Five Edge initiatives for 2025
Five edge initiatives for 2025 and beyond
In our last think piece (written for the Futurebuild Newsletter in August 2024) we outlined five initiatives that the Edge, the built and natural environment think tank and curator of the Futurebuild Arena Conference, had delivered or were underway (https://edgedebate.com/five-edge-initiatives-intended-to-achieve-major-change-for-people-and-the-environment).
The five were:
1. Policy proposals for the built and natural environment https://edgedebate.com/s/theEdge_PolicyProposals_1122.pdf
2. Competence framework for sustainability in the built environment https://edgedebate.com/competence-framework-for-sustainability
3. The case for a Public Sector Research Establishment for the built environment https://edgedebate.com/s/NBERO-0624_v10lr.pdf
4. Education for change https://edgedebate.com/edge-events/education-for-change-workshops
5. Proposals for a land use framework https://edgedebate.com/edge-events/edge-roundtable-173-delivering-a-national-land-use-framework
The five are all still live activities in our project programme and we’d be happy to discuss any or all of them with you, as well as an essential discussion we had on offsetting last September (see https://edgedebate.com/edge-events/edge-debate-172-is-carbon-offsetting-cheating-11th-september-2024), but in this piece we’ll look at five further ideas we are working on in 2025 and beyond. They are ideas in development, generated from conversations we are having within and outwith the group and above all they are topics that urgently need tackling by our sector and we would welcome input from across the industry to both develop our thinking and to take them forward.
The outputs from these ideas and projects (and more) will feature and inform Futurebuild discussions in the years ahead. This is your chance to join those discussions at the start
1. Taking a social approach to development
We are to build 1.5m homes in five years, with more to follow at the same rate! Ambitious - yes. Daunting – yes. Possible – well maybe. But will whatever and wherever we build be places that people want and can afford to live in, places that provide a good quality of life and community? Will they provide employment, shopping and leisure opportunities and be well connected to other such places? How sustainable and durable will they be, long into the future? Do any of these considerations come before the headline target number?
What would happen if we placed the social value of new developments at the forefront of our thinking about what and where we build? How would it effect thinking about the social mix of communities, land and property tenure, the re-use of existing features and buildings, allowing space for nature and the provision of nature-based services, the role of public transport and so on.
None of this is new, but in the rush to build numbers, numbers, numbers, are we going to forget what we already, deep down, know; and how can we ensure that will not be the case?
2. Professionalism post-Grenfell
The Moore-Bick inquiry into the Grenfell Tower disaster condemned the system of regulation of construction, expressed concern that ‘there may well be a widespread failure among the profession’ [of architects] and recommended the creation, by statute, of a new profession of fire engineers ‘protected by law’, amongst much else. Others who have submitted reports post-Grenfell, including Judith Hackitt and Paul Morrell, have made similar damning judgements.
If Government does decide to act decisively to restructure existing arrangements, what will this mean for the existing system of professions, professional values and above all for the current, largely self-regulating professional bodies? And what should the professional bodies be seeking to offer in anticipation, for issues that go much deeper than fire safety itself ?
the Edge has covered this territory before, particularly in the Commission of Inquiry into the Future of the Professions held in 2014 chaired by Paul Morrell and published in Paul’s subsequent report, Collaboration for Change, (https://edgedebate.com/s/CollaborationForChange_Book_Ed2-Final.pdf) published in 2015, but in the light of the publication of the final Grenfell Report there is an urgent need to revisit the debate.
3. Childhood in the city
Last year, the Edge highlighted the importance of focusing on the rights and needs of children and young people in the built environment. Since then, the TCPA has published the findings of the Parliamentary Inquiry into Children and Young People in the Built Environment, which offers valuable insights into how we can create spaces where children truly thrive.
This work reinforces what we’ve been aiming for: making sure that young people’s voices and needs are part of the conversation about how we design and shape our cities. It’s clear there’s still a lot to do, but the publication of these findings provides a great starting point for further action.
The Edge remains committed to exploring how we can bring together policymakers, educators, designers, and young people themselves to close the gaps between where we are now and where we need to be. As this initiative develops, we’d love to hear from anyone who shares our passion for making cities better places for the next generation.
4. Neurodiversity and inclusion
As an organisation best known for championing a multi-disciplinary approach to the challenges facing the built and natural environment, the Edge recognises that multi-disciplinarity is nothing without diversity. Despite this we work in a very homogeneous industry that has a problem with difference.
Can this be broken open? What measures need to be taken to ensure we, as a sector, are more able to be inclusive and welcoming? In particular we will be looking at embracing a more neurodiverse workforce, as a cohort that has, perhaps, received less attention than other areas of inclusion. We look forward to finding out where this stream of work will lead us.
5. Risk
In recent years we have all become far more aware of the idea of risk and the need to factor it into decision-making. In particular the Covid 19 pandemic taught us that ‘high impact but relatively low probability risks’ need to be carefully prepared for and that plans and resources should be in place and maintained well in advance.
For a sector that designs and builds structures and environments intended to last for decades, if not centuries, factoring in risk and risk management in all their forms should be an essential part of what we do. How do we avoid or reduce it to an optimal extent? What degree of resilience should we allow for? Should we allow for long-term risks now or wait until they become more pressing?
Working in a world where risk is of ever-greater concern means we need to have the language and the tools to debate and describe risk effectively and be able to make appropriate judgements. This starts with discussion and building understanding. The debate on risk in the built and natural environment sector is only just getting going.