UKGBC Systems Change Programme

A Sustainable Built Environment Through Systems Change

The challenges faced as we seek to transform the sustainability of the built environment are complex. They cannot be solved at speed and scale by small and incremental change alone. We must look at the root causes of issues, and at the systemic barriers blocking their resolution, to understand how to enable urgent and widespread action. UKGBC calls on stakeholders across the built environment to engage in its Systems Change Programme, to support the transition towards a just and regenerative built environment.

WHAT IS SYSTEMS CHANGE?

SYSTEMS CHANGE CONFERENCE

In September 2023 UKGBC launched the first phase of its Systems Change Programme with a six-month conference series, intending to:

  • Unpack and build consensus around the urgent action and transformational change needed within our sector.
  • Build personal and collective understanding of systems change theory and practice.
  • Explore key levers of change within the built environment, facilitating conversations and learning across a diverse representation of the value chain.
  • Equip and inspire participants to collaborate, self-organise, and co-define next steps and further areas of work.

The conference had four key milestones:

  • 27th September 2023: Kick-off webinar to outline ways to get involved and build understanding of systems and systems change theory and practice.
  • 16-17th October 2023: Conference kick-off in London. Five “Fractal Groups” of participants self-organised around key intervention points:
    1. Purpose of the Built Environment
    2. Transforming Finance
    3. Voices & Collaboration
    4. Materials
    5. Power & Culture
  • 11th January 2024: Mid-programme online check-in to explore Fractal Group progress and activities.
  • 6-7th March 2024: Systems Change Summit in London, concluding the conference. Participants discussed the findings of their 6-month journey. We welcomed fresh voices and explored what’s next.

Meet the External Experts and UKGBC Member Leaders who supported our Systems Change Conference Work

WHAT DID WE LEARN?

The Systems Change Conference followed an “awareness-based” systems change approach, which broke away from more traditional processes:
We were not just seeking to find solutions to scale up, but also to innovate around ‘social technologies’ – investigating and shifting the mindsets and paradigms that underly our broken systems.
We fostered collaboration and connection, welcoming diversity and elevating underrepresented voices. We used dialogical co-enquiries and generative conversations inspired by different perspectives and individuals who may not otherwise have come together.
We cultivated leadership through “inner work” to empower individuals with the compassion, understanding, and wisdom needed to shift their thinking, build relationships, and challenge status-quo ways of operating.

Systems Change Manifesto

Some key insights from the programme and the Fractal Groups’ work can be found in our co-created Systems Change Manifesto here.

Summary Video

You can also get a flavour of what we did and hear from some of the participants in this short video.

WHERE ARE WE NOW?

Insights to Action on Live Real Estate Projects

As the conference series concluded, we embarked on the next stage of our journey – applying our learnings to live real estate projects…

Supported by a group of executive alumni from UKGBC’s Recalibrate leadership programme, we are seeking to create a replicable process that catalyses radical collaboration and systems-based approaches across the built environment. Through tangible intervention on live real estate projects, this initiative will challenge traditional practices, break down systemic barriers, and demonstrate how sustainable design and construction can be achieved through innovative ways of working.

This work offers pro bono “critical friend” support from leading senior executives and professionals specialising in sustainability and systems change practice to developers, investors, or other stakeholders working across any asset class. We have now begun this collaborative work on two ambitious residential estate regeneration projects.

HOW CAN YOU GET INVOLVED?

LIVE PROJECTS – We offer support to ambitious clients and project teams wishing to partner with us to reimagine and enhance the most sustainable vision on their projects through a systems-based approach. We have begun work on two residential estate regeneration projects, and are particularly seeking a commercial project to collaborate on. Please contact lucy.rees@ukgbc.org to discuss. More information available clicking here.

EVENTS – Over the course of 2024 we ran two in-person events to share Programme progress, run collaborative workshops, and present opportunities to engage more deeply in this work and network with other systems-thinkers. We will continue to run events both online and in-person over the course of 2025.

We welcome anyone interested in making radical change happen. If you would like to join the discussion, hear about upcoming events, or just want to join our mailing list please get in touch.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT SYSTEMS CHANGE AND UKGBC

CONTACTS

Lucy Rees Head of Insights and Systems Change
Elfrida Hamilton-Russell Learning and Leadership Director

With thanks to our Strategic Partners: