The Challenge to Achieve Real Change

Are you ready for a paradigm shift to achieve and future and live in a world we want to live in?

As Kirsten Henson, sustainability consultant and speaker in this session, has written: “We are running out of time in our fight against planetary destruction…add to this the increasing frustration against the lack of opportunity for social mobility, unequal access to education and healthcare and it is not surprising that people are starting to call for a different type of leadership - new disruptive business and economic models are required to create a paradigm shift.”

A paradigm shift is certainly needed if we are to achieve a future and live in a world that we would want to live in.

We will invite the audience to contribute their own suggestions and by the session end we will identify three key recommendations as the most universally applicable.

This session was developed by the Ecobuild Conference at Futurebuild together with Louise Clarke of Berkeley Homes and Julie Godefroy of Julie Godefroy Sustainability and the Edge

Chair: 
Professor Peter Guthrie - University of Cambridge

Speakers: 
Lowri Bond - Igloo Regeneration
Kirsten Henson - KLH Sustainability
Ben Smith - ARUP & National Park City
Omer Kutluoglu - Yes Recycling

Connecting education, research, practice and professionalism.

Reinforcing the connections between education, skills, research and professional standards to develop the future workforce we need.

If we want a sustainable built environment we need to ensure that we can deliver this through a competent, and especially environmentally competent, workforce. We need a positive vision to attract a workforce for the future. Education, skills, research and professionals standards are, or should be, closely interwoven. We need to inspire in our courses from professional education to skills training and apprenticeships, disseminate relevant research to provide an evidence base for decision making and ensure that our professional standards are taken seriously as an asset, not an obstacle. This session will explore these challenges to see how we can do better.

We will invite the audience to contribute their own suggestions and by the session end we will identify three key recommendations as the most universally applicable.

This session was developed with the Ecobuild Conference at Futurebuild.

Chair:
Sunand Prasad PPRIBA – Penoyre & Prasad

Speakers: 
Flora Samuel - University of Reading & Vice President for Research RIBA
Dr Emma Wilcox - CEO Society for the Environment
Simon Foxell - The Architects Practice & author of Professionalism for the Built Environment
Alexander Wright - University of Bath

What sort of education can best tackle the challenges of sustainability in the built environment?

Learning in all forms, from the education of students to the continuing development of professionals, is key to a sustainable built environment. The issues explored in this debate were around general cross-disciplinary learning versus focusing on the specialisation of disciplines.

To deal with challenges of sustainability, is deep and narrow knowledge more beneficial or is shallow and broad knowledge more desirable? We know that collaboration between disciplines is essential, but so is detailed understanding of technical issues. The idea of ‘T-shaped’ people is becoming more widespread; how do we create graduates and professionals who have the skills and knowledge to create and maintain a built environment that is environmentally, socially and economically sustainable? Issues covered included lifelong learning for built environment professionals and feedback loops between learning and practice.

Speakers
Chair: Nigel Tonks, Buildings London Leader, Arup

Team Specialist:
Satheesh Jacob, Head of Excellence, Building Services, Ramboll
Alex MacLaren, Assistant Professor – Architectural Design, Heriot Watt University

Team Generalist:
Paul Tymkow, Director of Learning and Knowledge, Hoare Lea
Robert Schmidt III, Senior Lecturer, Loughborough University

Venue: The Clarence Centre for Enterprise and Innovation, London South Bank University, 6 St George’s Circus, London SE1 6FE

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This debate was the last in the Built Environment Exchange Series 2016. A series of multidisciplinary debates jointly organised by the Sustainable Communities Institute at London South Bank University (LSBU), the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineering (CIBSE) and the All-Party Parliamentary Sustainable Built Environment Group (APSBEG) to bring together built environment professionals, students, business leaders and clients to address challenges of sustainability in the built environment.

Organised by: London South Bank University, CIBSE, the All-Party Parliamentary Sustainable Built Environment Group and the Edge.