On 26th September, the Liverpool City Region Sustainable Property Group hosted the second-annual conference, welcoming over 200 attendees to debate the sustainability challenges facing the built environment. Recognised by the UN as part of its Global Goals Week, the ‘Building Sustainable Cities Beyond 2030’ conference brought together industry leaders, innovators and professionals from across the property and construction sectors. Held in Liverpool’s St Georges Hall, the event facilitated crucial discussions on embedding sustainability in the city region’s property sector, ensuring it plays a central role in driving positive change. Key learnings to emerge were: The importance of engagement with stakeholders emerged as crucial, particularly with the communities impacted; How vital it is to collaborate, sharing best practice, experience and resources, given how common so many of the issues and opportunities are to all businesses, regardless of size, sector or specialism; That we must co-ordinate our efforts if we are to achieve the significant targets that everyone in the room and beyond is committed to. Included in the UN’s calendar of events as world leaders gathered in New York at the United Nations General Assembly, the conference was held as part of Global Goals Week: Liverpool and Liverpool Climate Week to support the only agreed blueprint for the planet – the Sustainable Development Goals (Global Goals). Key topics discussed this year were the significance of heat networks, the need to build sustainable homes and retrofit existing housing cost effectively, the importance of workforce and upskilling, and the necessity for education, with a variety of experts sharing their experience and perspectives. These included Liam Robinson, Leader of Liverpool City Council; Simon Mansfield, Sustainability Manager, Liverpool City Council; Ian Stenton, Head of Estates Sustainability, NHS England; John Moffat, Managing Director, Capital&Centric; Dr Michaela Gkantou, Associate Professor, Liverpool John Moores University; Kane Greenhough, Supply Chain Sustainability Manager, Morgan Sindall Construction; and Harriet Fisher, Sustainability Analyst, Morgan Sindall Construction. Karl Clawley, The Momentum Group’s Associate Director, said: “The recognition of the ‘Building Sustainable Cities Beyond 2030’ conference by the UN as part of its Global Goals Week has given the Liverpool City Region Sustainable Property Group a real boost in achieving our objective of tackling climate change in the region’s property and construction sector. This conference, which was bigger and better than last year, was a key step on that journey, a journey we are all committed to completing.” The Liverpool City Region Sustainable Property Group group aims to create a mutually supportive forum where property, construction and facilities management companies can understand their carbon footprint and design out fossil fuel related impacts to mitigate climate emergency and meet City decarbonisation targets. Headline Sponsors of the conference included The Momentum Group, Morgan Sindall Construction, CIR, The Consortia Group, Fleeetsolve, Steven A Hunt & Associates, Liverpool City Council and 2030hub. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
