Becoming the future

Imagine what our sector be like in 2045 – carbon neutral, circular economy, healthy, fair, inclusive, thriving, biodiverse. How do we get from here to there? How does that pathway compare to the Transitions of other sectors and in other countries?

We are all on that journey. Some people and organisations are already there, acting & thinking as we all will in 21 years. Others still live like we did in the 19th century, the era of extraction and empire that created the wealth that made us the 6th richest country in the world, but also the emissions from coal, gas and oil that makes us responsible for 10 times more cumulated emission than average, our unpaid debt to the planet. What can we learn from past change processes?

In this climate and biodiversity crisis, there is no them and us, there is only us, a shared future. This is a journey we make together as a sector, a society, a species. Every person is a stakeholder in the Just Transition of our shared Built Environment, and enabling everybody to play their part in delivering change is key to our pathway. How can we build cross-sector connection and identify shared pathways? How do we include stakeholders outside our species?

The changes coming over the next 21 years will be delivered in a dynamic environment – financial, social, political, and environmental. How do we plan for that uncertainty and yet take urgent action today?

One of those uncertainties is how climate change will affect our places. Scotland’s settlements were historically located on our coasts and rivers – places vulnerable to climate change. Climate change will affect homes, businesses and infrastructure in physical and financial ways that will be unequal. How will we respond to declining human agency, as Nature becomes less predictable?

How do we approach 21 uncertain years of change in a sector where everyone is a stakeholder but few have agency? How can communities, authorities, companies and the third sector develop a cohesive response?

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Videos from the event

These are two of a series of films documenting 5 days of Conversations by 183 people in early 2024 about climate change, nature depletion and how the Just Transition in the Scottish Built Environment and Construction sector is responding.

This first film looks at how we think about our future and how ready we are to change. 

This second film looks at the risk to us of climate change impacts on our built environment, what we know about what is coming and how we can adapt to be ready. In this film you hear from Cat Payne, Climate Resilience Manager at SNIFFER, Iain Thom, Senior Climate Change Adaptation Officer at the Scottish Government, Carol Raeburn, Director of the Scottish Flood Forum and many more.

You can show these films in your organisation to start a discussion about the challenges we face and how we can change the way we live, work and build to deliver the Just Transition by 2045. Please post comments and share.

About the event

Past Event Date: Tuesday 13th February 2024

A public consultation on a draft Scottish National Adaptation Plan 2024-29 will be published early-2024 and we will use a discussion on Adaptation to frame our Conversation on how we approach the Future from a systems change perspective.

To give us your input, or just for more information, please email BigConversation@seda.uk.net

Useful reading:  Thinking in Systems, by Donella Meadows.

This page will be periodically updated when further information for the event becomes available.