Engineers forum to address sustainable infrastructure

From left: Board of Engineers of Kenya Chairman Erastus Mwongera, IEK President Eric Ohaga, Water CS Alice Wahome and IEK First VP Grace Kagondu launch the 29th IEK forum in Nairobi. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

The Institution of Engineers of Kenya (IEK) is set to convene a stakeholders' forum in the built environment next week to explore modern and sustainable technologies in the sector.

Themed Sustainable Engineering in the era of Climate Change, the 29th IEK Convention will be taking place between November 21 to 25 this year in Kwale County.

It will explore relevant solutions in the sub-themes of building resilient infrastructure, harnessing emerging technologies for sustainable development, mitigation measures against climate change, energy transition and the role of nuclear and renewable energy in combating climate change, as well as the role of green financing.

Water and Sanitation Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome while presiding over the pre-event on Monday, appreciated IEK for working to bring together various sector stakeholders to discuss tangible solutions to the effects of climate change.

"Indeed, at no point can we de-link engineering from environmental sustainability. The decisions they make on a day-to-day basis through their work can have a range of environmental, social and economic impacts," she said.

"The construction of buildings, for example, consumes natural resources outside of the boundaries of what happens on-site, including the energy, water and raw materials."

The CS pledged State support to ensure the water and infrastructure sectors collectively put in place measures that will help address the issue of sustainability in the long term.

IEK President Erick Ohaga affirmed that this year's forum seeks to redefine the future of engineering practice in the country.

"At the centre of it all is the sustainability of the practice given that the world grapples with the effect of global warming. Our target is to have 3,000 physical delegates attending our convention and about 4,000 attending virtually," he said.

Mr Ohaga said this year's forum will see the launch of a pioneer future leaders' summit, men engineers' summit as well as a women engineers' summit.