Stantec’s Top 10 Ideas from 2024—plus 1 more for fun

What does working in the office look like in 2024 and beyond? How can artificial intelligence (AI) change how we predict floods? And what does a comprehensive plan offer your city?

We shared more than 270 ideas from our thought leaders across the globe. Look back at big ideas from people in the UK to Australia and those from Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, to Tampa, Florida.

Here are 11 of our favorite Ideas from 2024—because we just couldn’t stop at 10.

How has the pandemic changed the way we work in the office? For many employers and employees, the answer comes from rethinking the user experience. 

Reimaging the world’s energy, resources, and water challenges: It’s important to reuse resources, repurpose assets, and rethink conventional wisdom. How do we do it? In this issue of Stantec ERA, our team talked about a new life for waste, what to do with a closed mine, and the importance of direct potable reuse.

Climate solutions for a more resilient future: “Climate change, and the race to get ahead of it, is also a critical driver. The work of forestalling disaster is basically an engineering job—or rather, a series of engineering jobs, all interlinked. We need solar farms, offshore wind farms, and geothermal wells.” Several of our Environmental Services specialists—along with Gord Johnston, our president and CEO—talked with Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper about these climate solutions.

Does your city have a comprehensive plan—or master plan? It should. New practices can help set a community vision for housing, transportation, and land uses that work for the future. In our most-viewed blog from 2024, Erin Perdu explains a comprehensive plan and gives your city six steps to get the process going.

How can AI change flood prediction? Combining engineering expertise with artificial intelligence is a game changer. In this video, produced alongside BBC StoryWorks, we look at the historic 2021 flood in Waverly, Tennessee. We can’t stop the rain. But with AI, we can help make everyone safer.

We need water for hydrogen. How do we get it? Hydrogen will play a key role in decarbonizing our energy infrastructure. But where do we get the water that we need to produce it? It’s a question that Nathan Ashcroft and Jillian Flanagan helped answer.

Embracing decarbonization in healthcare: The health sector contributes about 5 percent of global carbon emissions. Three healthcare engineers share four key strategies for smart decarbonization.

Innovating with AI and ML: Artificial intelligence and machine learning (ML) are here. In this webinar, Sandeep Sathyamoorthy offers a practical assessment of the ML algorithms that are gaining momentum in the Water industry.

Transportation planning for big sports events: Graeme Masterton congratulates the host cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Then he talks about transportation planning strategies for major sporting events. It’s not “business as usual.”

What makes a carbon credit “high quality”? In this white paper, our Nature-based Solutions professionals discuss some of the criteria for high-quality carbon credits. They also share how to avoid claims of greenwashing or carbon piracy.

Redefining what’s possible: Climate change. Digital transformation. Future-proofing infrastructure. Watch this video to see how we’re collaborating with our clients to rise to the world’s greatest challenges.

In 2024, our people shared hundreds of thoughts on the trends, innovations, and challenges impacting the built and natural environments. We’re gearing up to dig deeper and share more in 2025.