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SAICE HOME PAGE / SAICE OPPORTUNITIES, EVENTS & OUTREACH SAISI - SAICE Congress 2002 SAICE and the Built Environment Professions commit themselves to poverty alleviation The first ever Built Environment Professions Convention was held from 2 – 3 May 2002 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Gauteng. This exciting venture was a joint initiative of the Association of S A Quantity Surveyors (ASAQS), S A Association of Consulting Engineers (SAACE); S A Black Technical and Allied Careers Organisation (SABTACO), the S A Institute of Architects (SAIA) and the S A Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE) in an effort to present a united front in addressing sustainable development. The Convention was attended by approximately 200 local and international delegates and speakers. Strongly emerging from the convention was that sustainable development and poverty alleviation are synonymous in the emerging economy and the built environment professions committed themselves to using their expertise and capacity to assist in the alleviation of poverty. Andrew Hollway, (name of company) ……..highlighted the statistics of the World Bank on poverty. He felt that the donor funding of infrastructure had not always taken into account the needs of the community in the past. He reiterated that the engineering community had an integral role to play in infrastructure development including sanitation, hospitals and clinics, irrigation and industrial developments. International speaker, Sharon Sayles-Belton, former mayor of Minneapolis Minnesota, expressed her strong feeling that community involvement was one of the cornerstones of the successes of programmes, established during her two terms as mayor, which were designed to create a viable and sustainable city. Rodney Harbour highlighted the projected affect of HIV/AIDS on the sustainablility of communities and pleaded with the professions to “interrogate” their designs in terms of the new style of community living and mutual support which the HIV/AIDS epidemic will necessitate. Furthermore, there was a general consensus among delegates that policies were in place to address sustainable development, but that action and implementation were now called for and government should be called on to engage with members of the built environment professions to implement action plans in key areas. Rani Naiker of the Department of Public Works intimated that the department was open to initiatives from the private sector, which facilitated poverty relief and the sustainability of communities, both socially and economically. Summing up the convention, Jeremy Boswell, who serves on the FIDIC (International Federation of Consulting Engineers) Sustainable Development Task Force highlighted that a common thread emerging from the various papers presented, was that the community must own the process of sustainable development. Citing a model presented by Roger Venables, who delivered the ICE Brunel International Lecture, Boswell stressed the need for balance between economic success, social success and high environmental quality. He said that members of the built environment professions are faced with major challenges, but should opt for a win-win situation whereby balance and harmony are achieved. This message was reinforced by Mike Muller, Director-General of the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry. He said that as South Africa prepared for the World Summit, it was important that we understand that Sustainable Development is not just about the financial and environmental aspects but also the social and political sides. Also addressing poverty alleviation, Muller said that the challenge facing South Africa was how to address the gap between rich and poor. While, we have the resources to bridge the gap, it was a question of how to deploy the resources. Of note was that a number of government projects were structured in such a way as to address crucial sustainable development issues. This included the integrated development plans of local authorities. James Ngobeni of SABTACO provided an interesting perspective on the role of Previously Disadvantaged Consultants in facilitating and promoting sustainable development within the built environment. He said that the majority of African countries did not create an enabling environment for self-sustaining economic development within their countries and still depended on Europe and American professionals to render services within these countries. This resulted in no skills transfer and capacity building. The Nepad initiative could not be attained if Africa continued with this dependence on international companies. The Presidents of the various organisations involved will be convening shortly to draw up an action plan on sustainable development to be presented to President Thabo Mbeki and at the World Summit to take place in August 2002. Copies of the CD-ROM with the papers are available from SAICE National Office. For more information, please click on the link below to send a direct e-mail to Carla de Jager, your contact person at the SAICE National Office. e-Mail Carla de Jager |
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