The launch of my 2024-25 CICES presidential theme: Make Space for Education, was a challenge \u2013 to our institution, the wider surveying community and the entire construction industry. A challenge to take education seriously. It\u2019s not a box-ticking exercise; it\u2019s a vital\u00a0 piece of the skills jigsaw we\u2019ve ignored for far too long.<\/p>\n
So we established the CICES Education Panel, because we urgently need a clearer, more coherent route into our profession \u2013 and that means listening to and working with those who understand what young people need to succeed<\/a>.<\/p>\n We need a joined-up approach, from teachers and trainers to employers and early careers specialists. And this panel brings those voices together to ask the big questions, like: Why don\u2019t young people know who we are? Why is surveying not on the careers radar? Why are surveyors so often at the bottom of the pile, or even not included, considering they\u2019re critical to EVERY project? And, most importantly, what are we going to do about it?<\/p>\n The Education Panel has brought together committed professionals from across education and industry, who want to fix the skills gap, not just talk about it. The truth is, we\u2019re still too quiet as a profession and risking becoming invisible.<\/p>\n So apprenticeship commitments from leading businesses matter, as signs that employers are beginning to understand that surveying needs its own narrative \u2013 and its own investment strategy.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve seen promising engagement from organisations like Balfour Beatty<\/a>, who are making serious moves to put engineering surveying, digital construction and skills development at the heart of their work.<\/p>\nWhat has the CICES Education Panel achieved already?<\/h3>\n