Introduction

Sustainability is a very important aspect and subject that has become central in most of

engineering and industrial operations. Virtually all engineering projects and operations come

with some level of risks that need to be assessed in order to mitigate their impacts. SUSOP

provides an integral tool that is used to assess both risks and opportunities in industrial processes

and operations right from conceptions of the project and the day to day operations of all the

process. In order to appreciate the importance of SUSOP, this paper presents a reflection on the

lessons and skills I acquired from a peer review of SUSOP posters for different groups.

The whole process entailed reviewing group posters and reading articles on the subject of

SUSOP. The activity has been of tremendous importance in enabling me acquire skills that I can

use in future to assess risks and opportunities of different types of projects and industrial

operations. After going through the provided group posters, I was able to come up with a review

of each of the assessment report as presented in the subsequent section.

Review of Group Posters

In this section, I have endeavoured to comment on the different group posters based on my

honest review and the lessons I learned from the SUSOP. The criteria I have used in reviewing

the group posters is based on the robustness of the posters. For instance, the criteria I have used

assessed whether all the important areas of a good SUSOP report has been captured in the poster

presentation. In the review, I have also highlighted areas that seems to be the strength of the

different groups as well as the areas that need to be looked at. In my review, whereas all the

poster show good team effort, I thought poster for group 8 was more detailed, well thought and
incorporated all the elements and processes that there is for a good SUSOP study. The table

below shows the comments for each groups that I reviewed.

Group Review Comments

Number
Group1 Group 1 poster has clearly introduced the background of the project in questions.
The poster has been very clear in identification of the stakeholders as well as stating
the scope of the assessment which is based on the 5 capital model: social, human,
natural, manufacturing and financial.
The SUSOP standard methodology has been clearly employed starting with the
identification of opportunities and risks. Also, the impacts have been clearly stated
including positive and negative.
The poster has also highlighted the actions and recommendations to the established
issues.
The poster is overall a representation of a good assessment approach.
Group 3 This groups poster has clearly provided the background of the operation whose
sustainability is to be assessed.
The stakeholders and their roles have been clearly established.
The scope of the approach has been limited to environment, social and economics.
Although other aspects such as those of the 5 capital model should be included to
make the assessment more exhaustive.
The risks and opportunities have been clearly identified as well as the positive and
negative impacts.
The analysis has been carried out based on a balance sheet method the combines the
overall positive impacts against negative impacts. The conclusion arrived at is that
the project is sustainable given that the overall positive outcome outweighs the
negative impact.
Overall, the poster is a representation of good team works effort
Group 4 Group 4 poster has clearly presented the SUSOP assessment for the Southern water
project. A brief abstract has been provided about the project. However, a detailed
background information ought to have been captured to show why SUSOP is done.
Main stakeholders have been established and their roles in influencing
sustainability.
Three capital of environment, social and economics have been used in establishing
the positive and negative impacts of the project.
The group has also presented alternative recommendation that would make the
project and operations more sustainable than the existing proposal.
Overall, the SUSOP assessment meets the required criteria
Group 5 Group 5 poster has presented the SUSOP assessment for the Welsh Tidal Lagoon
project in a very succinct way. A detailed background capturing all the details of the
project has been provided.
The first process of SUSOP which is to establish the negative and positive impacts
have been detailed in the poster. Risks and opportunities have been highlighted
properly.
Also, the poster captures the main stakeholder and how they are affected by the
 project and how they influence the project and sustainability.
The presentation is a good piece, although, some recommendation ought to have
been presented as is the case with the other posters.
Group 6 This poster presents the SUSOP studies for the Peel Environmental and the poster
begins by presenting clear background of the project. The background introduces
the project details and what they project is all about including providing pictorial
illustrations.
The main and influential stakeholders to the project have been clearly established.
Also, the role of the stakeholders and their influence to sustainability of the
project’s operations has been presented.
The first step in the process of SUSOP, which includes identification of negative
and positive impact of the project has been captured and presented as required. The
identification of the risks and opportunities of the project has been captured using
the three capital that include environment, social and economics.
The presentation has been completed via a summary that shows how sustainable the
project is and the potential of making it more sustainable using the recommendation
associated with the opportunities of the project.
Group 6 poster is overall a good piece of SUSOP studies for the Peel Environmental
project.
Group 7 The SUSOP studies are presented in clear format. Background to the project and
operations of concerns have been highlighted. Stakeholders to the project have been
listed and how their interests fit in the project operations have also been highlighted.
Establishment of the issues related to the project have been captured in terms of
negative and positive impacts. The three pillars of SUSOP assessment that include
social, environment and economics have been used in the assessment of risks and
opportunities.
The goals have also been clearly highlighted accordingly. Finally a summary that
shows the sustainability concerns and how they can be mitigated has been presented
in the poster.
The poster is overall a good work showing a clear procedure for SUSOP studies.
Group 8 Group 8 poster presents a detailed SUSOP studies for the proposed New Coal Mine
in Cumbria. The poster begins by presenting a background overview of the project
and the expected operations of the project. Photo illustrations of the project have
also been presented.
The main stakeholders of the project have also been identified and how their
interests influence the project operations.
The SUSOP process of identifying impacts, risks and opportunities has been carried
out using the three pillars of economics, environment and social.
Analysis of risks and opportunities has also been presented based on a risk and
opportunity matrix that is made in a scale of 1 to 5 for each case.
Eventually, a summary of the SUSOP studies highlighting the sustainability
potential and recommendations have been provided as well.
Overall, the SUSOP studied for the group 8 poster is a good piece with detailed
information about the work.
Lessons and Skills Learned from the Activities

I reviewed 7 group posters of SUSOP studies for different projects. From the review of the

SUSOP studies posters of the different groups, I have been able to learn important lessons and

skills associated with carrying out SUSOP studies. In fact, I am now confident that faced with a

problem that requires conducting SUSOP studies in order to establish the viability of project

operations, based on their sustainability potentials; I will be able to produce a good report.

Carrying out the activities, I have learned that SUSOP studies have rather a distinctive

methodology that ought to be followed. Though, the first process of SUSOP studies entails

identifying the negative and positive impacts as well as the risks and opportunities; when

presenting a report or a poster of the SUSOP studies, it is important to start by presenting the

background of the project. The background of the project must state what the project is all about,

the expected operations and activities related to the project.

Also, I have learned that in presenting SUSOP studies report or poster, it is crucial that one

presents the main stakeholders of the project. The stakeholders, in this case, describes all the

parties and individuals whose interest affects the operations of a project. For instance, if it is a

project that entails waste management in a given area; the community of that areas becomes one

of the main stakeholders as they are the producers of the waste and that how those wastes are

managed affects them directly.

Another important lessons I have learned from this activity is that, establishment of issues related

to a project can be done either in terms of the three pillars of sustainability that include

environment, social and economics; or in the methodology can be in terms of the 5 capital

model. The 5 capital model essentially entails identifying issues based on the five capitals that

are social capital, human capital, natural capital, financial capital and manufactured capital.
Although, different projects have different complexities and that influences the approach or

methodology used in establishing the sustainability issues.

Once the issues have been identified – the negative impacts, the positive impacts, the risks and

the opportunities – the subsequent step is to analyse the risks and opportunities. The analysis can

be done using the matrix method where the issues are grouped based on the probability and the

outcome; normally in scale of say 1 to 5. Also, the analysis of the risks and opportunities can be

presented in the form of balance sheet where the risks and the opportunities are weighed against

each other. For instance, if the opportunities outweighs the risks; the project is considered

sustainable. However, if the risks outweighs the opportunities, the project is considered

unsustainable; thus, recommendations must be made on how to improve the problem.

In general, what I have learned is that the main aim of SUSOP study is to highlight the

opportunities and risks associated with a given project operations and afterwards provide a

suggestions on how to improve or make the project more sustainable. Based on the review

carried out for the different group posters, virtually all of the posters met the criteria for

acceptable SUSOP studies as they presented all the required areas of a good SUSOP assessment.

Although, poster 8 seems to have presented detailed information and better recommendation.

The analysis of the risks and opportunities was detailed and the suggestions as well as

recommendations were well thought.

Additionally, I have also learned that establishing the sustainability issues related to a project is a

key skills that requires deep knowledge of a project operations. In fact, ones needs to know all

the phases of the operations and the impact of each phases on the sustainability pillars such as

environment, social and economic pillar. It is only then that one is able to provide better

suggestions and well thought recommendations. Unless all the serious issues are identifies
appropriately, it becomes challenging to address sustainability problems related to a project.

Thus, one can only become better with practice and experience.

Conclusion

In my honest opinion, the methods and approach used in assessing sustainability for the different

projects in the posters were all useful and appropriate. They showed different methodologies and

ways that issues can be identified and appropriate suggestions deduced. From the review, the

benefits of the methods used enable the process to exhaustively establish key sustainable issues

that would have serious impact to the project operations: either negative impact or positive

impacts.

Also, from the aforementioned conclusion is made that different methods and approaches can be

used for SUSOP studies. Although, the distinction is marginal besides the choice of 5 capital

method and the three pillar of sustainability method. Any other things from that seems to present

similar pattern. Also, the different is in the analysis approach. The analysis of risks and

opportunities can be done using the matrix method or the balance sheet method. The overall

results, however, is depended on the accuracy of establishing the key sustainability issues.

Conclusion is also made that the different groups presented good work in terms of SUSOP

studies carried for different projects as presented in the table above. A good SUSOP study must

be guided by the right processes of carrying out a SUSOP assessment.