CIBSE president looks to greater world influence
CIBSE’s president for 2014/15, Peter Kinsella, wants to see the institution increase its influence worldwide during his presidential year. He is an associate at Lehr Consultants International (Australia) and will be based in Australia during his term of office. He is CIBSE’s first ‘international’ president, not based in the UK.
Speaking on a personal note, Peter Kinsella said, ‘CIBSE has come a long way in the 27 years since my home country became a region, and it remains very committed to continuing to improve the depth and relevance to its international membership.’
CIBSE has an extensive worldwide presence. Peter Kinsella says, ’With over 21 400 members in almost 100 countries, our membership possesses a huge wealth of information before we start to consider the rest of the people in the industry.’ Almost 30% of CIBSE membership lives and works outside the UK.
He asserted during his presidential address last month that engineering principles that are good here (UK) are good in China, India and the Gulf region — good the world over.
‘Wider relevance of our knowledge can be a major catalyst in the growth of CIBSE internationally.
‘As authorities around the world, particularly the developing nations, look for appropriate guidance for reference purposes, the more relevant the CIBSE guidance is to their requirements, the more often it will be adopted, and the more international members will join.
‘The feedback that we can then gain from these international members will in turn assist in ensuring that CIBSE guidance continues to spread its relevance elsewhere.’
Peter Kinsella told his audience that CIBSE is perceived as a global organisation around the world and that a CIBSE member from the UK finding themselves in, say, Australia or Hong Kong can readily be introduced to a huge group of like-minded professionals who can assist in a range of issues such as advice on local codes and standards.
He summarised, ‘We have the power of numbers and global spread in our professional institution. This is our era to make a real difference in this world through our expertise, experience and networks to help deliver a built environment that meets the challenges of the years to come.’
