In 2022 alone we have had the return of war to Europe, an ongoing pandemic, floods, drought, record breaking temperatures exposing the inadequacy of our buildings and the fragility of our urban environments as places in which people can be expected to live and thrive. It was a year in which energy shortages, rising energy costs, rampant inflation and food shortages revealed the narrow margins by which sections of society are living. We need to find solutions even while facing worker shortfalls and a planning system mired in uncertainty and change.
Can we learn from the events of last year and focus on the circumstances we are in, so that we are ready to act and do not just revert to ‘business as usual’?
FUTUREBUILD PROPOSITION No 2: We must all learn the lessons and be better prepared – no excuses
Chair: Fiona Harvey, Environment Correspondent, The Guardian
Foresight and preparedness – what have we learned from recent events?
Reflections on how we dealt with Covid and how prepared we were and lessons to learn from other potential catastrophes such as recent global climate change experiences, energy and food shortages etc – which has also had impact in the UK – what we have learned and the measures we are recommending
Brooke Rogers OBE, Professor of Behavioural Science and Security, King’s College London
Ecological preparedness to protect and restore nature
Nature is in crisis globally and seriously in the UK – our sustainable future depends on nature’s health.
Beccy Speight, Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
Energy preparedness – what the built environment must do.
For built environment professionals, improving the energy performance of built stock is something that we can do, so why are we having so much difficulty in making this happen at the scale needed?
Paul Ruyssevelt, Professor of Energy and Building Performance, Building Stock Lab Leader, UCL Energy Institute, UCL
Social and economic preparedness
We need greater social and economic preparedness to protect not only the most vulnerable but all citizens. Covid deaths did not reflect higher or lower incomes!
How do we take the lessons learned to prepare for a just and regenerative future for all?
