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NEXT STEPS
This is the first survey of the profession in the Commonwealth to have been undertaken in over 30 years and while it is by no means comprehensive and relies largely on self-reports, its findings highlight a number of significant challenges to the professions ability to contribute to delivery of a more sustainable Commonwealth. The CAA will therefore: 1. Disseminate the findings of the survey: The findings will be widely shared with member organisations and a variety of stakeholders in order to promote awareness of the issues raised. 2. Discuss the issues raised with member organisations and key stakeholders: The CAA will engage with member organisations and key stakeholders such as UN Habitat, DfID together with NGO’s and academic partners to discuss the issues raised. 3. Develop an action plan to help address the principal findings: The CAA will develop an action plan to help address the principal findings in partnership with MO’s and key stakeholders In addition to the above, it is apparent that there is a need for more and better data to fully understand the capacity of Built Environment Professionals in the Commonwealth to respond to the pressures of urbanisation. The CAA will therefore: 4. Encourage more member institutes to participate: In order to enrich the results, a further invitation will be issued to those architectural institutes which have yet to respond, encouraging them to contribute to the survey. 5. Encourage other built environment professions to undertake similar surveys: Anecdotal evidence suggests that the issues revealed by this survey may apply equally to other disciplines. Fellow professionals will therefore be encouraged to undertake similar surveys, eg Commonwealth Association of Planners (CAP), Commonwealth Engineers Council (CEC), Commonwealth Association of Surveyors and Land Economists (CASLE). 6. Undertake the survey more regularly: In order to monitor progress, the survey will be undertaken on a more regular basis. While further research is clearly necessary to both verify some of the survey’s results and secure a wider response, action clearly needs to be taken now to address its principal findings and, while much is already being done in some of these areas, such is the scale and scope of the challenge that no single agency is going to be capable of addressing all of the issues raised or achieving the transformation required. In order to do so, innovative responses will be required involving partnerships and collaborations between INGO’s, governments, NGO’s, the built environment professions, academia and the private sector. With nearly 75% of Commonwealth country’s eligible to received Official Development Assistance (ODA) finance, opportunities exist to develop programmes which will have lasting impact at scale. Tomorrow’s cities are being planned and built today and only by addressing these issues now will we be able to realise the potential of urbanisation to create prosperity, stability and a truly sustainable future.
Survey of the Architectural Profession in the Commonwealth
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