In a roundtable discussion at this year's LREF, hosted by G&T Director Nancy Elgarf and facilitated by the NLA, the NLA NextGen Sounding Board set out its priorities for the industry over the next 12 months.
These included tackling the sensitivity of talking about commercial viability when it comes to sustainability goals together with investing in the right education to ensure professionals across the industry have the skills and knowledge of the newest innovations to tackle these issues.
We have a collective responsibility to work collaboratively and find solutions to tackling major challenges such as the skills shortage and the climate crisis. Our industry needs to find new ways of working through these problems and by sharing our collective experiences and our knowledge we can help create a better built environment for the future.
Nancy Elgarf
G&T Director and NextGen Sounding Board Member
The group also raised the need for greater incentives, more standardised and reliable data collection and the barriers created by the built environment’s fragmented approach to tackling big issues such as climate change.
The discussion concluded with a statement of intent – insisting that it will be vital for all parts of the industry to work together collaboratively - sharing knowledge, skills and data, in order to tackle these major challenges.
Delivered as a call to arms at the NextGen evening reception, the NextGen sounding board’s key priorities will feature in the follow up report from LREF 2021, alongside an action plan for 2022 and the New London Agenda.