Jobs today are no longer for life.  As practitioners in the environmental field we need to ensure continuous professional development and a systematic approach to life-long learning to ensure career advancement.  This is why membership of a professional institution such as the IES is so important as it can help provide us with the expertise, knowledge and skills to sustain our competitive advantage. 

One such differentiator in our industry is achieving Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv) status which is gaining ground as a prerequisite for senior posts.  It was through this qualification that I was alerted to probably one of the best environmental posts in the country at the moment – being given the opportunity to be the Environmental Project Manager for the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (the London 2012 organising committee). 

 Promoting the importance of professional institutions and qualifications in the industry is something that David Stubbs, Head of Environment and Sustainability at the London 2012 organising committee, feels very passionate about.  Key attributes for the post included having a strong professional background in environmental management, being a full member of an appropriate professional institute and preferably a CEnv.  The Society for the Environment (SocEnv) were informed about the vacancy by London 2012 and they in turn passed the details onto the Constituent Bodies, in this case the IES, which resulted in an email popping up in my inbox and me jumping at the chance to apply! 

 As Environmental Project Manager my role is to develop and manage specific elements of the London 2012 Environment and Sustainable Development Programme.  This includes liaising across the organisation and with other partners and stakeholders to ensure that the design, construction and management of venues and other facilities conform to the principles and ethos of the London 2012 Sustainability Policy.  This in turn is based on the concept of a One Planet Olympics.  Emphasis is given to optimising resource efficiency in terms of energy, waste, water and materials.

Other tasks include developing a Management System. This includes mechanisms to integrate sustainability considerations into procurement and sponsorship; producing Venue Environment Plans; scoping and developing plans for Games “Closed Loop” waste systems and to comply with the Games Time objective of zero waste direct to landfill; and supporting the development of sustainable transport requirements. 

My previous employment within the environmental consultancy sector gave me an excellent grounding in technical, commercial and project management skills, whilst my industrial secondment and trusted advisor roles helped me to become more pragmatic and innovative in solving problems.  London 2012 is a continuously evolving project presenting significant challenges and opportunities, which will require the use of all my skills and more.  It is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me to act as hybrid “consultant and in-house manager” to help control and influence the integration of environment and sustainability considerations into the planning and delivery of the biggest and greatest show on Earth.  I am truly grateful to the IES and SocEnv to alerting me to the position in the first place. 

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Phil Cumming is currently Environmental Project Manager for the London 2012 organising committee.  Most recently a Principal Consultant with Parsons Brinckerhoff, prior to this he was with Bonnard & Gardel, and URS which amounted to over nine years spent in the environmental consultancy sector.  A Chartered Environmentalist and a Registered Environmental Auditor with the IEMA, as a consultant Phil provided the complete delivery of a range of environmental projects across a wide range of industrial sectors for major private and public sector organisations, at home and overseas.  He is also Secretary to the UK Environmental Law Association’s Waste Working Party. 

Incorporating sustainability into curricula in higher education has been discussed since the early 1990’s. The authors have successfully implemented a scheme to integrate sustainability into curricula at the RMIT in Melbourne, Australia. They describe the project and key outcomes in this article.

Dr Everard tracks the development of environmental thought from the emergence of environmental science as an undergraduate course from the mid-1970s through to recent years. He argues the importance of science as an underpinning for sustainable development and notes declining student numbers. Mark questions the government’s commitment to the discipline, warning that if environmental science continues to be devalued, it will be to the detriment of the whole of society.

This article will appear in the September issue of Environmental Scientist