Architects Climate Action Network (ACAN)

🚨 We need to pause Part III of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill 🚨 As Alexa Culver says, we need to pause Part III of the Bill because of the sheer scale of its potential impact. First, in terms of the developer experience that could be slowed down, made more expensive, and more complex through a levy system imposed through #EnvironmentalDeliveryPlans. And second, because of the significant impact it will have on our existing protections #ForNature. At the moment, it presents a ‘lose, lose’, both for the developers and the economy—and for nature. This Bill needs proper consultation, a proper Impact Assessment, and proper piloting—so that we can make sure it delivers the ‘win, win’ for the economy and nature—that we all need it to be. #PlanningandInfrastructureBill | #PlanningBill | #InfrastructureBill | E.J. Milner-Gulland, Sophus zu Ermgassen, Natalie Duffus | Nature Positive, Nature Positive Initiative, Nature Positive Universities | #NaturePositive

🗣️ STUDENTS! WE NEED YOU 🫵 We’re recruiting Student Representatives for all our Thematic Groups. From Natural Materials to Climate Justice, we’re looking for 1-2 students that are part of each Group to act as points of contact with StuCAN, inspiring other students to connect with ACAN’s wider network, and ensuring all initiatives are enriched with student voices and ideas! Your main role will be to support students who are interested in joining Thematic Groups, work with the Student Ambassador and your Thematic Groups to create opportunities for collaboration, and be a friendly face for students to connect with ACAN’s wider network – sharing the exciting initiatives our volunteers are working on! These volunteer roles offer flexibility, with a time commitment of a few hours a month, so that you can balance life and study commitments. You’ll receive support from StuCAN and your Thematic Group! No experience needed – just bring your passion for climate action and a drive to ensure that all students can make an impact within the built environment! ‼️ HOW TO APPLY Please fill out our Google Form (link in comment below) outlining your ambition for becoming a Student Representative and your vision for how StuCAN and your Thematic Group can collaborate! #Students #ArchitectureStudents #StuCAN #ClimateAction #UniversityStudents #Design #DesignStudents #Architecture

Little do we appreciate all that trees provide and too often, they are dismissed as replaceable. As though a sapling can instantly fill the space left by an old trunk. At a time where trees are under increasing threat, from politicians across the pond to the increasingly stronger droughts and storms disrupting our soils, we must do more to protect and keep them in the ground. This #InternationalDayofForests we want to celebrate trees and remind people of all the benefits that trees bring. The range of ecosystem services provided can be quantified in order to prove the value such beings bring an area. Treeconomics use industry leading software i-Tree to analyse and quantify the value of trees. Whilst the valuation of nature can be criticised, this evidence-based understanding goes deeper than a standard tree survey, helping to inform decision-making and advocate for the retention of trees! In our recent award winning project at LDA Design #LeeValleyIceCentre, we worked with the client to retain old dying Crack Willow trees, ones which were considered potential hazards for falling branches. We worked to change perception of the hazard, with natural mitigation of planting a wildflower meadow around the base of the trunk to reduce human interaction. These Crack Willows as home to many roosting bats, as well as the decaying wood providing food and shelter for many invertebrates and will eventually circulate nutrients back into the soil. Decaying and dead wood is supportive and essential to so much life, that it shouldn’t be disregarded. We should replicate how forests function within our parks and urban areas. Across the UK, attitudes are changing. Local authorities are recognising the importance of retaining natural materials, with deadwood bushes and loggery habitats becoming part of urban greenspaces. Great examples seen on recent walks in Hackney! Nature doesn’t work on human timescales, and neither should our approach to trees. We must reframe how we think about, value and interact with our trees and forests, with retention, not replacement as the priority. Whilst our political leader isn’t overtly saying rip up forests, the speed and content of the new Infrastructure & Planning Policy is deeply concerning for the impact on nature protection and what this will mean for nature at a local level. Architects Climate Action Network (ACAN) Ecology are finalising a response to Parliament – if you’re interested in joining, let me know! Ian Houlston Joanna Asia Milewska Ed Hargreaves Leonie Hodgkin

In response to the news today, we at the Architects Climate Action Network (ACAN!) issue a solemn condemnation in response to the tragic death of a migrant worker at Aramco Stadium in Saudi Arabia. Read our full statement on our website - link in comment.

Our new Circular Economy Features series launches A WEEK TODAY on Friday 28th March @ 13:00 GMT - online. More details on this post:

It was great fun to debate and learn with cross industry specialists while developing this paper. Thank you to Michael Sansom for getting me involved and thank you Will Arnold for your perseverance in getting this across the line. This is a complex issue, one of those thorny problems without a simple solution, so cross industry awareness and debate are critical. Before accepting to support the drafting of the paper I asked Will how much time input he thought it would need, probably about 3 meetings and some review time he said....almost a year later after numerous discussions, reviews and dialogues - it's finally here! I look forward to catching up with a few people at the launch event.

FREE lunchtime webinar - Heritage buildings: supply decarbonisation vs demand reduction Greengauge Director Toby Cambray leads a lunchtime webinar exploring retrofit approaches to heritage buildings, drawing on case studies of both fabric and heat pump retrofit in heritage buildings. 📆Weds 21 May - 12 noon https://lnkd.in/ekff8NZ6 Passivhaus Trust SPAB Historic England National Trust Architects Climate Action Network (ACAN) AECB - Association for Environment Conscious Building Retrofit Action For Tomorrow Sustainable Traditional Building Alliance The Green Register IHBC North Branch IHBC Scotland Branch IHBC South East IHBC South West IHBC Wales The Institute Of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC)

🌍 Join ACAN's Circular Economy Task Group! Are you passionate about circular design and sustainability? Do you have hands-on experience in the built environment and knowledge of circularity? Then we need you! ACAN's Circular Economy Group is forming a Task Group, and your expertise could make all the difference. The mission: to build on the success of our Circular Economy Design Guide, tackle the barriers identified (pages 48-49), and dive into the challenges of implementing circular measures today. The Task Group will also ensure knowledge continuity by integrating insights from events held throughout 2024 and 2025 into the next edition of the guide. By joining, you'll collaborate with a network of like-minded professionals, contribute to impactful change, and help shape the future of sustainable design. 📢 Interested? Apply today via our website (link in comment below). 🗓️ Application deadline: Monday, 14th April 2025, 22:00 GMT. Let’s drive the circular revolution forward together! ♻️ #CircularEconomy #CircularDesign #Sustainability #ACAN

Yesterday's verdict in the Energy Transfer v Greenpeace lawsuit is a major blow to Greenpeace, our partner and friend, and to the environmental movement as a whole. It highlights the growing trend of big polluters using the legal system to intimidate and silence critics. The message they seek to convey is a deeply chilling one: that no organisation that challenges polluting industries is safe. This is part of a deeply worrying pushback against the fundamental rights of freedom of speech and protest - in the US and beyond. If we are to change the course of our rapidly warming world, we must be able to call out those reneging on their responsibilities, whether companies or governments. There is absolutely no place for SLAPP (Strategic lawsuits against public participation) suits that tie up environmental organisations for years and divert them from their core purpose. Our collective focus must be on safeguarding the future of our planet.💚