Two leaders from international engineering, design and advisory company Aurecon have been appointed to International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC) Sustainable Development Committee to advise the engineering consulting industry on sustainability issues and how to make a positive contribution and
impact to combat climate change.
Aurecon’s Managing Director for New Zealand, Tracey Ryan has been named as Chair of the 11-strong international
committee and Director, Coastal & Climate Change – Asia, Stéphanie Groen will join as a committee member.
The new committee will advocate, guide and monitor best practice in sustainable development across the global
engineering and construction industry. In addition to publishing tools and guides to support best practice, the
committee will advise the FIDIC board on all aspects of sustainable development as part of the organisation’s commitment
to helping the industry achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Tracey Ryan is delighted to lead the committee: “Environmental sustainability is one of the most important issues facing
our planet so I’m really looking forward to starting work as the chair of this vital FIDIC committee and to
collaborating and working closely with some of the best and brightest minds from across the world,” Ms Ryan said.
“I believe that engineers play a vital role in helping our governments and communities tackle this complex challenge. A
key aim of the committee will be to assess the potential impact of climate change and provide a meaningful forum for
consulting engineers to share ideas on how they can enable mitigation, adaptation and resilience to climate change and
develop and maintain buildings and infrastructure assets that are truly sustainable in the broadest possible way. The
committee will also continue to promote FIDIC’s core principles of quality, integrity and sustainability and work
towards better infrastructure while creating positive impact in all the communities where we work.”
Stéphanie Groen believes that Aurecon’s expertise in sustainability will bring further insights to the committee.
“Many of the issues the Sustainable Development Committee will be looking into, such as sustainable cities,
infrastructure and doughnut economics1, are areas that Aurecon already plays strongly in. I am looking forward to
working with Tracey to bring an Asia Pacific perspective to the committee and add value by driving the agenda in
sustainable development leadership,” Ms Groen said.
“FIDIC has a great opportunity to play a critical role in providing practical solutions to countries and organisations
responding to the UN Sustainable Development goals. I’m looking forward to collaborating with other committee members to
look at these goals in-depth and provide real-world guidance and leadership to the engineering profession to help us
achieve them.”
FIDIC chief executive Dr Nelson Ogunshakin said the Sustainable Development Committee has been relaunched as part of
strengthening and upgrading FIDIC’s committee structure to respond to a rapidly changing world.
“The relaunch of our Sustainable Development Committee is part of a detailed and thorough review of FIDIC’s public
engagement work where we have sought to ensure that our committees and other representative bodies better reflect
geographic diversification and have the right skills set to be more effective in a changing marketplace. Competition was
stiff to sit on these revamped committees, with over 350 industry experts from around the world applying to be members,”
Dr Ogunshakin said.
“The new Sustainable Development Committee, in common with a number of other revamped committees we will be announcing
over the coming weeks, will enable FIDIC to be more external facing and help us to make a positive impact on and
influence in the global infrastructure industry. Going forward, we plan to be more vocal and more visible to meet the
challenges our industry faces as it moves out of the COVID-19 crisis and beyond.”
Aurecon Chief Executive William Cox said that Aurecon was incredibly proud of Tracey and Stéphanie’s committee
appointments and they will undoubtedly make a positive contribution.
“Tracey and Stéphanie will apply their leadership strength and deep technical knowledge to drive the global agenda in
sustainable development, climate change response and resilience. Our clients will benefit from a ‘front row seat’ at
this very important global conversation and have first-hand access to the best practice tools, strategies and insights
the committee develops,” Mr Cox said.About FIDIC
FIDIC has been in operation for over 100 years and represents the interests of over one million engineering
professionals and 40,000 firms in more than 100 countries worldwide. FIDIC offers education, training and best practice
guidance to consulting engineers in all aspects of their jobs including, sustainability and risk, procurement and
contracts, integrity management and capacity building. The organisation has a strong focus on attracting young people to
engineering and runs a highly successful Young Professional Management Training Programme and an associated Young
Professionals Forum.About Tracey Ryan
As Aurecon’s Managing Director, New Zealand, Tracey Ryan leads 700 people across five locations and is responsible for
health & safety, client engagement, staff engagement and project, financial and operational performance to meet Aurecon’s
strategic and operational business goals for New Zealand. Ryan has held senior leadership roles and directorships in
several global professional services companies, including Beca, where she was the Transport and Infrastructure Clients
and Markets Director, EY where she was Director for Sustainability and Climate Change, and ERM, where she was Managing
Partner. She sits on the board of Infrastructure New Zealand and the advisory board for NZ Women’s Infrastructure
Network (WIN).About Stéphanie Groen
As Director of Coastal & Climate Change in Asia, Stéphanie leads Aurecon’s Coastal and Climate Change practice in Asia. Stéphanie brings 18
years’ experience in water, marine and environmental consultancy and previously ran DHI Singapore as Managing Director.
She has been involved in a range of strategic environmental projects including developing a climate change adaption
framework for the Singapore Government, developing a disaster risk assessment for the state of Uttarakhand in India for
the World Bank and advising various Singapore Government Agencies on environmental management solutions for marine
dredging and reclamation works for Tuas Port, Jurong Island, Pulau Tekong and Pasir Panjang Terminals. Stéphanie
currently chairs Aurecon’s Diversity & Inclusion Council in Asia and she is part of an external industry panel with NTUitive supporting the university
engineering start-up investments.