As the world observes World Habitat Day on 7 October 2024, the theme, "Engaging youth to create a better urban future," resonates deeply with CIBSE’s ongoing commitment to building sustainable cities and inclusive communities. With urban populations rapidly growing, especially in countries across Africa and Asia, young people are becoming pivotal to shaping the urban environments of tomorrow. By 2050, cities are expected to accommodate 70% of the global population, underscoring the need for innovative and sustainable urban planning.
CIBSE’s initiatives align closely with this year’s theme by fostering youth engagement and creating opportunities for the next generation of engineers. Our work, particularly through the CIBSE Young Engineers Network (YEN), empowers young professionals to contribute to key challenges such as net zero design, energy efficiency, and decarbonization—all vital components of sustainable urbanization.
The active involvement of young engineers in CIBSE-led projects, including building retrofitting and low-energy system designs, showcases their impact on reducing environmental footprints and creating resilient, healthy cities. These projects are crucial to addressing some of the most pressing issues of urban life, including air quality, thermal comfort, and energy consumption, ensuring that our future cities are designed with both human well-being and environmental stewardship in mind.
On this World Habitat Day, CIBSE invites all its members to reflect on how we can further engage the next generation in addressing urban challenges. By providing mentorship, hands-on training, and leadership opportunities, we ensure that the engineers of tomorrow are equipped to create urban environments that are not only technologically advanced but also sustainable, inclusive, and resilient.
Photo credit: ©United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), 2011