The Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (CIHT) has elected Karen McShane as its new president for 2023-2024.
At her inauguration at the CIHT’s offices in London, she called for a need to 'drive attitudinal change on how and why we travel’ due to climate change.
Under her presidential term, the institution is set to embark on activities and initiatives that 'will have the decarbonisation of the highways, transport and infrastructure sector as a central theme'.
Ms McShane said: ‘Climate change is a key challenge to society. The Climate Change (Targeted Greenhouse Gases) Order 2023 is one of the latest pieces of legislation taking climate action to the next level. These regulations firmly impact how we all do our business and how we need to consider future development.
‘To provide a planet that is fit for our future generations, we must embrace as monumental a change as when the Victorians introduced both our railway networks and our water infrastructure. The latter has had as big an impact on health as the medical industry and we do not want transport to be remembered in the future as a negative contributor to the health of our planet.’
Ms McShane (second left) pictured with (from far left) Matthew Lugg, Neil Johnstone, Deborah Sims and Martin Tugwell
Ms McShane is a chartered engineer with over 35 years of experience, having worked in local government and consultancy.
After being promoted to director level at a multinational company, she set up her own consultancy in 2011 where she oversaw work in a range of sectors including transport and highways.
She works part-time on regionally significant projects within Northern Ireland as well as being an industry member of the Northern Ireland Assembly's All Party Group for Construction.
She studied civil engineering at Queens University Belfast and currently sits on the Civil Engineering Industrial Liaison Panel for Ulster University, where she regularly carries out guest lectures on transportation.
Other areas of focus for the CIHT during the coming 12 months include:
- a commitment to equality diversity and inclusion – including an update to its EDI Toolkit and Charter
- enhanced offerings for education and CPD including new courses and content on CIHT Learn
- putting people at the centre of all we do – including new opportunities and services for CIHT’s volunteers and the wider membership.
Professor Glenn Lyons, Mott MacDonald Professor of Future Mobility at UWE Bristol, has been elected as vice-president of the CIHT.
