Engagement and activism is one of four scans that forms part of Environmental Challenge theme for RIBA Horizons 2034. [1]
Change is constant. We cannot stop it. We can observe all its variations and nuances. We can describe how fast it is, and whether we like or dislike it. We can have an attitude towards it and what we then wish to do about it. It affects everything, at all scales. When it affects the climate, its impact is multi-scalar too, impacting every living thing on the planet.
We read about the entire spectrum of action for change, from radical individual protest to collective governmental action. At times, this action seems to be a bit too much; at others, it can seem unwieldy and slow.
What is clear is that we all have professional and personal choices to make. When these choices align, they can add up to massively influential movements. To improve things for the better, we must consider how and where we can influence and implement change. It is the doing of something – taking action – that makes a lasting difference.
Indeed, activism is of such importance to the UN’s Decade of Action [2] to find sustainable solutions to all the world’s biggest challenges that it has its own UN Sustainable Development Goal – SDG 13. Its objective is to “take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts”. [3]
The goal describes how we each have a responsibility to:
- act now
- raise awareness
- build knowledge and capacity
- strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity
- integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies, and planning
For architects, activism means engaging in civil and democratic society, as individuals and as members of communities and businesses, to effect the change only the profession can make. For example, it falls to architects to build knowledge among clients, contractors, and the community, so that client briefs and agreed design choices are founded on a shared commitment to a sustainable future.
In this context, the architectural profession stands at a critical juncture: will we transform how we work, engage and collaborate? The role of not just architects but engineers and planners too in shaping our built environment becomes increasingly important the longer the climate crisis deepens. These professionals can be radical activists or passionate persuaders working to influence client decisions, government policies and industry standards.
Embracing a forward-thinking mindset and anticipating emerging trends are essential for responding effectively to the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
How built environment professionals choose to respond to today’s environmental challenges, and how they approach, engage and act as activists for the built environment and society will have a lasting impact. It is up to them to collaborate, partner and connect across disciplines, industries and communities to leave a positive legacy for the future.
Before then, these professionals need a clear roadmap to set them on the right track.
- What does an equitable and just world look like?
- What pressing social and environmental issues can be addressed by architecture and design?
- How can professionals use their voices to advocate for social justice and environmental sustainability?
- What role must they play to promote equality in design?
- How can they engage actively with their communities?
- How can they collaborate better with other disciplines and organisations to amplify their impact?
- What partnerships are necessary across organizations to expedite better outcomes?
These are some of the questions professionals must ask themselves in the next 10 years. The answers will help them to find and design plausible, pragmatic and positive solutions to put the world on a (r)evolutionary path to a regenerative future. Only that way will they be able to look into the eyes of the next generations and say, "I did everything in my power to leave the world a better place for you".
An interconnected world
Despite an ever-shifting external environment, the fundamental human aspirations that drive architectural design remain constant. The desire for community, healthy living spaces, access to safe food and clean water, and the ability to form meaningful connections with others is deeply ingrained in our collective consciousness. These aspirations are the bedrock of civilisation, and so they must be at the heart of every built environment endeavor.
The world is increasingly interconnected. It is more important than ever that built environment professionals adopt a ‘glocal’ – i.e. both local and global – approach to architecture. They must strike a balance between understanding and addressing local needs and recognising the far-reaching, global consequences of their actions.
For example, specifying certain construction materials in one region can lead to the extraction of resources on the opposite side of the world, with the potential to disrupt those distant ecosystems and communities. Architects can embrace a holistic perspective, ensuring that their designs contribute to a sustainable and equitable future for us all.
Architects as visionaries
Architects occupy a unique position as visionaries and shapers of the built environment. They have the opportunity – and responsibility – to educate themselves about the complex political, environmental, social, and technological challenges facing society. Beyond simply designing for the present, they must design for the future, ensuring that their creations are sustainable, equitable, and resilient for, if not centuries, then decades to come.
Only by deciding to actively engage can they influence social norms, government policy, commercial organisations and industry bodies. The power of visionary design to influence thought and action is profound. For that to happen, there must be trust. As Covey and Merrill say:
“There is one thing that is common to every individual, relationship, team, family, organisation, nation, economy, and civilisation throughout the world – one thing which, if removed, will destroy the most powerful government, the most successful business, the most thriving economy, the most influential leadership, the greatest friendship, the strongest character, the deepest love. On the other hand, if developed and leveraged, that one thing has the potential to create unparalleled success and prosperity in every dimension of life. Yet, it is the least understood, most neglected, and most underestimated possibility of our time. That one thing is trust.” [4]
Architects must focus on building, re-building, and expanding their role as trusted, honest, forward-focused brokers for a better world. It is time.
Collective efforts
Designers cannot know everything; yet they can engage and consult to ensure more holistic and collaborative outcomes. They could more actively engage the wider community in the architectural process.
This community, which includes stakeholders, clients, and the public, have insights and perspectives that, collectively, are invaluable to ensure that buildings and public spaces respond to local needs, aspirations, and cultural contexts. By fostering collaboration in this way, architects are more likely to create environments that truly reflect the communities they serve.
Societal and cultural forces have a major impact on the climate and health of the planet. Some are specifically within the purview of built environment professionals, who can design and provide frameworks for positive action. These frameworks, which include active mobility, sponge cities, 15-minute neighbourhoods, recycling, regenerative or circular ‘everything’, and the desire for more access to nature, have fundamentally shifted the design of urban environments.
The quest for healthier lifestyles in many places has meant that bike lanes have been carved out and shared bikes and bike parking are becoming the norm in neighbourhoods that are densely populated enough. The desire for open space has driven a global movement for creating parklets and re-integrating the streetscape for daily human life.
What these examples have in common is that they are often driven by local activists who, by campaigning to change planning codes, ultimately improve communities. They are just a small sample of the endless possibilities ahead.
The key here is for designers, clients and inhabitants to embrace new attitudes and mindsets to consider new ideas and win-win solutions for people, nature and the whole planet.
Addressing change
Addressing global challenges is designers’ highest calling. To tackle it successfully, they must recognise human needs, expectations, hopes and desires.
A framework for how these needs are met can be articulated by Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Maslow suggested that needs are hierarchical, visualising them as a pyramid where categories of need build upon each other. From the base upwards, the needs are:
- physiological
- safety
- love and belonging
- esteem
- self-actualisation
To navigate successfully to a sustainable future, architects must acknowledge this hierarchy when working out how to improve outcomes. A critical tool in doing so is horizon scanning.
A horizon scan is a systematic approach for identifying and monitoring emerging trends, issues, and developments that could have a significant future impact on a particular industry, organisation, or domain.
The goal of a horizon scan is to help individuals, groups or organisations anticipate potential challenges and opportunities so that they can consider strategies and actions to prepare for the future. The process can be based on keywords, concepts, and free text. It can be highly scientific or personal and opinion-based.
In the end, the goal is to challenge a group’s understanding of what is driving change so that they can act to influence its direction.
Engagement and activism in the built environment have roots in the movements of the 1960s and 1970s, primarily in North America and Europe. It was a time of mass awakening with social and political upheaval. The groundbreaking movements that were established resulted in new norms for equality, justice and environmentalism mirroring much of what is happening today. The slogan at the time was "think globally: act locally".
Today, the impacts of the global climate crisis are encroaching locally on the everyday lives of ordinary citizens. They can see all too clearly how irrelevant geopolitical boundaries are when it comes to the carrying capacity of our planet.
Ecosystems do not have borders. To regenerate ecosystems requires an understanding of systems and a reconsideration of the topologies of borders. This will require an active engagement with the drivers of change of, and for, the systems that we humans depend on for our built environment and urbanised civilisation.
If we wish to leave a habitable earth for future generations, we must band together, rethink our systems, and redesign our built environments for the world we want. Activist-architects can connect with practitioners from other countries and cities to co-create a new manual for what ‘good architecture’ and ‘regenerative urbanism’ look like. It is the opportunity of a generation.
Trends for shaping the future of architecture
This horizon scan highlights some of the key trends shaping the future of architecture. They may not seem cutting edge, but their application and implementation have the potential to effect profound change. We must work hard to implement them to their full potential.
1. Sustainable building certification
Certification to rigorous sustainability standards is a strong, evidence-based way to address future environmental challenges. There are many relevant schemes around the world.
For example, BREEAM [5], LEED [6], CASBEE [7] and Green Star [8] focus on minimising the environmental impact of buildings, while WELL focuses on buildings’ impact on human health and well-being [9]. A less well-known energy efficiency scheme is Minergie, a Swiss energy efficiency standard that aims to achieve a very low energy consumption for heating and cooling. Buildings that meet it typically consume less than 100 kWh/m² per year of primary energy for heating and cooling. [10]
Prioritising these certifications helps architects respond to climate change and sustainability concerns, promoting resource efficiency and ensuring that buildings minimise their environmental impact.
2. Environmentally considerate solutions
There are a plethora of principles, concepts and tools that help architects to arrive at environmentally considerate solutions, including:
- net-zero resource utilisation
- circular economy principles
- ecological footprinting
- biophilic and regenerative design.
Focusing on one, or several, of these approaches would have a monumental impact. It would improve our built and natural world with cleaner air and lower energy usage, and bring flora and fauna deeper into human habitats.
3. Glocal knowledge sharing
Glocal knowledge sharing is essential to increase the exchange of ideas across industries and regions. It allows the co-creation of improved outcomes and expedites the collective learning process. Understanding excellence in global practice and applying it sensitively to the local context will foster appropriate innovation and encourage a considered evolution to a more sustainable future.
4. Retrofitting
Retrofitting the existing built environment offers the opportunity to rethink and improve the sustainability and resilience of existing structures in the face of carbon budgets, sand shortages and the reality of a resource-constrained future.
Retrofit offers both novel challenges and opportunities for creative solutions. It is a chance for architects to innovate, enhance and fundamentally redesign all the elements of the built environment for future well-being.
5. Partnering
Partnering through meaningful collaboration has proven again and again to result in innovative solutions to gnarly challenges. Indeed, pursuing unusual partnerships is central to SDG 17, the objective of which is to “strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development”. [11] Establishing and developing partnerships is essential for co-creating better outcomes.
Where to start
How can built environment professionals manifest the spirit of thinking globally and acting locally? How can they better engage and make a positive difference given their personal and professional situations? How can they ensure that they consider current trends and drivers affecting the future of design and construction?
Professionals can and, indeed, must be active at many different levels. For example, they can get involved in local politics or public office. They can also advocate for better outcomes in global, regional, national or local forums. There are many opportunities to make positive change by working with organisations with relevant missions.
A small representation of them includes the International Union of Architects, [12] the International Federation for Housing and Planning, [13] the Urban Land Institute, [14] the European Council of Spatial Planners [15] and the European Regional Science Association. [16] Joining committees or projects focused on the future of the built environment is a great way to contribute.
There are other organisations whose focus is on improving the overall design of the built environment. Many have research programmes and engagement platforms where interested parties can be active. For example, the #BuildingLife advocacy project of the World Green Building Council aims to “galvanise climate action through national and regional decarbonisation roadmaps, which will tackle the whole-life environmental impacts of the building and construction sector”. [17]
The International WELL Building Institute is focused on “creating and certifying spaces that advance human health and well-being”, certifying practitioners to improve places and spaces for human habitation.
Alternatively, you could look to C40, the membership organization of city mayors. Although it is more difficult to participate directly, architects could encourage their local city to look to the C40 programming for aspects to emulate.
The most important thing is for every built environment professional to participate in some meaningful way.
Go broader, embrace glocal
As Harriet Bulkeley’s biodiversity scan shows, embracing glocalism also means considering the natural environments that surround our urban centres by applying regenerative design principles. [18] Expanding systemic understanding this way will require a mindset shift so that design decisions consider both the built and natural environments holistically and at a variety of scales.
Architects must account for the way that these systems intersect when creating a single built object or structure. We define this urban regeneration as renewal, restoration, and growth after a period of decline or damage which balances the needs of people, place, and planet in harmony with nature. It is an opportunity to create lively and resilient environments that improve the quality of life for both people and the planet.
Regeneration is a comprehensive approach focusing on making sustainable, net-positive, enjoyable, and considerate places both for now and the future.
Architects can practice regenerative design and systems thinking by embracing continued and active learning, challenging existing methods and practices, and being intentional in their approach.
Clients can incorporate regenerative design and systems thinking in their requests for proposals and push the design community to articulate the value which this brings.
Clients may also acknowledge their responsibility to be willing partners in the quest for creating places and spaces for generations to come. This includes staying informed about sustainable design principles, incorporating ecological expertise into projects, and seeking innovative solutions that contribute positively to the built environment, society and natural ecosystems.
By adopting an intentional mindset and continuously questioning and refining ways of working the built environment sector can contribute to regenerative design that promotes the environmental and social well-being of all living things.
Choose to matter
The next 10 years matter. They are an urgent opportunity for all built environment professionals to be activists and advocates in their communities, towns, cities, counties, countries and global regions. Each has many choices to make every day.
As designers and decision-makers, their daily actions shape the narratives of many people’s lives. Recognising the privilege and responsibility inherent in the role, they have the unique opportunity, if not the ethical obligation, to make intentional choices that transcend their immediate impact and to take into account the needs of future generations. Efforts such as [y]our2040 have been established to work towards achieving this vision.[19]
The scale of our contributions is secondary to our commitment to design with purpose. Just as a well-designed structure is not a product of happenstance but of deliberate choice, so too is life and the world shaped by mindful decisions. It is up to architects to determine how they can, and will, contribute to the future of their profession by being active and engaged actors in the environmental challenges ahead.
As the author Michael Josephson put it, “Living a life that matters does not happen by accident. It's not a matter of circumstance but of choice.” [20] Let each of us choose to act: our collective future depends upon it.
Author biographies
Dr Chris Luebkeman is known as a bridge builder. He enjoys connecting and inspiring people around the globe, generating ideas with action, and curating content across time to ensure a habitable and thriving future for us all. He has worked in foresight for almost 30 years, 20 years at Arup in various leadership roles and now leading the Strategic Foresight Hub at the ETH Zurich. He created Foresight at Arup and is founder and CEO of [y]our 2040.
Jonelle Simunich is a futurist, designer and entrepreneur focused on creating collaborative urban futures and aspirational narratives for change. Trained as an architect, city planner and innovation strategist, she focuses on life in and around cities to transition us towards positive outcomes for people, place and the planet. She is COO and co-founder of [y]our 2040.
RIBA Horizons 2034 sponsored by Autodesk
References
[1] C. Luebkeman (28 April 2023) Choosing to Matter - TEDx Talks [Video]
[2] United Nations (n.d.). Decade of Action
[3] United Nations - Department of Economic and Social Affairs (n.d.). Sustainable Development Goal 13
[4] S.M.R. Cove with R.R. Merrill (2006). The Speed of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything. Simon & Schuster
[5] BRE Group (n.d.) What is BREEAM?
[6] USGBC (n.d.) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
[7] Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism - Japan Sustainable Building Consortium and Institute for Building Environment and Energy Conservation (n.d.). CASBEE
[8] Green Building Council of Australia (n.d.) What is Green Star?
[9] International WELL Building Institute (n.d.). WELL Building Standard
[10] Minergie (n.d.) Minergie, the quality standard for your sustainable building
[11] United Nations - Department of Economic and Social Affairs (n.d.). Sustainable Development Goal 17
[12] International Union of Architects
[13] International Federation for Housing and Planning
[14] Urban Land Institute
[15] European Council of Spatial Planners
[16] European Regional Science Association
[17] World Green Building Council
[18] RIBA Horizons 2034 - H. Bulkeley (2024). Biodiversity: why architecture must get to the roots of the nature crisis
[19] [y]our 2040
[20] M. Josephson (2003). What Will Matter [Poem]
