BEI Weekly Update — 7th July 2023

Dear Members and Friends,

I thought you might find it useful to see a summary of all the activity conducted in the last three months - not only with you as Members of BEI, but also across our sister companies, The  D Group and The British Foreign Policy Group.  It has been very busy, but most importantly we have been pleased to have so many of you participate in events and working groups and participate actively in content creation. Our thanks to all of you for your active engagement. A link to the programme can be found here.

Our focus on developing value-adding content continues next week, with a review and panel discussion on the BEI NbS working group’s upcoming publication: Financing and Implementing Nature-based Solutions in Urban Areas - a Guide for Local Actors. We are particularly grateful to the team from DT Global who have driven this first phase of the work, as well as to other members of the BEI Nature-based Solutions Working Group who have been supporting the review process. We will be joined by speakers from The World Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Asian Development Bank who will share their organisations’ perspectives and experience in building capacity on urban NbS with local actors, and we look forward to discussing our upcoming publication with them.

Following on from the recent ‘Meet The Ambassador’ series, I wanted to highlight the new date for a round table discussion with Tim Read - CEO of UK Export Finance.  UKEF were mentioned repeatedly by the Ambassadors, and this will provide members with an opportunity to meet with Tim in person and get a clear overview of his priorities and approach.

In ‘23 Grafton Street’, our art gallery D Contemporary in collaboration with ARTCOLLECTORNEWS, is pleased to announce ‘Vices', Mister Papercut's first solo London exhibition curated by Jonathan Fakinos, opening next week.

Mister Papercut’s Street art has appeared across the USA and a range of countries in Europe, and his gallery work has been exhibited in Miami, New York, Taiwan & Australia, as well as participating in art fairs during Art Basel Miami. You are most welcome to join us at the PRIVATE VIEW on FRIDAY 14 JULY 2023, 6-8 PM.

Wishing you the very best for the weekend ahead.

Warm Regards

Peter O’Kane  

Chairman  

British Expertise International/Strategy International

Recordings of recent past events:

Key events coming up include the following:

  • 11th July 2023 10:00-11:30 BST: Nature-Based Solutions in Urban Settings: Stakeholder Roundtable - The BEI NbS working group is delighted to invite you to explore the upcoming BEI member publication: Financing and Implementing Nature-based Solutions in Urban Areas - a Guide for Local Actors. Our speakers are drawn from three of BEI members’ key stakeholders: The World Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and Asian Development Bank (ADB).
  • 11th July 2023 16:00-19:30 BST: Climate Change Working Group Networking Evening - Join us for an evening of thought-provoking conversations with leaders across UK industry in the climate space. Our keynote speaker will be Dr Iris Soler, Associate Director at Turner & Townsend, who will explore links between water with climate.
  • 12th July 2023 10:00-11:30 BST: Deep Dive on Opportunities in the Water Sector in Egypt - Join us for a deep dive on Opportunities in the Water Sector in Egypt. We will hear from George Yunan from the Department of Business and Trade and from Mohamed Saad from UK Export Finance to gain valuable insights into the future direction of the UK’s relationship with Egypt and the priorities for collaboration in the water sector.
  • 13th July 2023 11:00-13:00 BST: Green Skills: Equipping the Workforce for a Sustainable Future - Join British Expertise International for an in-person panel event on Green Skills in the Skills & Training Working Group. We will be joined by speakers from: Turner & Townsend, The Skills Network, and Climate Sense, who will be presenting on their organisation’s commitment to delivering against the green skills agenda.
  • 18th July 2023 14:00-15:30 BST: Opportunities in Transnational Education (TNE) with the Department for Business and Trade - Join us for an online webinar on Transnational Education (TNE) opportunities with the Department for Business and Trade. We will be joined by Dr Suzanna Tomassi, the Higher Education Specialist from the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) who will provide us with a snapshot of the current global trends and opportunities, as well as regions of focus for DBT.
  • 19th July 2023 09:00-11:00 BST: Portfolios in Practice: Lessons learned from the Girls Education Challenge - Join us for an in-person round table on lessons learned from the Girls Education Challenge (GEC). We will be joined by Emma Sarton, Senior Education Advisor at Cambridge Education Mott MacDonald (GEC Learning Lead) and George McLaughlin and Dr Sharon Tao, Team Leader for the GEC at FCDO.
  • 20th July 2023 15:00-16:30 BST: UK Innovations in Digital Construction - British organisations are leading the way in digital construction methods in the UK and internationally. In this session we will delve into some of the approaches and technologies available and hear from the Connected Places Catapult, Gleeds and KOPE.ai.
  • 27th July 2023 14:00-15:30 BST: UKEF and Global Britain -- Immediate and medium-term region and sector priorities - Join us Tuesday 20th June from 10:00-11:30 for a roundtable discussion with Tim Reid, the Chief Executive of UK Export Finance (UKEF), discussing ‘UKEF and Global Britain -- Immediate and medium-term region and sector priorities’. The discussion will include current challenges, such as the crisis in Ukraine as well focusing on medium-term priorities, such as U.K. expertise assisting energy transition.
  • 27th July 2023 16:00-17:00 BST: BEI Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Working Group - Equity, Diversity and Inclusion is not bound by geographic borders, instead it is a global agenda. This Working Group supports member organisations in building and executing a consistent high impact approach to EDI, by providing a platform to share best practices and discuss challenges and barriers in a constructive but safe environment. In the July session, we are exploring mental health and anxiety as our topic.
  • 5th September 2023 12:00-14:30 BST: In person Education Working Group roundtable with Sir Steve Smith, UK Government International Education Champion - Join us for our quarterly in-person Education Working Group with Sir Steve Smith, the UK Government International Education Champion. Steve will speak on the UK’s International Education Strategy, his role as an International Education Champion and the future trends in education and priority countries going forward for His Majesty’s Government.
  • 13th September 2023 09:30-10:30 BST: FCDO Development Director Series: Ethiopia - Join us as we host Paul Walters, the Development Director in Ethiopia for the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) who will present FCDO’s development strategy, programming and pipeline of opportunities in Ethiopia.
  • 19th September 2023 09:30-10:30 BST: FCDO Development Director Series: Pakistan - Join us as we host Jo Moir, the Development Director in Pakistan for the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) who will present FCDO’s development strategy, programming and pipeline of opportunities in Pakistan.

Register for an upcoming event →

External Events

  • 13th July: Wet Network Programme - Our members, Arup and WRc are staging the Wet Networks series of events, supporting new collaborations to enable a broader innovation ecosystem.
  • 18th July: BDO Women Working in Development -  BDO invites you to the re-launch of their Women Working in Development Network and our upcoming event in July. They will be holding a panel discussion focused on the use of KPIs and gender targets within donor programming. This relaunch event will be held in person in the BDO London office, but the panel session and Q&A will be recorded and shared following the event. Please use the link above to register!

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