In April we let you know that upon consulting with our members and Board of Directors we made the decision to postpone the 2020 ACEC-BC Awards Gala to 2021 due to concerns around COVID-19.
This was not an easy decision to make as we know this celebration is fundamental in recognizing the excellence and innovative leadership within our industry. However, as you’re aware the health, safety, and well-being of our community is core to our values, which is why we made this decision to ensure we can host this celebration in a manner that guarantees safety and provides the best experience for members, guests, volunteers, and staff.
What happens to the projects submitted?
There is no impact to submissions as only the gala celebration date has changed. All project submissions will be honoured and winners will be announced in 2021. The new gala date will be announced in the coming months.
What about 2020 projects?
When we made the call to postpone the 2020 Gala, we decided not seek new project or individual award nominations until after we awarded the existing projects and individuals. Our plan was to seek new nominations in the Fall of 2021 and extend the eligibility period to cover two years (2020 and 2021). That is still our plan and a year from now we will be seeking your submissions for the work you did this year AND next year, helping to recognize how the consulting engineering industry support our communities, economy, and partners during this very difficult period.
New for 2021 – Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Award
We’re excited to announce the launch of a new award category – The Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Award.
This award category was recently developed by the ACEC-BC Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Committee and approved by the Board for inclusion in our annual awards gala beginning 2021. The new EDI Award recognizes individuals and/or organizations who have demonstrated a commitment to advancing the principles of equity, diversity and inclusion through their actions, for example technical practice, people & culture processes, programs and policies, or externally through community engagement activities. Details and a formal call for nominations will be issued in January 2021.
Special Recognition for 2020
We know that despite set-backs and the challenges of the last seven months our members managed to do some amazing work this year and we are excited to support showcasing these projects. We’ve created a one-time mixed category – 2020 Showcase – to recognize how our members contributed to our communities in this unprecedented year.
In addition to meeting the standard eligibility criteria*, projects nominated in this category must meet the following criteria:
- Design and construction elements submitted largely completed during the calendar year 2020
- Include a brief description of how the project team addressed unique challenges resulting from the pandemic.
Each firm may submit only one project to this category. All submissions will be electronic (no poster boards or binders) but must otherwise comply with the submission specifications (word count, graphics, project details).
The project receiving the Award of Excellence in this category will be considered for the 2022 Lieutenant Governor’s
Award for Engineering Excellence. All projects submitted in this category can be submitted again for consideration next year.
Intent to submit deadline: December 31, 2020
