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NewsFocus on diversity and innovation wins Aurecon two Engineering New Zealand ENVI Awards

9 July 2021 | 3 min

International engineering, design and advisory company Aurecon achieved success at Engineering New Zealand’s 2021 ENVI awards, winning both the Diversity and Innovation categories in a virtual ceremony on the 1 July.

Aurecon’s industry leading parental leave scheme, flexible working arrangements and commitment to recruiting and inspiring a diverse workforce won it the Diversity Award, while the digital-first approach applied on the Trentham to Upper Hutt (T2H) project took out the Innovation category.

Aurecon wins at Engineering New Zealand’s 2021 ENVI awards, winning both the Diversity and Innovation categories.

NZ Regional Managing Director Tracey Ryan said it was pleasing to see Aurecon’s focus on fostering an inclusive, high-performing culture recognised by the industry:

“Winning the two ENVI awards is powerful evidence of what we know already: that there is a strong link between creativity and diversity. Creativity happens when people can come to work and be their authentic selves, have fun, collaborate and be empowered to contribute new and exciting ideas.”

Creating an environment where creativity and innovation can thrive

Aurecon is a founding member of The Diversity Agenda, a signatory of the Diversity Agenda Accord and was the first New Zealand engineering consultancy to gain the Rainbow Tick certification.

Aurecon’s SharedCare Parental Leave Policy and flexible work policy help both men and women to balance family and career, while its Ascend women’s leadership programme empowers and supports more women to step into leadership roles.

SharedCare won the WorkLife Balance category of the 2020 Diversity Works awards.

In New Zealand, Aurecon’s Diversity & Inclusion Network encompasses five pillars: Gender Diversity, Te Ao Māori, LGBTI+ Inclusion, Accessibility & Disabilities, and Cultural Diversity.

Digital innovation a game-changer for project delivery

ENVI Award judges were impressed by the digital-first approach adopted on the Trentham to Upper Hutt (T2UH) project. A key strategic growth project for the Wellington region, T2UH involved the double-tracking of 2.7 km of the Hutt Valley line between Trentham and Upper Hutt stations to allow trains to travel in both directions simultaneously and deliver more frequent and reliable services.

Client KiwiRail wanted to drive a step-change in digital delivery at T2UH, with a vision to be the first completely paperless Building Information Management (BIM) project of its scale in New Zealand. Aurecon brought this vision to life with a fully integrated digital design that incorporated all elements of the duplication of the rail line. The cornerstone of the project was GeoDocs, a semi-bespoke digital collaboration platform which Aurecon developed to provide KiwiRail with a visual interface for project data that enabled greater collaboration and access to design and survey information.

Judges commended the T2UH team’s commitment to innovation, saying the digital delivery model had the potential to change how projects were delivered, “It’s a game-changing project which has set the standard for future projects.”

The highly coveted ENVI Awards are held biennially and recognise the most outstanding engineering feats and engineers in Aotearoa New Zealand.

In October 2020 Aurecon was named Australasia’s most innovative company and in April 2021, Aurecon was recognised as one of Australia and New Zealand’s Best Places to Work 2021 by the Australian Financial Review. In 2019, we were the first New Zealand engineering company to achieve The Rainbow Tick certification for diversity and inclusion and maintained our accreditation in 2020.