Peter Bailey

Graduates, families and friends. I would also like to acknowledge the Gadigal and Guringai people of the Eora nation, upon whose ancestral lands UTS now stands, and pay my respects to the elders past and present. Firstly, graduates, congratulations on your tremendous achievement being recognised here today. You must be very proud. This is a just reward of all your hard work, dedication and sacrifice of personal time. Congratulations also to your partners, parents and your families. You must be very, very proud. You have provided financial and emotional support, and have instilled in them the values and character that have underpinned their success.

Graduates, as I think back to my own graduation ceremony, I could not have possibly imagined then the global diversity of work that I’ve experienced in my career over the past 30 years. Well, my career started with a jolt – I couldn’t get a job, as it was a global recession at that time in Sydney, and particularly in Sydney. What a letdown that was. So I went back to uni and did a master’s degree, which exposed me to a firm called Arup. And the world was opened to me. As an Arup graduate starting in Sydney, I then went on to work in Canberra, New York, London, Frankfurt and Hong Kong, designing world-class buildings with many of the world’s leading architects, and for global clients. But how could this be a surprise, working for the firm that engineered the Sydney Opera House? Choose your employer wisely to maximise your chances of fulfilment, and don’t give up if you don’t land the perfect job first. Keep trying. Today, you face a world of immense opportunity, but also a world undergoing rapid change. How should you respond? I kept thinking about a sign I saw in Martin Place the other day by a recruitment firm. It said, ‘Don’t be scared of change – be scared of not changing.’ Don’t be scared of change – be scared of not changing. I think that’s very profound for today’s world. So don’t think this is the end of your education. There are many areas where you will need to be resourceful and agile in confronting a changing world.

So tonight, I’ll pick up on three areas that I think are worth focusing on. Firstly, the environment. My first point relates to the environment. Thirty years ago, environmental problems were not in the mainstream consciousness. In recent decades, it has dawned on many of us that there can be no viable future for humanity without a healthy planet. Earth, water and air support the existence of an immensely complex living system, powered by the sun. We are part of this web of life. Our globalising economic system is destabilising the planet’s life support systems – the very systems that support us and the future of our children. There are many emerging challenges, from unchecked population growth to rapid urbanisation, resource depletion at a rate far exceeding the capacity of our one and only planet. Fossil fuel consumption leading to climate change, extreme weather events and political and economic instability. I could go on. And it’s easy to feel overwhelmed when faced with such emerging challenges. But with challenge comes opportunity. Within your working career, a global transition will be necessary to what Arup calls the ecological age. The ecological age of human civilisation, where were live in balance with the resources of our earth can sustainably supply. So instead of delivering more for less cost, we now need to respond to the challenge of doing more with less, delivering equitable and enhanced living standards to more people using less resources. This is a circular economy, one that is restorative and regenerative by design, and which aims to keep products, components and materials at their highest utility and value at all times – not discarded. This is a huge challenge to us working in the built environment, but we also need, with limited money available, to make sure we deliver multiple virtual cycles of benefit with every dollar we spend. For example, greening cities – creating green infrastructure in cities such as parks and open spaces, green streets, sustainable waterways, green roofs and walls of buildings, can not only provide fresh air and reduce C02, but has been proven over time to create greater social cohesion; improved mental and physical health, with the consequent economic savings; improved investment and increased property prices; and even flood resistance. Think of all those benefits. So do we want to be remembered as the generation that was so wasteful, so consumptive, so self-centred, that we denied the opportunity for future generations? We need you, the new generation working in the built environment, to reject this approach and drive change towards an ecological age. This is our time to shine.

My second change is an obvious one: digital transformation; digital disruption. There’s no mistaking the changes facing the business world at the moment driven by digital-based technology. In the built environment, BIM, automation, machine learning, AI, robotics, data analytics are going to revolutionise the way we plan, design and construct the physical world around us. You need to familiarise yourselves with these technologies, as they will profoundly influence your career. But there was more disruption and opportunity coming via the collaborative economy. The collaborative economy is a concept based on the shift from centralised, hierarchical institutions to decentralised networks and communities. New business models, such as Uber and AirBnB use idle resource to satisfy underappreciated consumer needs, and are now well understood. But can traditional models of providing professional services also be served by new online models of providing professional services? Experts, crowds or collaborative networks? I think this is already happening. 50 per cent of professional services will be sourced from online channels within five years, so be prepared to adopt and capture the opportunities that will emerge from this disruption. My last point is about the need for change in the business environment. The near-meltdown of the financial system in the GFC and the ensuing global recession left trust in business at historic lows. Nothing has changed today – just read the papers. For business leaders, capitalism itself is being challenged. What is needed to respond to the challenges I described earlier is a new form of capitalism, one that is not purely self-interested in short-term gain, but shifts the emphasis to creating shared, long-term value that serves the interests of all stakeholders. This is not at odds with maximising corporate value. In fact, Professor Michael Porter, a master strategist from Harvard University, claims that the strongest businesses in future will be those that align making profits with creating social progress. My own company, Arup, has been set up using these ideals, and it is owned in trust to benefit both employees and society at large. You, too, can help shape a future human-centred business environment of shared prosperity.

So my final personal advice to you: be yourself. That’s the most important thing. Bring your authentic self to work. You are unique, and extraordinary. Don’t pretend to be someone else. We need people who are genuine, passionate, committed to excellence, who aspire to evolve and innovate, and seek new ground at all times. We need people that are true to their values, honourable in all dealings, and who support social equity, family values and work life balance. Be a champion for diversity in all its forms. We’ll not have a hope of solving some of the world’s challenges that I referred to earlier without diversity of thought, and that comes from all of you being champions of change to develop truly diverse staff in your working environments. Look for roles in your career that give you real purpose and fulfilment. You’ll find that true reward is most definitely not about money. In closing, I’m so very pleased to be able to share this special day with you. I wish you all the very best with your careers. I urge you all to make your careers count. And remember, shoot for the moon – even if you miss, you will land among the stars. Thank you.