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1. THE ENVIRONMENT

1.1 Environmental Principles for Engineers

For legal as well as ethical reasons, engineers must plan, implement and manage their works programmes in a socially, ecologically and economically sustainable way. The IPENZ publication Environmental Principles for Engineers (October 1993) contains a statement of principles engineers can follow to meet these criteria.

That document sets out a range of issues which are pertinent to the role and responsibilities of professional engineers in planning for and designing works, and their operations, maintenance and termination. The subject matter is addressed under the headings of:

Engineering and the Environment
Sustainable Development.
Role of Economics.
Environmental Impact Assessment.
Community Participation.
Overseas Practice.
Ethics.

The document provides a philosophy upon which these present Guidelines are founded, and should be read in conjunction with the IPENZ Code of Ethics and the IPENZ Sustainable Management Action Plan.

Note that the word "effects" is used throughout the document in the same way as in the Resource Management Act, 1991, i.e. to mean the impacts or effects of activities upon the environment or risk to sustainable or un-sustainable resources.

1.2 The Extent of the Environment

"Environment" is a complex concept that does not lend itself easily to definition. The following three definitions show the range of items or issues which can be included within the term, Environment:-

The total stock of social, physical and biological resources available to man and to other species, and the ecosystems of which they are part.
All aspects of the physical, biological and social surroundings of people, whether affecting them as individuals or in their social and cultural groups.
The sum of all external conditions influencing the growth and development of an organism. Also, all that is apart from and surrounds an observer or something being observed.

In New Zealand, engineers will frequently have to take into account the views and concerns of the tangata whenua. There are distinctive Maori perspectives on the environment, often subtly different for each tribal group. Broadly, the mana (power, status, respect) of the people is linked to the health of identified features in the natural environment, such as mountains, lakes, rivers and estuaries. This view is in turn based on the mauri (spiritual value) within each feature and on a concept of shared stewardship. Each generation sees itself as the kaitiaki (guardian) of the environmental quality for those that come after. Any impact on the environment therefore needs to be evaluated by the whole community and particularly by the elders.

This spiritual dimension and philosophical attachment to the environment is also found in other groups within society. For example, features such as quality landscape, indigenous bush, buildings and other structures can contribute to a sense of place and "belonging" for many citizens.

The environment should be viewed as having three principal components: physical, biological and social. These components are now recognised in New Zealand legislation (refer Resource Management Act, 1991).

A perspective on these three principle components making up the environment is developed in Appendix 1.