Vanessa Perkins, Senior Consultant, Compliance, Strategy and Transactions (CST), Environment & Health

All about Sustainability

I started at Ramboll five years ago as a junior consultant just after finishing university. Since then, I've been working with the Compliance, Strategy, and Transactions (CST and Site Solutions team working in soil and groundwater contamination where I've been for the last five years, progressing in my career.

Being at Ramboll is great, because we go big on sustainability – for example, I’m part of the Australian Sustainability team, made up of members from the Australian offices where we get together and focus on a different sustainable theme each month, where we aim to raise awareness and promote action associated with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS), as well as the overall Ramboll sustainable strategy.

Being at Ramboll has been a really great opportunity for me personally because I feel wholeheartedly encouraged in my actions and initiatives by being in this sustainability team. For example, this year each of the offices collaborated to participate in clean-up Australia Day, where our teams spent a couple of hours to clean up local areas in Australia. We even had weigh-in competitions at the end of the day to celebrate the most successful team.

Learning and Developing part of personal growth

Personally, I’m always learning and developing – it’s just part of being at Ramboll. From learning new concepts, taking new workshops, or being introduced to new themes and strategies. It’s been really great for me to be able to develop my learning, then be able to share that with others. I'm someone who is extremely enthusiastic about the environment, and staunchly believe in the need for sustainability in our everyday lives. This is an aspect that I am ardently championing for continual advancements for.

At Ramboll, there's always been a strong focus on innovation and growth in sustainability, particularly in giving employees opportunities and initiatives to grow and develop their skills. I find that this strong focus and development has really strengthened my values throughout the time I've been here.

Take for example in 2019, I was given the opportunity to be a part of a global innovation lab called UNLEASH. In essence, the program brings together people from all around the world to transform and build global networks around the SDGs. Ramboll had given me the opportunity to China for two weeks to be a part of the program, understand how to better explore sustainable conversations with a diverse group of people, and building relationships with people from different industries and all walks of life.

This allowed me to bring some of these ideas back from UNLEASH and begin to implement them on a local level – that’s when the conception of the Australian Sustainability team came about. This is an initiative that I was excited to be a part of kick-starting because I found at the time, that there wasn’t as much talk about sustainability within the individual offices. Being able to develop this group, continue working on it each month, is something I greatly enjoy and what I’d like to keep doing at Ramboll.

How and where to get started on sustainability?

At Ramboll, you are greatly supported in your sustainability initiatives because we are all about innovation, growth, and enthusiasm. Getting started on sustainability isn’t hard, but I would say it’s a commitment that you can start on a daily basis, with even the smallest action. By doing so, you continue to evolve, learn, and grow your best practices, and I’d say that really is the best way to start implementing, thinking, and ultimately living and breathing sustainability.