Promoting advances in sustainable roads worldwide

Professor Martin Snaith, O.B.E., introduces an annual gathering that has grown over the years to become perhaps the world's foremost professional development forum promoting advances in sustainable roads worldwide

Over more than 15 years the 2461 Senior Road Executives Programme (SRE), organised by the internationally renowned Highways Group of the 1128 University of Birmingham, UK, in association with IRF, has established a worldwide reputation for providing top-quality professional development for executives working in the road sector.

We met with Professor Martin Snaith, O.B.E., Emeritus Professor of Highway Engineering at the University, to find out more about the course, its history and just what makes it such an essential, "must attend" annual event for senior road practitioners, as well as members of road boards, government officials, specialised consultants and staff from leading international donor organisations.

We began by asking Professor Snaith to introduce briefly the dates and content for the 2011 edition of the SRE.

"The next SRE will be held in Birmingham from 4-16 April, 2011. As has become customary, the programme is designed to advance global understanding of the most pressing issues facing the road sector by providing a unique, interdisciplinary forum for debate and discussion with leading experts and fellow executives drawn from all over the world. To facilitate this, the programme is broken down into four intensive, three-day residential modules. Whilst these modules are thematically interlinked, participants not wishing, or able, to attend them all can, of course, select individual components, in accordance with the following schedule: Road Sector Reforms (4-6 April, 2011); Road Financing (7-9th April); Road Safety (11-13 April); Road Maintenance Management (14-16 April).

The programme is recognised by The 2332 World Bank as well as the UK 3915 Department for International Development; and delegates attending all four modules further qualify for IRF's prestigious Certificate in Sustainable Road Management. For up-to-date information and registration details, I would advise your readers to visit the dedicated website or send an email"

How did you come to be involved in the Senior Road Executives Programme?

"Since its inception some 30 years ago, the Highways Group at Birmingham has tried to drive forward learning and research in the highways sector, specifically for developing countries. We rapidly developed our Masters programme, originally funded by the British government, and then turned our attention to research and continuing professional development (CPD). As Group Director, I was keen to extend our CPD activities and was particularly delighted, therefore, when Dr. Henry Kerali (now a Professor) worked with Dr. Ian Heggie, then of the World Bank, to create what ultimately became the highly successful SRE Programme. By being aimed specifically at senior people associated with the road sector from around the world this filled an important void. The formula they constructed - with prime lecturers being drawn from practising engineers, economists and administrators, who are acknowledged authorities in their respective fields - has proved to be a winning one, with satisfied delegates coming year on year from a wide variety of countries throughout the world. My involvement, therefore, has been initially to support Henry and Ian through all the necessary steps to enable the undoubted success of their brainchild and, later, to ensure its continuation and gradual metamorphosis into its present format - still in Birmingham, and still very much focused on its original aims."

What is your own background and how are you currently involved in the SRE?

"I started off life in soil mechanics, but rapidly converted my education and training to the problems I had seen in the management and operation of roads in developing countries - for which I felt there was a paucity of focused research and teaching. Indeed, at the time, arguably only the Overseas Unit of the Transport Research Laboratory (777 TRL) in the U.K. was fulfilling this breadth of need. Consequently, the team we created at Birmingham has spent 90% of its time in this sector, working closely with, amongst others, TRL, the World Bank and, in the early days, the US Army Corps of Engineers. The aim has been to develop techniques specifically designed for application in a developing world context, frequently characterised by lack of adequate materials and funding. This very quickly led the team and I to focus on the management of resources and knowledge-based systems that could be of assistance in situations where there was an evident lack of skilled management capacity in place. Besides enabling sound project programming, securing such capacity was vitally important for promoting greater transparency in decision making and, thereby, reducing the opportunities for "wastage" of funds through corrupt practices. Today, it is particularly encouraging that the management systems we have developed over the years - notably at the project-to-network and network levels - have been widely recognised and adopted throughout the world, from China to Chile. Perhaps the best known is HDM-4, which is currently being operated, on behalf of the World Bank and the World Road Association (3141 PIARC), through the international consortium HDMGlobal, whose secretariat is at Birmingham. I remain very interested in the holistic treatment of management issues for highways, a field now increasingly referred to as asset management. It is this area that I have tended to concentrate on for the SRE in recent years, now that I have more time to devote to the programme. I shall, therefore, be particularly delighted to be able to kick off the module in the 2011 course devoted to Road Maintenance Management. There was a period, I have to admit, when I was so inundated with other pressures that my colleagues allowed me merely to welcome delegates, and to "enthuse" them on arrival with my vision of "roading" - as well as the fun and benefits they could themselves derive by personally and actively contributing to the course and its associated activities. I recall, on one occasion, causing much disbelief and mirth by producing an antique flintlock pistol at the welcoming event and somehow using this as a "prop" to help break the ice between our disparate delegates, and thereby encourage then to mingle and learn from each other's knowledge and experience over the ensuing week."

What do you think has contributed to the success of the Senior Road Executives Programme?

"I would say enthusiasm, commitment and the ability to respond to change. The initial enthusiasm of the course founders, Henry Kerali and Ian Heggie, benefitted from the support (besides myself) of key personalities like Dr. Clell Harral from the World Bank as well as, of course, my colleagues within the University; and, indeed, its industry-based collaborators in the UK, such as Scott Wilson and 3005 Atkins. Their invaluable belief and backing were major initial factors, as have been the dedication and commitment of the many expert lecturers drawn from all over the world who regularly give so generously of their time. Another vital element has been the interest of the World Bank and other bilateral and multilateral aid agencies, not least the UK's Department for International Development (DfID), all of whom have been strong supporters since the inception of the programme.

DfID, for example, demonstrated its active endorsement on one occasion through the visit of then Secretary of State, Clare Short. Finally, I would cite the ability of the SRE to evolve dynamically in response to the demands of industry and the environment.

It has always very seriously taken on board comments from delegates, the industry and supporting agencies, and has over the years been prepared to adjust its courses, and the syllabi within them, to reflect these inputs. Most recently, under the leadership of Dr. Michael Burrow and Dr. Harry Evdorides, in association with IRF's Geneva Programme Centre, the format has been radically altered by way of response to concerns that the 'Senior Road Executives' we target and, indeed, those leading the courses, are increasingly unable to spare a full week on a given topic. Hence, while the overall content has been retained, the courses themselves have been streamlined to suit the needs of professional participants - preserving, nevertheless, the vital residential component that encourages the flow and interchange of ideas."

What do you particularly enjoy about the SRE?

"Its freshness and vibrancy - attributes it seems to retain and reinforce year on year. I never cease to be amazed that the world has so many genuinely committed and, most importantly, "fun" people who care about the course and what it represents. This applies to both lecturers and participants. The latter, in particular, are the ones who make each course unique every year. They also, I must admit, have to suffer my bad jokes and inappropriate innuendoes! It is, therefore, to these dedicated professionals from all over the world that I extend my warmest thanks - both for putting up with me, and for making the SRE such a resounding and continuing success."