PLANNING FOR CLIMATE CHANGE AND RAPID URBANISATION
FEEDBACK ON THE CAA CPD PILOT COMMONWEALTH ASSOCIATION OF ARCHITECTS CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
COMMONWEALTH ASSOCIATION OF ARCHITECTS
COMMONWEALTH ASSOCIATION OF PLANNERS
COMMONWEALTH ASSOCIATION OF SURVEYING AND LAND ECONOMY
COMMONWEALTH ENGINEERS COUNCIL
FEEDBACK ON THE COMMONWEALTH ASSOCIATION OF ARCHITECTS
CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, PILOT PROGRAMME
This short paper provides an overview of the Commonwealth Association of Architects Pilot programme of CPD lectures which were first broadcast between 02 July and 13 August 2020 as part of a programme of activity associated with a Call to Action on Sustainable Development in the Commonwealth.
Seven lectures designed to help explain the ways in which built environment professionals can contribute to delivery of the UN 2030 SDGs
The CAA CPD Pilot was developed as one component in its response to the findings of the Survey of the Built Environment Professions in the Commonwealth, which identified the need to ensure that members of the profession are equipped with appropriate up-to date knowledge to deal with the range of challenges created by climate change and rapid urbanisation, with 37% of respondent institutes requiring no mandatory CPD. The pilot comprised 7 lectures, each of which was filmed and also delivered live, and all of the material is available online for use as a teaching resource where appropriate:
• Introduction to the Sustainable Development Goals: Delivered by Ms Mina Hasman, Sustainability Expert at Skidmore Owings and Merrill and CAA Focal Point at the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction. The aim of the lecture was to provide participants with an overview of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and to illustrate the ways in which built environment professionals can engage with the Goals in their daily work.
• Planning for Rapid Urbanisation: Delivered by Mr Ben Bolgar, Senior Director at The Prince’s Foundation together with Ms Haja Halimah Lukay, Development Planning Officer from Bo City Council in Sierra Leone. The aim of the lecture was to describe a simple 4-step process that can be used by communities anywhere to produce a ‘bare-bones’ plan that can be adopted as a framework for future development by cities grappling with rapid urbanisation.
• Planned City Extensions: Delivered by Mr Alfredo Caraballo, Director at Allies and Morrison. The aim of the lecture was to describe the masterplanning principles associated with a planned city extension in Oman, which aims to set new standards in terms of sustainability and design while providing a catalyst for change in the Sultanate.
• Resilient Infrastructure: Delivered by Mr Ian Carradice, Director at Arup. The aim of the lecture was to outline the principles of resilient infrastructure design together with the benefits to be achieved and the value to be added by adopting a more systematic, integrated design approach that also minimizes cost and carbon emissions.
• Climate Responsive Design: Delivered by Prof Peter Clegg, Ms Isabel Sandeman and Ms Rachel Sayers from Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios and Mr Rafiq Azam, Principle Architect, Shatotto, Bangladesh. The aim of the lecture was to provide an overview of climate responsive design, including a reminder of the importance of passive design principles and low carbon construction.
• Heritage-led Regeneration: Delivered by Mr Geoff Rich, Managing Partner, Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios together with Mr Harry Wardill former Director of Turquoise Mountain in Myanmar. The aim of the lecture was to demonstrate how the creative re-use of heritage buildings, can be used as a means of generating economic value, creating employment, and preserving traditional skills while reinforcing cultural identity and a sense of place.
• Sustainable Outcomes: Delivered by Mr Gary Clark, Regional Lead EMEA, Science and Technology at HOK London Studio and Chair of the RIBA Sustainable Futures Group. In this, the concluding lecture of the current series, Gary described, in practical terms, a set of measurable and manageable outcomes that practitioners can use on a daily basis on projects of all scales.
All of the lectures were recorded and can be found at https://commonwealthsustainablecities.org/cpd/.
Each live lecture included a dialogue with a leading international expert
The Commonwealth Association of Architects would like to thank each of the international experts who contributed to the live lectures including HE Ms Maimunah Mohd Sharif (UN Habitat), Ms Martina Otto (UN Environment), Mr William Cobbett (Cities Alliance), Mr Tom Perry (Design Council), Ms Nuha Eltinay (World Bank) and Daw Moe Moe Lwin (Yangon Heritage Trust).
Watched by an audience of over 2,000 attendees from 64 countries
The lecture programme comprised a total of 7 online events held over a 6-week period, involving 26 panellists from 10 countries. The series attracted over 800 individual participants from 32 Commonwealth and 32 nonCommonwealth countries, amounting to over 2,000 unique views, with an average online audience of over 300 participants per lecture. 50% of participants attended 2 or more lectures.
The programme attracted participants from all 5 Commonwealth Regions: including over 200 from Asia, 175 from Africa, 150 from Europe, 34 from the Caribbean & the Americas, and 13 from the Pacific, plus over 200 participants from non-Commonwealth countries ranging from Afghanistan to Iraq, Nepal and the Philippines. Pakistan generated the largest number of participants (174), followed by the UK (155) and Hong Kong (78). Participants came from local government, academia and the private sector, and from a variety of disciplines including architecture, landscape architecture, engineering, town planning and urban design.
99% of respondents would like the CAA to continue to offer lectures of this kind, confirming an appetite for continuous learning and knowledge sharing
The following was among the feedback received in response to an online survey that was undertaken on completion of the programme, attracting over 150 responses from around the Commonwealth and beyond:
• 99% of respondents found the series of interest
• 96% of respondents considered the lecture series to have been engaging
• 75% of respondents considered the topics relevant to their region, 24% somewhat relevant
• 65% of respondents liked the live lecture format while 35% would prefer a more interactive style
• The overwhelming majority of respondents ranked the lectures ‘Very Good’ or ‘Excellent’
• Many valuable suggestions were made for future topics, including environmental design, affordable housing, informal settlement upgrading, climate resilience, planning and urban design.
Acknowledgements and Next Steps
The Commonwealth Association of Architects would like to extend its sincere thanks to all participating firms without whose commitment this programme would not have been possible. Our grateful thanks also to all the session Chairs.
The CAA is working with a range of partners including the Association of Commonwealth Universities, the Commonwealth Association of Planners, the Commonwealth Local Government Forum and The Prince’s Foundation, and will reflect upon the learnings from the recent series as part of its efforts to respond to findings of the Survey of the Built Environment Professions in the Commonwealth. For further information please contact the CAA at admin@comarchitect.org.
