Stantec employees in Europe celebrate important annual global events
May 18, 2023
A look at employees in Europe celebrating Neurodiversity Week, International Women’s Day, World Water Day, and Earth Day
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Stantec employees in Europe have been actively celebrating Neurodiversity Week, International Women's Day, World Water Day, and Earth Day. The events are aimed at raising awareness and understanding of important issues related to diversity, sustainability, and social responsibility.
Neurodiversity Week
From March 13th–17th, Stantec marked Neurodiversity Week as part of our ongoing efforts to create and live in a world where neurological differences are recognized and respected. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, employees held a Knowledge Exchange (KNEX) panel session on the theme of “Women and Neurodiversity.” Our Women@Stantec Employee Resource Group (ERG) chair, Emma Day, and our Neurodiversity ERG chair, Martin Scragg, collaborated to host a panel with some neurodivergent female colleagues from across Stantec. The panel spoke about their experiences and challenges, including late diagnosis. An incredible 238 people joined the KNEX call.
International Women’s Day
International Women's Day (IWD) was celebrated on March 8th, and employees marked the occasion by participating in panel discussions, mentoring sessions, and networking events that promoted gender equality and support women's leadership in the workplace.
In the United Kingdom and Ireland, more than 210 colleagues from Stantec and Barton Willmore, now Stantec, watched a special IWD panel, “Spilling the beans: The inside scoop on some real-life inclusive design interventions.” The panel then discussed projects that had inclusive design at their core, looking at what people can do as designers, landscape architects, master planners etc., to design safe spaces for girls and women. At the Women@Stantec Coffee Morning, more than 120 people dialed in for a discussion on successes in 2022 and proposed focus topics for the ERG in 2023.
The Italian team celebrated IWD by attending two different events, to reflect on this important day in different ways. The Stantec Academy team moderated the webinar of AIFOS, an Italian association committed to the enhancement of the culture of prevention and safety in the workplace, addressing the theme of the value of the individual beyond gender by sharing the initiatives that Stantec implements every day to promote the wellbeing of its employees.
Project Engineer Alessandra Napoleoni met with young students from the Milan Polytechnic University. As a woman who currently holds an important technical position, she shared some useful advice for all the young female students who aspire to follow the same path.
In the Netherlands, Dutch offices hung posters with images related to the IWD theme. Employees were challenged to guess what the images meant, and on the SharePoint page of Women@StantecNL they could find explanations for the posters. Also, a few dozen employees participated in the organize IWD lunch quiz.
World Water Day and Earth Day
Our Italian team celebrated World Water Day by taking a moment to reflect on the importance of water in our life, as individuals and as engineers working to improve the life of our community. On March 22, the Developing Professionals Group (DPG) chapter organized an internal event to share an interesting case study of a remediation project on a sea site. Later that day, a small delegation of colleagues visited the Milan Civic Water Central—a great way to dive into the underground water of the city!
Our colleagues in Türkiye came together for a monthly quiz, which has become a tradition. The DPG chapter organized their quiz in the Istanbul office around the theme of Earth Day. In the wake of the recent earthquake, the quizzes provided a welcome opportunity for more than 20 colleagues to come together for some lighthearted fun. Business Development Specialist Aleyna Yalin said, “Quizzes bring together people from Türkiye and allow us to have quality time getting to know each other better, and at the same time, we learn new things from each quiz’s topic.”
Overall, these events have helped to promote a culture of diversity, inclusion, and sustainability at Stantec and have demonstrated our ongoing commitment to giving back to our communities around the globe.