Events

Invited guests from industry, policy groups and, of course, parliamentarians joined AD's Steering Group and our expert speakers to pack out Committee Room 15 of the House of Commons on 12th March to launch our manifesto to transform the built environment.

With impassioned and insightful presentations from economist Kate Raworth, designer, writer and presenter Kevin McCloud and architect and AD Steering Group member Julia Barfield, policymakers and influencers went away with a clear picture of what is needed, positive examples of what is already in place and a set of policies ready for the next UK government to act on. The event was chaired by Green MP, Caroline Lucas.

You can find further information on the manifesto, inlcuding a set of early adoption policies and support statements (add your own!) on our special Building Blocks website. There, you can also watch our short Building Blocks video outlining some of the key priorities and images from the event, with excerpts from AD interviews with Kate and Kevin in parliament. A longer video of those interviews will be available soon.

AD joined ACAN on their stand (D40) at Futurebuild. Members of our Steering Group helped visitprs to envision what an alternative regenerative future could look like, and described where in the current system UK Architects Declare are placing energy to intervene and incite necessary change through two new AD initiatives:

• Our Building Blocks to Transform the Built Environment manifesto with built environment policies for the next UK Government.
• The Regenerative Architecture Index, with Architecture Today, for participating practices to benchmark their regenerative policies, actions and working practices.

The construction industry requires true climate leadership by a government that embraces far-reaching system changes and implements them.

This special event - in-person in London with a parallel discussion hosted in Edinburgh -marked the latest stage of our journey to create a national policy framework for the UK that faces the reality of the Climate and Biodiversity Emergency and creates a regenerative built environment, enabling society and nature to thrive.

With practical, impactful and implementable policies, our Building Blocks to Transform the Built Environment are about creating jobs, improving health, and restoring the natural world. Underpinned by a foundation of systemic change, the building blocks of resource Efficiency, Circular Economy and Social & Natural Infrastructures play to the strengths of professions across the sector. We shared the draft policy document with participants, showing how these building blocks need solid foundations of systemic economic and political change: an economy aligned within human well-being and planetary limits; UK laws to safeguard future generations; climate literacy embedded at all levels of society; and climate leadership fostered through reform of the political system.

Speakers:

• Kate Raworth (the renegade economist making economics fit for 21st-century realities & co-founder of Doughnut Economics Action Lab): set the context for how we influence policy and make a real change. 
• Michael Pawlyn (AD co-founder + Steering Group member & Founder, Exploration Architecture): Establishing the Foundations.
• Tim den Dekker (Part Z & Associate Architect, Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios) + Julia Barfield (AD Steering Group & Managing Director, Marks Barfield Architects): Whole Life Carbon. 
• Duncan Baker-Brown (AD Steering Group & Founder, BakerBrown): Circular Economy.
• Dr Elli Cosgrave & Binki Taylor (Director of Research & CIC Chair respectively, Publica): Social Infrastructure & Social Justice.
• Kevin Logan (AD Steering Group & Director, Maccreanor Lavington): Natural Infrastrucure.
• Zoe Watson (AD Steering Group & Head of Sustainability, Allies and Morrison): Next Steps and How You Can Be Involved.
  

How do we change the UK trajectory to allow for a just transition that supports the built environment and our planet? Amidst all the current political climate chaos, we are proposing an alternative positive vision for a regenerative future. As a profession, we have the solutions but lack the policy framework to enact meaningful change.

This online event for signatories to UK Architects Declare and other UK Built Environment Declares groups offered insights into an emerging Five Point Plan developed by key industry leaders, and helped us establish policy priorities and crystallise the vision. The plan - which became our Building Block to Transform the Built Environment policy manifesto - emphasises critical areas such as resource efficiency, circular economy practices, and nature enhancement, all of which can lead to substantial cost savings and environmental advantages. It introduces policies promoting health and wellbeing, social justice, and community engagement - aligning perfectly with the growing demand for high-quality, sustainable development.

Speakers:

• Julia Barfield - Managing Director, Marks Barfield Architects + UK Architects Declare Steering Group
• Will Arnold - Head of Climate Action at The Institution of Structural Engineers
• Anna Woodeson - Director, PUNL Power Up North London
• Zoe Watson - Head of Sustainability, Allies and Morrison + UK Architects Declare Steering Group

Please see our Resources (Changing the goals of the system) page for the video.

Organised by Architects Climate Action Network as part of the AD & ACAN collaboration on the Practice Action series, in partnership with the RIBA, this special event was the series finale - and a chance to connect with a host of incredible organisations. Participants were able to join in-person in either Edinburgh or London or to join online.

Speakers included:

• James York - Architect, PassivHaus designer & Net Zero Carbon building consultant at Collective Architecture
• Laura Baron - Head of Sustainability at Purcell
• Rachael Owens - Head of Sustainability & Buckley Gray Yeoman

And the event showcased positive transformations through a ‘World Cafe,’ with tables and online sessions hosted by diverse organisations and groups around a theme, provocation or offer of advice. An opportunity for participants to get involved and practise their skills in engaging with topics outside of their everyday. 

You can watch the video on ACAN’s YouTube channel.

This special in-person and live-streamed evening event, focused on the Energy Crisis as a live example of wider climate injustice: one aspect of the planetary emergency resulting from the failing systems that govern our built environment and economies.

We held this event as world leaders gathered for the COP27 global talks, and as households, businesses, communities and professions seek to navigate the ongoing energy crisis.

Our excellent panel of guest speakers shares a lively discussion on how our systems are failing to address the crisis, and how our profession can help bring to the forefront solutions and practices to advance justice in the energy crisis and support a just transition:

• Daze Aghaji - a Youth Climate Justice Activist who centres on Regenerative Cultures, Intersectionality, Radical Social Justice and Youth Political Engagement in her work. Daze is a Creative Director at Earthrise Studio, a creative agency dedicated to communicating the climate crisis and an Artist in Residence at Phytology, the Bethnal Green Nature Reserve.
• Sara Edmonds - a retrofit advocate and campaigner, director at Studio seARCH, coordinator at Architects Climate Action Network, co-founder of Home Energy Action Lab and co-host of the Zero Ambitions Podcast.
• Rosie Murphy - ACAN's Diversity & Solidarity Coordinator, and Co-Coordinator of their Education Group. She is an Advocate for the Black Females in Architecture network, a mentor for Homegrown Plus, and a recent Part 2 graduate from the Sustainable MArch at The Centre For Alternative Technology. Rosie now works at the social enterprise Matt+Fiona, where young people are asked how their built environment might be improved.
• Michael Pawlyn - an architect, systems thinker and expert in regenerative design and biomimicry. He established Exploration Architecture in 2007 to focus on high-performance buildings and solutions for the circular economy. He is a co-founder of Architects Declare and a member of the AD Steering Group.
  
  We are very grateful to Levitt Bernstein for hosting this event for us at their offices in north London. Please see our Resources (Changing the goals of the system) page for the video.

UK Architects Declare joined the Climate Strike, assembling outside the Building Centre in London and marching to Parliament Square for the Fridays for the Future gathering there. AD signatories join us to demand action on the emergency and demonstrate that we have solutions for the built environment.

FFF Climate Strike meetings also took place in other parts of the UK, including Doncaster, Edinburgh, Leeds, Lincoln, Liverpool & Oxford. We invited signatories who couldn't join one of the gatherings - or co-ordinate one in their area - to consider making time that day for colleagues to discuss actions within their own practice to address the Climate & Biodiversity Emergency.

The Practice Action series of Masterclasses & Conversations was developed jointly by Architects Declare and ACAN in partnership with RIBA. Designed to assist small and medium practices and those within the practice who are looking to effect change, the series built on themes from our Practice Guide to provide architecture professionals with the practical skills and confidence to pursue more sustainable and regenerative practice models.

We brought together experts from across the industry for informative, interactive and fun sessions that ran from May to September 2022. Architects Declare provided the series of 5 Masterclasses below, with ACAN providing a series of 5 Conversations to complement these. 

1. 6th May: Climate Literacy
2. 10th June: Understanding Impact 
3. 8th July: Working with the Client Brief 
4. 5th August: Collaboration and Learning within Practice 
5. 16th September: Closing the Loop

We ended the series in December 2022 with a special event with ACAN, in London, Edinburgh and online. You can watch the ‘Practice Action - Assembly!’ video, with videos from ACAN’s Conversation series complementing our Masterclasses, on ACAN’s YouTube channel.

Please see our Resources (Supporting our signatories) page for further details and the videos and template Miro Boards for the workshops.

Declared a Climate & Biodiversity Emergency? What next? Building on our successful Practice Guide, this special online event provided an expert panel of speakers to share lessons learned and help others on their journey. 

With opportunities for participants to network and discuss where their practice is now and where they want it to be, break-out discussions focused on opportunities to get there and how to overcome barriers to action.

Please see our Resources (Supporting our signatories) page for the video.

An opportunity for practices to learn more about our new Practice Guide, which we launched at the RIBA & UK Architects Declare Built Environment Summit on 29th October 2021, ahead of the start of COP26. We created the guide to help our signatories convert their declaration of climate and biodiversity emergency into meaningful action and build momentum within their practice. Part 1 is a Practice Roadmap that provides 5 simple steps to transform your business. Part 2 is the Project Design Guide focused on the fundamentals of truly sustainable design and demonstrated through exemplars.

This one-hour online event provided an overview of the guide’s purpose and intent and summaries of each of the chapters, followed by a Q&A session. Please see our Resources (Supporting our signatories) page for the video.