BUILD: NextGen

BUILD: NextGen is a leadership programme designed for those in early employment within the built environment who are seeking to build the mindset, confidence, and practical skills to turn sustainability into action. Developed in collaboration with leading industry stakeholders and with funding awarded by the Ove Arup Foundation, it takes participants on a journey from understanding sustainability challenges to developing behaviours and capabilities required to deliver meaningful outcomes in the workplace.

BUILD: NextGen:

  • Helps participants develop greater self-awareness and confidence in their ability to contribute to sustainable outcomes.
  • Participants develop critical thinking and judgement by exploring how sustainability is realised in the built environment, drawing lessons from real-world projects and decision-making contexts.
  • Enhances understanding of how sustainability challenges and decisions are interconnected across stakeholders, organisations and value chains.
  • Develops commercial awareness and strengthens decision-making skills by understanding how sustainability creates value, manages risk and interacts with wider business and project priorities.
  • Strengthens participants’ ability to influence, communicate and build relationships across functions, including using effective storytelling to engage different audiences and support sustainable change.
  • Builds confidence in navigating ambiguity and adapting to changing circumstances, priorities and constraints.


To apply for BUILD: NextGen 2027:
Contact leaders@ukgbc.org to enquire about securing your place.

Contact Us to Apply to BUILD: NextGen 2027

The Programme & Its Participants

The next programme will run from May to September 2027. BUILD:NextGen participants are entry level professionals typically 1-5 years into their career working withing and outside designated sustainability roles.

Thread 1 – Individual Learning & Reflection

Throughout the programme, participants engage in supplementary reading and individual learning activities that deepen their understanding of sustainability and the built environment, complementing the core content with added insight, perspective, and context. This is paired with guided self-reflection, prompting participants to think about their developing understanding, how it relates to their role and experience, their personal strengths and working style, areas for growth, how they respond to different situations, and how they apply their learning within their role and organisation. Reflection also extends to the Group Project, encouraging participants to consider their contribution, collaboration with others, challenges to their thinking, and what they might do differently next time. Overall, the approach prioritises continuous learning and reflection, helping participants connect the programme content to their own experience and practice

Thread 2 – Facilitated Workshops & Event

The programme progresses through five modules: you & your role in change, navigating the built environment system, creating value through sustainability, influencing through storytelling and launch and impact. Each workshop provides an opportunity to learn together, discuss ideas and consider how the learning applies in practice. The Group project is introduced and developed through these workshops.

Thread 3 – Group Project

The Group Project is the practical application and collaboration thread running throughout the programme. Participants work in small, stable groups, bringing together people from different organisations, disciplines, and areas of the built environment value chain. The project is designed as a strategic decision‑making simulation, giving participants the opportunity to: work across professional boundaries, understand different perspectives, challenge assumptions, navigate competing priorities, make collective decisions and influence others.

Programme Timetable

The programme will run from late May to September 2027 ( with a pause over peak summer)

  • Module 1. You and Your Role in Change: 26th May, 9:30 -12:30 online workshop.
  • Module 2. Navigating the Built Environment System: 9th June, 9:30 – 12:30 online workshop.
  • Module 3. Creating Value Through Sustainability: 22nd June, 9:30 – 12:30 online workshop.
  • Module 4. Influencing Through Storytelling: 14th July, 9:30 – 12:30 online workshop.
  • Module 5. Launch and Impact: 8th September, 15:00-18:00 in person event

Download the Brochure

WITH THANKS TO OUR FUNDING PARTNER

WITH THANKS TO OUR STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP PARTNERS

Learning & Leadership

Impactful, inspiring and accessible learning is at the heart of our mission at UKGBC. From bitesize courses accessible on the move to immersive learning on live projects, UKGBC’s diverse and comprehensive Learning and Leadership portfolio offers a range of opportunities to raise awareness, deepen sustainability knowledge and build skills.
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