PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS OF GEOFF BATEMAN

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is a great honour and privilege to serve as President of CIWEM.

I am really looking forward to my year. I have seen the job description which says:

‘Purpose To raise the profile, standing and status of the Institution; act as the Institution’s figurehead and undertake appropriate public-relations activities; with the Executive Director ensure that CIWEM fulfils its statutory obligations and that the Institution works towards achieving its vision’.

There follows a number of key tasks and responsibilities together with a person specification. I will do my best to deliver on the expectations which are placed upon me.

I have set out a number of personal objectives for 2004-05, following the good example set by Peter Treadgold. However, I will not go through them here because they appear with the Minutes of the first meeting of the new Council.

With the job comes the opportunity to influence the development of the Institution and the responsibility to maintain and improve our status as a learned society. Under Nick Reeves’ stewardship, our Head Office team has achieved a stable financial and organisational position and we have increased our influence on the environmental agenda and been a driving force behind the formation of the Society for the Environment

But first a few words about my predecessor, Peter Treadgold. Peter could be regarded as one of the more active of Presidents. He could be found throughout the last year at early morning meetings with Nick Reeves, plotting, planning and chewing over the environmental and organisational challenges facing CIWEM. He travelled the country expounding on the Institution and explaining his environmental beliefs. In his Presidential address, Peter set out his vision of environmental matters today. He outlined key ways of working and recurring themes such as ‘setting achievable objectives’, communicating well and forming partnerships. He addressed the environmental responsibilities of government, businesses and individuals. Peter ‘checked in’ on the ecosystem, addressing concerns about water resources, energy, transport, waste and pollution. In addition, he has given leadership to the Institution and has been prodigious in his contribution t o WEM and CIWEM News. I could not improve on the content and I fully endorse his concerns. During 2003-04, we have commenced the work on the future development of the Institution led by Jim Oatridge, OBE and have begun to address the future commercial opportunities of our work to maximise the benefits to members.

Peter, thank you for your hard work as President during the past year. So what can I do for the Institution and what are my aims and

objectives? I certainly want to have fun, but water and the environment is a serious business. We are working for nothing less than the future of the planet. We must not meet the needs of today by preventing our children from meeting their needs. But to change people’s perceptions and behaviours you must first get their attention. If they are not listening they cannot hear what we have to say, and I want us to play

an increasingly influential and promotional role in the media. However, we must ensure that the views we hold are grounded in sound science (that is properly researched, peer reviewed and in the public interest) and sound engineering. However, we must not lose the support of our members in a drive for promotion of the Institution. I hope to be fully engaged in grabbing the attention of those key players in environmental policy to promote our Vision; ‘As the leading professional body, ClWEM sustains the excellence of the people who develop and protect our environment now and for future generations’.

Tim Smit, our recent guest at the Annual Dinner, was not keen on our vision. He suggested that it was passive. However, he liked the strapline - ‘for professionals, for people, for the environment, forever‘ - much better. I can see his point, but we are not building Eden. However, we must continue to review where we are in a changing world to ensure that we deliver the objectives of the Institution. We are maintaining and developing the future water and environmental managers, and I would like to dwell for a moment on the way we are doing this and to acknowledge the substantial efforts which have been made by many members to protect our status as a learned society. We have achieved much in the past few years;

We have supported the development of environmental policy to achieve the goal of sustainable development. We act ethically in all we do, and develop and maintain education, training and CPD. We promote the quality of our members to prospective employers. We clearly state our policy positions and provide a high-quality service to our members. We consult widely and act sensitively to move towards a sustainable global environment. We are a transparent organisation and demonstrate leadership in environmental affairs. We influence the national and international agenda and endeavour to serve the wider environmental community. We have developed our CIWEM identity and brand. We are becoming more customer focused and are achieving membership growth from a wider environmental community.

However, we must be welcoming to prospective members and generate more income to reduce our dependence on membership subscriptions. We do deliver improved services to our members and are seeking to ensure that the Institution is well placed in the modern world.

Our organisational competence is founded on the work of the Branches, Groups and Panels. As a member I served on the Scientific Group, which allowed me to follow my specific interests while engaging with branches across the UK with fellow professionals. I will always be grateful for the encouragement of my many colleagues at work, on the Groups, Branches and Panels - in particular Peter Chave, who first encouraged me to join the Water-Quality Panel. We must always recognise the importance of the local contribution and promote local action. The Branch and Group Review is being carried out openly and sensitively, and I look forward to the guidance from members as to whether any changes are needed in the future.

The guardianship of our learned profession status chiefly resides in the work of the Business and Science Professional Board with Ken Shapland and team; the Engineering Professional Board with Peter Bennett and team; and the Membership Strategy Board with Robin Green and team. I would particularly like to acknowledge their considerable workload behind the scenes in serving the Institution.

The importance of partnership working in the water and environmental world has been highlighted to me by the Practical Environmental Management (PEM) initiative which is a partnership between CIWEM and Groundwork UK. It enables CIWEM to deliver part of i ts outreach in to the business sector, and is aimed at anyone who

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has environmental responsibility in business. I do hope to see the relationship flourish in the coming year.

Other notable successes include our Certificate and Diploma with over 600 successful graduates to date - a testament to the work of a dedicated few in the Institution. We should capitalise on the opportunities afforded by the growing awareness and need for professional training in the environmental field. The new competency standards and structured training wil l continue to improve the consistency of mentoring and coaching across the organisation.

As the Technical and Professional Affairs lead member on Cabinet, I am continually impressed at the output from the Institution. Our Policy Department is responsible for consultation and liaison with other organisations and for producing the excellent Journal and magazine. We have produced policy statements on such diverse topics as the Code of Ethics; Diffuse Water Pollution; Effluent Reuse; Environmental Economics; Environmental Impacts of GSOs; Flood and Coastal Defence; Food Waste Disposers; Leakage; Nature Conservation; Parks for People; Planning Water Resources in England and Wales; Professional Bodies; Reservoirs - Global Issues; Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Review; The Environment; The Use of Peat; Waste Management; Wastewater Biosolids Treatment and Use; Water-Use Efficiency and numerous environmental fact sheets.

We provide technical advice, publish books and organise about 250 events and conferences each year, and the work of our Technical Panels on: Amenity Recreation and Conservation; Water Resources; Water Supply and Quality; Air; Wastewater Management; Waste Management; and Sustainable Development are well respected across the globe. CIWEM’s website and newsletter ’e-news’ are reaching far into the sector and beyond.

Our international services, ably championed by Peter Matthews, will receive a boost with the development of an international support post in 2004-05. This will reinforce our work with other organisations such as the European Water Association, Water Environment Federation and International Water Association.

To close, I would like to pay tribute to the work of Council and Cabinet members. Jim Oatridge takes over as chair of Cabinet succeeding Barbara Carroll. Barbara has contributed a huge amount of work in shaping the Sustainable Development portfolio for CIWEM. I would like to record my personal thanks to them both for their continuing work for CIWEM and their personal support, guidance and encouragement to me over the years.

Finally, and most importantly, to commend Nick Reeves and his wonderful team at John Street, together with members across the country, who have enabled the Institution to restore its clarity of focus on the environment. If the 19th century was the century of the engineer, and the 20th century was the century of the scientist, then the 21st century will surely be the century of the environmentalist. In CIWEM we must ensure that all technological developments are beneficial to man and his environment. I believe that the ingenuity of man will find checks and balances to the environmental damage done by past generations, but i t will take the best minds and the best entrepreneurs with the best of motives, altruism, to make a difference. Our role as an Institution is to find, develop, nurture and promote the skills needed in the modern environmental world. We do have a vision and an Institution that is relevant to today and fit for tomorrow.

People are the key to our Institution, those we work with, those we work for and those we serve. I hope to meet many during my Presidential Year to light the fires of environmental passion.. .. and to have bit of fun on the way!

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