating a session at the International PPP Forum in Barcelona.

UNECE Conference

Melissa Peneycad represented ISI at the 6th UNECE International Public-Private Partnerships Forum in Barcelona (May 4-6, 2022), where PPP practitioners from around the world gathered to challenge one another and share best practices. She moderated a panel on how the circular economy can be supported by “People-first” PPPs, that are evaluated against five people-first outcomes and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As a discussant in another session, she provided live assessments of projects from Mexico, Brazil and Slovenia that were submitted to UNECE as case studies aligning with its People-first evaluation methodology, leading to a robust discussion about sustainable PPP development.

Melissa Peneycad giving the opening keynote at CSCE 2022. Right: Professor Rishi Gupta, the conference chair.

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering Conference

Peneycad delivered the opening keynote at Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (CSCE) Conference in Whistler, B.C. ISI-approved Envision-qualified trainers from luuceo consulting presented an Envision Workshop, and ISI also had a booth at this conference. Attended by 550 academics and practitioners, from 14 countries, this conference provided an unparalleled opportunity to communicate the value of Envision on projects alongside ISI’s partner in Canada, the CSCE. The event saw participation by key infrastructure leaders and decision-makers, including plenaries by the federal and provincial (British Columbia) ministers of infrastructure. A full announcement about CSCE 2022 appeared on the Envision Canada website.

CICCP and Tecniberia’s Sustainability Initiatives in Spain Receive Support from ISI

2-June-2022

Left: Pablo Bueno Tomás, President of Tecniberia (The Spanish Association of Engineering, Consulting and Technological Services Companies), ISI President & CEO Anthony Kane, and Miguel Ángel Carrillo Suárez, President of the Colegio de Ingenieros de Caminos, Canales y Puertos (CICCP) (Spanish Council of Civil Engineers). Right: Araceli Garcia Nombela, Secretary General of Tecniberia, with Mr. Kane and Mr. Tomás.

The prestigious Spanish Council of Civil Engineers (El Colegio de Ingenieros de Caminos, Canales y Puertos) and Tecniberia, that country’s foremost association for engineering companies, are two of the most influential organizations in Spain for advancing sustainability in infrastructure.

In May, the leaders of these organizations met with ISI President & CEO Anthony Kane in Madrid and entered into a collaboration agreement. Through this three-way partnership, ISI will support the country’s civil engineering community to lead the A/E/C industry to plan, design, and deliver greater sustainable and resilient infrastructure, using the Envision® Sustainability Framework.

ISI is very pleased to be collaborating with CICCP and Tecniberia and extending the Envision framework into Spain, home to a highly experienced civil engineering community: “We see this as a tremendous opportunity for Spain, its citizens, communities, and the A/E/C industry,” said ISI’s Anthony Kane. “Following the COVID-19 pandemic, there has never been a greater opportunity to form new international partnerships in support of better infrastructure and healthier communities. The Envision framework and rating system can empower all stakeholders to do just that.”

This is an impressive milestone for supporting sustainable infrastructure in Spain through a partnership with two organizations that play an influential role in how infrastructure projects are planned and carried out, not only in that country but in other regions where its civil engineering firms and professional community have a significant presence.

Though headquartered in the United States, Envision is growing around the world through project verification and credentialing. Envision is the product of the collaboration between ISI, which was founded by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC), the American Public Works Association (APWA), and the Zofnass Program for Sustainable Infrastructure at Harvard University Graduate School of Design.

The Envision v3 Manual was translated into Spanish and became available late last year, a product of ISI’s partnership with FEMCIC in bringing Envision to Mexico. The fact that this resource is already available in Spanish will be tremendously valuable in communicating the value of the Envision framework in Spain.