A Sustainable Built Environment Through Systems Change 

UKGBC's Systems Change Programme

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 we can 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 seminal Systems Change Programme with a six month conference series, intending to:
1. Unpack and build consensus around the urgent action and transformational change needed within our sector.
2. Build personal and collective understanding and capabilities around systems change theory and practice.
3. Develop understanding around key levers of change within the built environment, facilitating conversations and learning across the value chain that begin to move the dial.
4. Equip and inspire participants to collaborate within a diverse network and co-define next step actions and further areas of work.

WHAT DID WE DO?

A recap of our Systems Change Conference series. See below for where we are at now and next steps for the Programme.

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. 5 Fractal Groups formed with participants self-organising around key intervention points: 1) Purpose of the built environment 2) Finance 3) Voices, collaboration & relationships 4) Materials 5) Power, leadership & behaviours.

11th January 2024

Mid-programme online check-in.

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 into the discussions and explored what’s next.

Where are we now?

See below!

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

WHAT DID WE LEARN?

The Systems Change Conference series followed an “awareness-based systems change” approach, where we learnt how to break away from more traditional processes:
We were not seeking to find ‘solutions’ that we can ‘scale up’, but instead innovated around ‘social technologies’, understanding and unpacking deeper questions around the mindsets 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 mindsets, relationships, and status-quo ways of operating.

You can see a summary of some key insight from the programme and the Fractal Groups’ work here. 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?

Taking learnings from the programme and applying them to live real estate projects…

We have now entered the second phase of the programme. On 1st May 2024 we convened alumni from across UKGBC’s Systems Change and other Leadership Programmes to discuss their appetite to continue the Systems Change Programme and share ideas for taking it forwards.

Supported by a group of executive alumni from UKGBC’s Recalibrate programme, we are now looking to apply learnings from our 2023-24 Systems Change Programme to a live real estate project. We are seeking to create a replicable process that catalyses radical collaboration and systems-based approaches across the built environment, constructively challenging the status quo of design and construction. If you know of an ambitious project that may be interested in piloting this approach please get in touch.  

HOW CAN YOU GET INVOLVED?

Our Systems Change Programme is currently open to both UKGBC members and non-members, and we actively seek participation from a diverse audience…

UKGBC continues to harness the power of our Systems Change Alumni by regularly convening those who remain enthusiastically engaged both online and in-person. This includes supporting the ongoing work of Fractals as individual groups and a collective.

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: