Gary Elliott and Marika Gabbianelli take up leadership of Structural Engineers Declare – Latest

Elliott Wood Founder and Chief Executive, Gary Elliott, and WSP Structural Engineer and Net Zero Consultant, Marika Gabbianelli, have begun in their roles as the new co-chairs of Structural Engineers Declare. The member-led coalition was formed in 2019, and currently has over 245 signatories from structural engineering practices across the UK. Structural Engineers Declare encourages business leaders and organisations within our profession to use the stated commitments to help form business strategy and drive change in the construction industry.

"This is a great opportunity to bring our profession together and renew our commitment to making a meaningful impact as part of our industry's urgent response to the climate and biodiversity crises. We're building on a solid foundation of the work that's already been done under the previous chairmanship of Ed Clark, Director and Group Leader at Arup, and we are working to evolve the organisation in its next phase, with the support of the Institution of Structural Engineers,” Gary said. “There is a real appetite among the signatories for the organisation to go further in its ambitions; to make real change and accountability happen, and Marika and I are ready and excited to lead the group's efforts in delivering on those ambitions.”

Structural Engineers Declare joins other built environment disciplines in declaring a climate and biodiversity emergency, and in doing so seeks to ensure the engineering sector is doing everything it can to minimise its impact on the environment. This call to action recognises that business as usual will no longer suffice; it is far past time to commit to industry- and practice-level changes to have a positive impact on the world around us.

Following in the footsteps of the successful ‘Architects Declare’ campaign, Structural Engineers Declare pledges to set new priorities and develop better ways of working to meet the needs of our society without breaching the earth’s ecological boundaries.

In addition to holding regular meetings for signatories, Structural Engineers Declare will also host its annual summit on 19 October 2023 - details to follow. We hope that every structural engineering practice operating in the UK will join us in making this commitment.

For more information, visit the Structural Engineers Declare website: https://www.structuralengineersdeclare.com/