How does the built environment create value for people, nature and climate as demands on the sector grow?
With a reputation as one of the most environmentally burdensome industries which also has a fundamental opportunity to support healthy and resilient societies, the built environment sector needs to find a way to lead the transition to a sustainable economy.
The operation, maintenance and construction of our buildings, towns and cities account for typically the largest – or among the largest – share of any country’s, and any individual's, carbon footprint and impact on natural resources; but also provide among our greatest opportunities to strengthen the resilience of our societies, maximise shared social benefit, and create safe, secure and enjoyable futures for all.
Experts agree that the sector's role in exacerbating global challenges and its potential to provide solutions to these challenges is of critical importance today. There is an urgent need to for radical change in the sector, and conversations about this seem louder today than ever.
Insights for built environment professionals
Sustainable real estate - a constellation of risks and opportunities
First published in The Lighthouse, this blog by Munish Datta
explores the constellation of risks and opportunities for
sustainable real estate.
Read the blog
Sustainable real estate - reflections and next steps
Building on the blog by Munish on the constellation of risks and opportunities in sustainable real estate, Lucy Bruzzone considers how and why stakeholders must make the transition to sustainable practices and gives recommendations for further reading
Read the blog
Collaborative leadership? It’s what a sustainable
future in the built environment sector requires.
Dr Tim Forman describes how 'shared leadership' was central to
the refurbishment of Entopia.
Read the blog
Building Entopia
Discover the story behind the world-leading sustainable retrofit of Entopia, CISL's new home in central Cambridge.
Read the case study
Education on a sustainable built environment
For over three decades, CISL has been at the forefront of sustainability education. We have a deep understanding of the changing global context and access to a wealth of world-leading research into sustainable business. Our programmes draw upon leading academics, practitioners and innovators to help inform business strategy and inspire action.
Sustainable Real Estate: Creating a Better Built Environment
For professionals who want to understand
the sustainability challenges facing the real estate sector.
Find out more
Postgraduate programme for the
built environment
Explore the importance of building
knowledge and leadership skills to drive
real change through collaboration.
Find out more
Executive Education (open application and custom)
Identify innovative and commercially compelling approaches to address sustainability challenges.
Find out more
Postgraduate student stories
"I am invigorated and stimulated by the discussions [...]. I challenge my beliefs and biases, and I am more intentional about actively listening"
Sonia Green-Browne, Principal Engineer, Graphite Engineering Ltd.
"I would be lying if I didn’t say that there
is a lot to take in on an average day! I feel like I am learning many new ideas and insights which I can reapply in my field of work."
Neiad Adams-Austin, Traffic Engineer, London Borough of Waltham Forest
"The huge merit of the part-time course structure is the opportunity to apply what we have learnt to the real world immediately after we absorbed the lectures."
Emi Sugiyama, Sustainability Consultant, PwC Japan
Sustainable built environment innovation and collaboration opportunities
For over three decades, CISL has built individual and organisational leadership capacity and capabilities and created industry-leading collaborations, to catalyse change and accelerate the path to a sustainable economy. To discuss how we can work with you to support you in your transformation, please get in touch.
Find out more about CISL Canopy and Accelerator opportunities, which foster sustainable innovation and entrepreneurship through our community of founders, startups, corporate intrapreneurs, investors and systems change experts.
Resources and research
Sustainable real estate - reflections and next steps
17 August 2023
21 August 2023 - Lucy Bruzzone, Programme Director at CISL, provides reflections on Munish Datta'sblog 'Sustainable real estate - a constellation of risks and opportunities' and gives recommendations for further reading.
Sustainable real estate - a constellation of risks and opportunities
15 August 2023
29 August 2023: First published in The Lighthouse , BNP Paribas REIM’s European Property Market Outlook, this blog by Munish Datta explores the constellation of risks and opportunities for sustainable real estate. Here, Lucy Bruzzone provides reflections and recommendations on ‘what next?’.
A day in the life of an IDBE student
14 August 2023
16 August 2023 - Emi Sugiyama is a Sustainability Consultant with PwC Japan and a student on the Master of Studies in Interdisciplinary Design for the Built Environment (IDBE). Emi shared her experience of the programme and has detailed what an average day looked like for her during her final residential workshop in Cambridge, UK.
A day in the life of an IDBE student
25 April 2023
25 April 2023 - Neiad Adams-Austin is a Traffic Engineer with the London Borough of Waltham Forest and a student on the Master of Studies in Interdisciplinary Design for the Built Environment (IDBE). Neiad has shared his experience of the programme and has detailed what an average day looks like for him during one of the residential workshops in Cambridge, UK.
A day in the life of an IDBE student
5 April 2023
5 April 2023 - Sonia Green-Browne is a Principal Engineer with Graphite Engineering Ltd and a student on the Master of Studies in Interdisciplinary Design for the Built Environment (IDBE). Sonia has shared her experience of the programme and has detailed what an average day looks like for her during one of the residential workshops in Cambridge, UK.
Collaborative leadership? It’s what a sustainable future in the built environment sector requires.
19 January 2023
25 January 2023 - Dr Tim Forman, Senior Research Associate and Deputy Director of the Interdisciplinary Design for the Built Environment ( IDBE ) postgraduate courses, described how 'shared leadership' was central to the refurbishment of Entopia, the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership's (CISL) new home. A type of collaboration that is vital to navigating the new reality of the built environment sector. This empowering and collaborative approach to sustainability also underpins CISL’s part-time accredited and non-accredited education programmes for built environment professionals.
China's Belt and Road Initiative: Sustainability in the New Silk Road
9 June 2022
9 June 2022 - This policy briefing seeks to contribute to understanding the links between China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), urban transformation and global development. The brief draws on fieldwork conducted in five cities across the Global South and North where BRI infrastructures and investments on the built environment are currently being materialised.
The emerging low build agenda at a time of change
29 March 2022
4 April 2022 - In his latest blog, Dr Tim Forman challenges the design and construction industry's linear, ‘take-make-waste’ processes, and asks how we can enable our built environment sector to deliver more for the benefit of people, nature and planet, whilst using far fewer resources?
CISL and the Corporate Leaders Groups respond to Glasgow Climate Pact
15 November 2021
15 November 2021 – On 13 November, a final COP26 agreement was reached within the Scottish Events Campus in Glasgow. The Glasgow Climate Pact will mean that all nations should formulate and publish updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement for 2030 by the time COP27 begins in Egypt. They should strive to align targets and plans with a 1.5C temperature pathway.
28 October 2021
November 2021 – The University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) launches a call to action at COP 26 finance day urging policymakers, financial regulators and industry to expand risk sharing systems at scale to tackle the Climate Emergency.
