Affordable healthcare for all is one of the UN’s global sustainability goals. When you live in, and work across, Africa you come to realise that sustainability is about so much more than green building principles, carbon footprints and the race to achieve NetZero. You come to understand that sustainability is also about addressing people’s needs, and that without improving access to care for rural communities, even the most spectacularly designed facilities can be deemed unsustainable.
This balancing act between sustainable, leading-edge engineering, and providing basic access, is one of the main reasons I jumped at the opportunity to work in the healthcare space with WSP. I wanted to build on the engineering skills I had already developed with the company by learning how to bring sustainable design into healthcare facilities, and how to make an impact in communities that lack access.
It’s been a learning curve of extremes. On the one hand, I’ve had the opportunity to work on state-of-the art medical precincts and healthcare facilities in Africa and the UK, and apply green building principles, more energy efficient designs and other sustainability best practices. On these types of projects, I strive to bring change to the way clients view sustainable building – not as a large upfront expense, but as a long-term investment to secure their healthcare facility’s efficiency and longevity, reduce its running costs, improve on their ability to deliver effective patient care and, yes, reduce its impact on the environment.
On the other hand, for example at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, I’ve had the opportunity to work on facilities that were all about reaching people and communities who might otherwise not be able to access care. In these instances, it was important to achieve “good enough” for as many people as possible, as quickly as possible, while also planning for every possible scenario. We had no idea how long the pandemic would last at that time.
These experiences have led me to look for opportunities to work with my clients on thinking about healthcare differently. Sometimes, it’s about harnessing the opportunities in digital transformation to address shifts in expectations of how healthcare should be provided, both in wealthier urban environments and in more rural areas where infrastructure in general is lacking.
At other times, it’s about finding sustainable energy solutions that do more than save on the client’s running costs and improve their facility’s carbon footprint. These solutions must also allow them to remain accessible to their patients during rolling blackouts (common problem in Africa). And always, it’s about working towards NetZero, on a continent with limited infrastructure but an abundance of resilience and optimism.
Join the team
WSP in Africa is recruiting. If you’re looking for your next role and want to join a collaborative team of experts that thrives on challenge and unconventional thinking, then check out the jobs available on our WSP in Africa careers page.
