Holdfast Training Services Trial Blog

In the vein of sustainability that seems to (thankfully) be gaining traction, I was reading the Arup newsletter and came across the ‘Construction Declares’ petition (https://www.constructiondeclares.com/).

The intent is ‘to unite all strands of construction and the built environment in a public declaration of the issues facing our planet and a commitment to take positive action to prevent climate breakdown and biodiversity collapse.’

Since June 2019 over 800 UK practices have made the declaration, with firms in 17 other countries (including Australia) beginning to sign up. With the construction industry contributing to 40% of global carbon emissions, this seems like a positive step. However, it has yet to set any SMART targets, remaining at present the start of a ‘wide-ranging declaration of intent’. Let’s hope it goes somewhere.

Arup have signed up and released a detailed internal sustainability plan. They have also incorporated performance indicators for the 17 UN ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ (SDGs) into their design process and have project management tools to match.

I’d be interested to hear how other consultancies are treating the problem? Has your Phase 3 organisation signed up? Can you be your firm’s ‘Greta Thunberg’ and start the change from the inside (…and tick that UK-SPEC box)?