About us

Introducing the Climate Change and Sustainability sub-group and members

SiLCs have a pivotal role to play, not just in reducing the emissions arising from brownfield land regeneration and embedding sustainability/net zero, but also in restoring the ecosystem services we collectively rely on to protect water resources, store carbon, prevent flooding, enhance biodiversity and support sustainable agriculture.

The SiLC Register has launched the Climate Change & Sustainability Sub-group to embed sustainability and climate resilience across land use and redevelopment of brownfield land.  The intent is to raise awareness and foster the skills necessary to transform our approach to the use and redevelopment of land.  This offers benefits in delivering improved soil health, biodiversity, and climate change and mitigating against the impacts of climate-related hazards and extreme weather events.

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The purpose of the Climate Change & Sustainability Sub-group is to take responsibility for leading on SiLC activities in collaboration with SiLC’s constituent professional bodies the following areas:

1. Building capacity and capability across the industry and the SiLC Community in particular in terms of knowledge and expertise in climate change and sustainability as relevant to brownfield land.
2. Raising awareness across the brownfield sector and providing thought leadership working with the wider geoscience, soil and brownfield community, including government and government agencies, CL:AIRE and others, to shape policy, practice and regulation.
3. Promulgating good practices in sustainable soil and land management as part of brownfield redevelopment projects and in support of the drive to Net Zero.  The aim is to deliver an integrated approach that seeks to restore and enhance soil condition, thereby increasing biodiversity and the ability to retain and/ or sequester carbon and providing ecosystem services, whilst minimising the emissions and waste arising from the development, remediation and restoration activities.  An approach that builds in resilience to the effects of climate change, whether at the risk assessment or remediation stage of a scheme’s design.
4. Supporting the development of good practice through participating fully in and representing SiLC on initiatives such as: BSI EH04 Soil Quality and CIRIA’s Soil Community of Practice.
5. Reviewing the SiLC Criteria, exam and Skills Framework to ensure it meets the professional requirements for a SiLC operating in today’s climate change and sustainable development aware society.
6. Maintaining a Brownfield Re-development Climate & Sustainability Knowledge Hub comprising SiLC documents, training courses, presentations etc. with signposts to other sources.
7. Enhancing the standing of SiLC.

For full details of our Terms of Reference, please click here. Current group members are as follows:

Co-chairs

• Mark Hill
• Claire Dickinson

Volunteer Members

• Linsey Cottrell
• Martin dDe Kretser
• Kate Eaton (supporting exam assessors group)
• Hannah Fraser
• Matt Gardner
• Tom Henman (current chair of the PTP)
• David Hobson
• Chris Hughes
• Bruce Lascelles (representing the British Society of Soil Scientists)
• Marian Markham
• Alison Nicholson (also representing the AGS Sustainability Group)
• Jonathan Smith (also representing BSI EH4 committee)
• Alan Thomas (also representing SuRF and supporting exam assessors group)

Constituent Professional Body Representatives

• AGS – Tim Hull
• CIEH – TBC
• CIWEM – Joanne Kwan (also representing CIRIA)
• Geolsoc – Mark Hill
• ICE – TBC
• IEMA – Lesley Wilson
• IES – Ethny Childs
• RSC – John Broderick

Terms of Reference

Click here to download the Terms of Reference.