International Women’s Day: How our team’s expertise shapes the built environment
Celebrating our colleagues across Civic this International Women's Day
The built environment shapes how people live every day. So, who’s in the room when decisions are made affects how we perceive, design and interact with neighbourhoods.
At Civic, women lead across our services: engineering, archaeology and built heritage, finance, geoconsultancy, bids, strategy and governance.
Their influence changes how projects are scoped, how risks are assessed, how communities are engaged, and how our teams are engaged.
Ahead of International Women’s Day, we asked a few colleagues to reflect on this:
How has your (or a women colleague's) perspective shaped a project, a process or a way of working?
We chatted to...
Sadie Morgan, non-executive director
A defining moment for me came during my work with the National Infrastructure Commission and later the Thames Estuary 2050 Growth Commission. As someone with a design and architectural background, I instinctively approach complex challenges spatially - I tend to think in maps (I love them!) systems (how things connect) and relationships (people as well as things) rather than just the written word. At the time, I just assumed that the layered spatial data we were seeing in spreadsheets; showing infrastructure, development, environmental constraints, and future projects would already exist in plan form. I was very surprised to discover it didn’t.
As I spoke with developers, planners, and other stakeholders, it became clear that most people were working within the boundaries of their own sites, with very little visibility of how their projects connected to wider regional systems. That lack of a shared overview risked duplication, conflict, and missed opportunities. I started advocating for a consolidated visual approach - a single mapped view overlaying proposed developments with existing and planned transport, energy, and environmental infrastructure.
Eventually, I came across a prototype of exactly this kind of tool at the Greater London Authority: a strategic digital map showing major development sites alongside infrastructure networks. I championed its potential believing that it had national significance as a decision-making tool - by seeing these systems mapped together helps people spot clashes earlier, unlock investment opportunities, and collaborate more effectively across sectors and regions.
That experience reinforced something I’ve come to believe strongly: complex challenges often become clearer when you change how people see them. By pushing for a spatial, systems-based perspective rather than relying solely on written reports, I helped shift conversations toward more integrated planning and better-informed decisions. It showed me that sometimes the most valuable contribution isn’t a new policy or design - it’s a new way of understanding the problem.
Nikki Johnston, Associate
While leading bridge inspections in a remote area, I faced a difficult decision between my passion for advocating for female representation in the construction industry and my duty of care.
The safety procedure of the site required that every team member be physically capable of a solo rescue in difficult terrain.
Therefore, I had to make the tough call to adjust our team pairing based on a physical risk assessment. It felt like a personal setback, but it sharpened my perspective - true inclusion isn't just about 'getting women on-site'- it’s about the industry evolving its logistics so that safety requirements don't become barriers to entry. This moment pushed me to advocate for better inspection methodology, ensuring that a person's frame never dictates their opportunity. Being a true advocate means keeping people safe today while working towards fixing the systems that limit them tomorrow.
Andrew Ruck, Director
Outside of Civic, the built environment is unfortunately still quite a male-dominated field. So, it’s as important as ever to highlight the value that women colleagues bring. I work with some incredible people, like Laura Norris and Harriet Browning to name just a few of our many brilliant team, and I personally find that they bring a human-centred and empathetic approach to their work.
They are especially efficient in stakeholder management and relationship building, which proves incredibly important when problem-solving and getting things over the line smoothly.
At Civic, the development of our Conscience is a great example of how a women’s perspective resulted in us approaching decisions differently. Our Conscience is our ‘living’ framework, designed to reflect the people we are, how we behave, feel, collaborate and act, which was spearheaded by Director’s Katrina and Caroline.
Lucy Fleet, Finance Manager
I wouldn’t say my perspective is about being a woman - it’s more about how I like to work.
For me, that means being detail-focused and constantly looking for ways to improve systems. I enjoy building tools in Excel that make our processes more efficient and our reporting more transparent.
Me and my manager, Jess, have really focused on creating an approachable finance team - a space where colleagues feel comfortable asking questions and talking things through. When finance feels collaborative rather than intimidating, it strengthens decision-making across the business and helps projects run more smoothly.
Different perspectives change how we see connections - between projects, people, risks and opportunities. And when we see the whole system more clearly, we can have a more positive impact on the environment and enable people to lead healthier and happier lives.
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Our Team