Meaningful and effective Māori engagement in engineering infrastructure projects is essential to their success, especially within New Zealand’s water infrastructure sector. This sector currently faces significant deterioration of both above and below ground water assets across the domains of stormwater, wastewater, and drinking water, known as the three waters. As a response, the previous Labour government proposed a reform bill to revitalise the national three waters network, including a plan of shared governance between councils and iwi. Given the relationship of Māori with water, Te Mana o te Wai principles, and their rights outlined in the Treaty of Waitangi, effective engagement is crucial.
Speakers: Alex Hynds and Lucy Gray recently graduated from the University of Canterbury, each earning a bachelor’s degree - Alex in Civil Engineering and Lucy in Natural Resources Engineering. During their final year, they collaborated on an honours project focused on Māori Engagement within the Engineering Profession, specifically examining a Three Waters Case Study. Alex and Lucy’s shared interest in this field has led them to join the Water teams at Jacobs and WSP, respectively.
This webinar was organised by the Sustainability in the Water Sector Specialist Group.
While the water challenges of both the present and the future call for us to bring the best talent, knowledge, capacities, and effort we can attract and retain from both women and men, there is currently inadequate investment in developing the skills and talents of women, recruiting them into the water sector, providing a wide range of opportunities for them to participate and use their skills, and supporting their efforts. As a result, women are numerically under-represented in areas ranging from skilled trades workers to management, as well as subject to inadequate support in optimising their contributions and this particularly in Asia region.
Join the Water NZ and CIWEM team as they introduce professional accreditation and pathways to chartership through the Chartered Institution for Water and Environmental Management. This panel session will include members of CIWEM based in Aotearoa sharing insights on their route to chartership, and the associated benefits, with opportunity for you to ask questions of the panel. The session will be chaired by Justine Jones.
For further information on CIWEM please go to their LinkedIn Page