WSP Anticipate Podcast WSP Middle East

The 2015 Paris Agreement committed nearly 200 nations to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. However, the pledges countries made in Glasgow’s COP26 put the world on track for a temperature increase of 2.4 degrees Celsius by the end of the century!
Was COP27 successful in reviving the 1.5 degrees goal and in turning climate pledges into action? In this episode of the Anticipate podcast, our Marketing & Communications Manager for Advisory Services, Bushra Nassar, is joined by May Faraj, Senior Advisory Director and Mahmoud Hashish, Associate Director - Environment & Sustainability at WSP Middle East to answer this question and highlight the main outcomes of COP27. The talk also explores the implications that these outcomes have on our region and industries, as well as mapping out the journey to COP28.

Efficient transport, mobility, and infrastructure are key factors in the successful hosting of major international events. This is mainly because of the significant role that these elements play in creating positive and memorable experiences for guests.
But the challenge is being able to strike a balance between providing these essential elements for major events while still providing a smooth guest experience with infrastructure that will continue to create benefits for the destination well into the future.
In this episode of the Anticipate Podcast, Crystal Mcclelland, Content Developer, discusses with several experts from WSP in the Middle East how they help host cities develop and deliver sustainable and future-ready systems and events infrastructure.

In November 2022, as world leaders and industry experts gather at the 27th annual session of the UN Climate Change Conference, known as COP27, WSP experts will be on-site to work alongside delegates as they seek to accelerate climate action.
This follows from COP26 and the Paris Agreement of 2015, which aligned signatories to curb temperature rise to 1.5°C, although that increase will result in more than 4 billion people being impacted by frequent climate shocks. So, what progress has been made in the seven years since that historic agreement was reached? And what do we need to see at COP27 if we are to make real strides toward averting catastrophic climate change?
In this episode of the Anticipate podcast, Sophia Kee, our Head of Future Ready is joined by David Symons, Climate Change and Sustainability Director at WSP in the UK to discuss the significance of COP27 as a key event in the fight against climate change and anticipate its implications for our planet, region, industry. They will also take a look at the anticipated key outcomes that could be in store from the summit.

In today's fast-paced, high-stress work environment, it's more important than ever for organisations and individuals to priotise mental health. However, for many of us, this is easier said than done. We often put the needs of our jobs ahead of our own well-being, leading to burnout, anxiety, and depression. Organisations find it difficult to address mental health issues because of the stigma around them.
The public surveys implemented in 2020 in the MENA region suggest that nearly 30 percent of the region’s population suffer from at least one form of mental health ailments. In response to that some countries including, for example, Saudi Arabia have increased their funding for mental healthcare. However, businesses also have a role to play.
In this episode of the WSP Anticipate Podcast, Blair Boyd, our Senior HSE Manager, is joined by Dr. Karen McDonnell, Occupational Safety and Health Policy Adviser at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents. The episode explores the factors that affect employee mental health and highlights how organisations can bring peace and well-being into their workplaces.

While environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) is still in its relative infancy, it has been growing rapidly in recent years. As more healthcare organizations adopt an ESG-minded stance, it is important to consider the motivations behind this shift, the limitations to its growth, and how to accelerate the rate of its adoption.
In this episode of the WSP Anticipate Podcast, Sophia Kee, our Head of Future Ready – Property & Buildings, is joined by Remy Levastre, our Advisory Director – Healthcare, and Dr Fatih Mehmet Gul, Vice President of Fakeeh Care Group and the CEO of Fakeeh University Hospital. The episode uncovers some of the hidden benefits of ESG in the healthcare industry. It also explores the main challenges facing ESG in this important sector and how to overcome them.

Public-private partnerships (PPPs) are playing an increasingly important role in the development of social infrastructure in the Middle East. As governments seek to address the region's growing infrastructure needs, PPPs offer a flexible and innovative way to finance, design, build, operate, and maintain vital infrastructure assets. From hospitals and schools to water and sewerage systems, PPPs are being used to deliver social infrastructure projects across the region.

In this episode of the Anticipate Podcast, Andrew Thomas, Advisory Director, at WSP in the Middle East is joined by Nasser Mahmoud, Founder & CEO of Concept Realisation to discuss the challenges facing PPPs in the region and uncover the massive opportunities they offer in delivering efficient social infrastructure.