Our impact in 2021

In light of the challenges faced by the covid-19 pandemic, there have been some remarkable success stories and achievements over the last 12 months that are shining examples of how we can work together to make the world a safer place.

In March, Lloyd’s Register Foundation released ‘People and Places’, our inaugural Impact Review highlighting the individuals who are helping deliver our charitable mission. The Impact Review, which was launched as both a physical coffee-table style book and online exhibition that was translated into the UN’s 6 major languages, won both Best Online and Printed Report (unlisted) at the 2021 Corporate and Financial Awards. The printed report beat stiff competition from organisations such as Highways England, Southern Water and UK Power Networks, and high profile agencies such as Conran Design Group. The digital report also came out on top against Digital Catapult, the UK government’s leading agency for digital innovation.

April saw the launch of Lloyd’s Register Foundation’s NEST – our Network to Engineer a Safer Tomorrow. NEST is an international, multidisciplinary network created for anyone who has been supported through Lloyd’s Register Foundation funding to undertake a qualification, apprenticeship or other training, along with recipients of Foundation scholarships and Fellowships. With the launch of NEST, we can now help support our beneficiaries into the future, through funding, professional development opportunities, training and more.

2021 was also the launch of the second series of The Global Safety Podcast. The aim of the second series was to convene influential speakers around the world’s biggest global safety challenges and raise awareness of the Foundation’s charitable mission. Featured guests include broadcaster and conservationist Ben Fogle and Labour MP and best-selling author Jess Phillips. The Global Safety Podcast totals over 45,525 hours, or over 5 years, of accumulated listening time – with our Safer Ocean episode gaining over 12,000 listens.

Our partners MX3D unveiled the world's first stainless steel 3D printed bridge this July. Her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands, Máxima, was in attendance as the Smart Bridge was declared open to the public in Amsterdam. Brought to life by Lloyd's Register Foundation funding, the bridge marks a new era for ‘intelligent infrastructure’, and data recorded by the bridge's state-of-the-art sensor network will be used to enhance existing knowledge of structural integrity and create safer built environments around the world.

Foundation representatives attended COP26 in November to raise awareness of key initiatives and programmes including our Safer Oceans campaign and the World Risk Poll. Several Foundation-funded secondees were also present in their UNGC and High-Level Climate Change for Shipping capacities. Across the Lloyd’s Register Foundation and Lloyd’s Register, we had 12 presentation/key attendance opportunities at COP itself, plus another five significant fringe activities around and during COP. Highlights from the seminal climate event included LR Group and the Foundation event on building resilience in sustainable supply chains, a presentation at a Blue Zone Resilience Hub event on the World Risk Poll climate change data and seaweed being present across the agenda.

November also saw the launch of our Foresight Review on Ocean Safety. This latest review sets out urgent challenges facing the oceans with key recommendations made to create a safe and sustainable future blue economy. The review calls for international cooperation to make sure future ocean-related developments are safe, sustainable and just. Recommendations set the scene for the Foundation’s future safer oceans work and include greater investment, a just transition to a low carbon ocean economy, new approaches to skills and education; the need for more data, infrastructure, innovation and decent jobs for all.

2021 has been another year of significant and long-lasting change, but a year with significant achievements in public safety. Lloyd’s Register Foundation would like to extend a thank you to our partners and friends for their support throughout the last 12 months and their help in delivering our mission of making the world a safer place.