The UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow led every news bulletin in November.
World leaders and activists raised the profile of sustainable practices to new heights. But now that COP26 has passed, Box Architects and our clients still find ourselves grappling with these challenges every single day.
What can we do as an architectural practice to support global ambitions for a sustainable future, while still working practically with our clients to achieve their objectives?
For us, it’s a journey – guided by our commitment to a robust set of environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards. Everything we do is aimed at improving outcomes for our diverse people and the communities where we work, as well as supporting (and influencing) our clients to deliver on their sustainable goals.
As a practice, we’re supporting these ambitions by understanding our clients’ own commitments (and helping them find solutions), by reporting transparently through our commitment to ISO45001… and by embedding the UN Sustainable Development Goals within our strategy.
The UN Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG) provide 17 international goals, which many of our clients have already signed up to. Recognising that we should focus on areas where we can have significant impact, Box Architects has chosen three goals with which to begin our journey:
- Goal 3 – Good Health and Wellbeing
- Goal 11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities
- Goal 13 – Climate Action
Our next steps centre around commitment and dialogue, with support from Lodestar who have developed strategies for Deloitte, Unite Students, ING and Gleeds.
We’re formalising our commitments to these goals by aligning them with our ISO45001 targets, and monitoring and reporting on their impact. Dialogue means we will be working on upskilling our team and raising awareness, providing support for agile working, and promoting wellbeing.
In 2022, we will also open-up the dialogue with our clients to understand their goals and identify common issues and opportunities within our SDG areas.
Everything we do is aimed at improving outcomes for our diverse people and the communities where we work, as well as supporting (and influencing) our clients to deliver on their sustainable goals.