In October, ARB launched Modernising the initial education and training of architects, a discussion document detailing our proposals to reform architectural education. The proposals we put forward have the potential to lead to the most significant changes to architectural education in fifty years. The world is changing, and to ensure that architects are ready to meet the demands of today and the challenges of tomorrow, they need to be equipped with the right skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours to practice successfully.
In producing Modernising the initial education and training of architects we spoke to architects from across the UK, and carried out research to help identify the competencies that tomorrow’s architect will need. The workshops in this series will offer the opportunity to discuss some of the potential areas of competency with ARB senior leadership and respected representatives from the industry. They will be hosted in-person in different cities, but will be available to watch and participate in online simultaneously.
Event 1: Environmental Sustainability - Bristol
The UN’s latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report was published in August, and it highlighted the concerning rate of climate change that the world is currently undergoing, due to human influence. In 2019, atmospheric CO2 concentrations were higher than at any time in at least 2 million years, and the global surface temperature has increased faster since 1970 than in any other 50-year period over a least the last 2,000 years. The UN Secretary-General António Guterres said of the report that it was nothing less than "a code red for humanity.”
The built environment’s contribution to carbon emissions in the UK is notable, and so architects need to be champions for sustainability. This workshop will explore what competencies future architects will have - in terms of skill, knowledge, experience and behaviour - in order to support the UK’s aim to become carbon-neutral. Hear from ARB representatives as they describe the approach and vision for our review of architectural education and training, and from panellists and the audience about the role sustainability should take in the new system.
Featuring
- Professor Elena Marco (Head of Department, Architecture and the Built Environment, UWE Bristol and ARB Board Member)
- Tom Bell, (Architect, Ridge & Partners and Chair RIBA Wessex)
- Simon Howard (Director of Regulation, ARB)
- Shankari Raj (Architect, Director of Nudge, Senior Lecturer, 2020 AJ 40 under 40 winner, Head of Education at Design West)
- Rebecca Roberts-Hughes (Director of Policy and Communications, ARB)
