The launch of the Carbon Self-Evaluation from the PDATF

I am delighted to announce the launch of the Carbon Self-Evaluation (CSE) from the Project Data Analytics Task Force (PDATF). Using carbon as a proxy for climate change action, the self-evaluation helps individuals to benchmark themselves and their organisations against others in terms of the access to, skills, quality and available solutions in relation to data.?If you would like to go straight to completing the CSE or view the dashboard please click here. Read on if you want to understand the background to the CSE.

Our aim is to raise awareness, inform, challenge and motivate fellow project professionals to make positive choices regarding Carbon on projects using the power of data.

I have the pleasure of co-leading the PDATF Climate and Nature Emergency Workstream with the inspirational Jo Jolly. The PDATF is built on an ethos of openness and collaboration, and welcomes all to join the community.? It is a rich source of information, contacts and training, with members across the private sector, public sector and academia.

Project professionals want to make a positive difference when it comes to tackling the multitude of environmental challenges, the climate being the most discussed and with potentially the greatest impact. Different initiatives picking different aspects are required, each informing, advocating, nudging behaviour at all levels.?The questions we hope to answer from introducing the CSE include:

The PDATF would like to play its part with a focus on the power that readily available data can have on the decisions made by individuals, project teams and leaders, organisations and industries. By highlighting the part that data can play, the PDATF will inspire confidence that the decisions made will help tackle the climate and nature emergency.??The Climate and Nature Emergency Workstream has the following members:

There is a growing body of regulation, policy and strategy, but this we believe is divorced from the day-to-day delivery of projects for most professionals. There is therefore a need to ensure that whatever is provided meets the needs of everyday professionals.?The workstream has chosen to start by raising awareness amongst project and data professionals - the foundation of the profession where there is the greatest opportunity to make change happen.?

The questions we are looking to address as part of the workstream:

1. As project / data professionals what can we do in our own sphere of influence?
2. How well are we doing and what can done to make the biggest impact?
3. How can we share what is working and deal with systemic challenges?
4. What impact are the myriad of strategies and policies around NetZero having on what we do and how we do it?

To help achieve this we have developed, as a first step, the Carbon Self-Evaluation (CSE) tool.? Using carbon as a proxy for climate change action, the self-evaluation helps individuals to benchmark themselves and their organisations against others in terms of the access to, skills, quality and available solutions in relation to data.?

The CSE is structured around 5 question sets aligned to the core PDATF workstreams (an example is shown to the left):

1. Data Engagement - Is Carbon being?discussed within my?organisation?
2. Data Access - What access do I have to any?data regarding Carbon from a?projects?perspective?
3. Data Quality - What is the quality of the data that we do have in relation to Carbon in projects?
4. Data Skills - What skills and knowledge do I have / am I being supported to obtain wrt Carbon?
5. Data Solutions Development - What?solutions / tools exist to help identify,?analyse, share?etc?data on Carbon?

We are asking for project delivery professionals, regardless of the industry or sector they work in, to complete the CSE.? The responses should reflect their own experiences relating to carbon and data within their own projects and organisations.? Upon completion they will receive a personalised report, benchmarking their evaluation against others. An example page from the personalised report is shown below including the comparative available up to to that point in time.

We are providing a general dashboard on the workstream page to allow individuals to review their own position against, currently, 4 criteria - Sector, Project Experience, Seniority and Influence. Example dashboard pages are shown below and can be accessed here.

The CSE encourages action to be taken from the bottom up while providing data that will challenge the effectiveness of top-down strategies and policies.? It will also help to share good practice and highlight where help and support are needed most.? By taking part, individuals will help to shine a light on how we are doing collectively as a profession.??

Please take a moment to complete the CSE, by clicking here, and sharing this link with colleagues and people across your network.

“We have a choice what we do now. As a project delivery community don’t underestimate our immense collective power, and our ability to make a difference.”

Thank you - Donnie, Jo and fellow members of the Climate and Nature Emergency Workstream. We can make a difference.