The future. A brave new world? The bravest thing we can do right now is to re-think how we go about what we do every day and consider the legacy we are leaving behind for future generations.

If we continue to build and demolish and work in what is a very short term, price fixated manner we will not create a world class built environment for Wales. We will fall short of our ambitious targets on sustainability and waste. In short, we will not create an environment that we can be proud of for future generations.

That is why CEW is such a strong advocate of the circular economy.

I make no apology for sounding like a stuck record from time to time. Whilst CEW has achieved much in the past decade or so, we constantly must remind and often re-educate people that a collaborative, integrated team work approach to delivering best practice is the only way that Wales will design, build and engineer a sustainable built environment.

It sounds a tough message. The good news is that a lot of the ideas, research and success of CEW in waste management and recycling and re-use will form a strong foundation for our construction industry adopting the circular economy.

We must think ahead. Focus on outcomes. Ask the difficult questions at the beginning of projects. Highlight major projects like the Metro and make them exemplars from which we can all learn. Most of all, we must stop thinking in straight lines. We must give up on the linear obsession with price.