Episode 25 International Women’s Day Special With Award-Winning Author Farah Naz

March 1, 2022

In Episode 25 of the Constructive Voices podcast, Henry McDonald speaks to Farah Naz, award-winning climate change strategist, in our International Women’s Day special. Farah provides her professional and personal experience, with global insights, into where we stand in relation to the gender gap in the construction, engineering and architecture industries.

Farah and Henry discuss her experience as a woman in the AEC sector, what we all need to do to address gender bias in the industry, and how we can look at gender diversity as an opportunity instead of a problem to solve.

Available From 8th March 2022

“The pandemic has actually showed us how new way of working and doing business. And we should be taking this approach, taking this is as an opportunity to really address the issues of gender diversity, to really address inclusion and diversity within our workplace, and also address how we can inspire the next generation.”

“So I think it starts from not just women in the industry, but also the men, and anybody who is part of this industry to really engage more time and effort to actually go out and talk to the younger generation, talk to our children. It starts from our homes, to start creating that role model effect. And also explaining the power of this industry in creating a better, more resilient future.”

“We really require a co-creative environment, collaboration and diverse thinking to resolve the climate emergency. It’s not just women, or it’s not just men, it’s together.”

“Because women have to play a lot of roles: a role of a daughter, a role of a friend, a role of a sister, or a mother. I think that wiring of brain kind of helps to women to look at all these climate diversity and challenges we have, and come up with a more collaborative way of co-creating the future.”

About Farah Naz, Award-Winning Climate Change Strategist

Farah Naz is an award-winning Climate Change strategist with over 20 years experience in the construction sector gained in the USA, UK, Southeast Asia and most recently the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

She is a Chartered Engineer (UK), Fellow of CIBSE, LEED and WELL AP and Verified Research Expert for Dubai Future Foundation.

Farah chairs CIBSE UAE Chapter and is an advocate of STEM education for the future generation. Farah recently co-authored a book on Net Zero City, which is considered the first book published from the Middle East Region.

For the past few years, Farah has been based in UAE, where she has been steering sustainability and innovation in the built environment covering the entire Middle East, Saudi Arabia and wider Gulf Region. She leads Specialist Services with a focus on Sustainable Cities, ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) and Urban Resilience for AECOM across the Middle East and Africa.

Farah was a prime mover in creating the Energy Strategy for the first zero-energy building in the UK, which subsequently won the 2015 RIBA Sustainable Buildings Award (UK). In the Middle East, her name has become a synonym for implementable sustainability & energy strategy among others, linked to projects including Museum of the Future, the Louvre Museum in Abu Dhabi, the Bee’ah Headquarters in Sharjah, Expo 2020 Sustainability Pavilion, Masdar Eco Villa, Masdar Housing. Master planning projects like NEOM, Red Sea, Amaala and Hudayriat Master Plan. Her projects, Sustainability Pavilion in Dubai expo, Masdar Housing and Bee’ah Headquarters in Sharjah is the winner of the Best Sustainability Project of the year award for the last three consecutive years in the Middle East Region.

In her innovating role, she focuses on implementation best practices within the built environment, adopting systems related to Energy Water Food Nexus, Biomimetics, Five Capital model of Sustainability, Liveability and Inclusive Integrated Innovation Frameworks, which will build the foundation of the cities and communities of the future.

Written by: Tara Flanagan