The CISL Newsletter

No sector embodies the connection between people, nature and planet quite as visibly as the built environment. During May we asked: how can it find a way to lead the transition to a sustainable economy?

We hear from teams across CISL who are working with businesses across the built environment looking at the holistic approach the sector needs to take. We also shine a spotlight on some of CISL's global Network of change-makers and the positive impact they are enabling.

Looking at CISL's own work in the built environment space, learn more about the Entopia Building's Living Lab, where innovators, academics and pioneering companies can pilot new interventions together – and share the results for public benefit. Find out how you can get involved.

Stay tuned for our next newsletter where our focus will be on policy, a pivotal topic in a year where almost half the world's population take to the polls.

His Majesty The King to continue as Royal Patron of CISL

CISL is pleased to announce that His Majesty The King will remain Royal Founding Patron of the Institute, following a review of Royal Patronages.

King Charles has been Royal Patron of the Institute for 30 years and has inspired and supported many of CISL's initiatives during his time as The Prince of Wales - including launching the Business & Sustainability Programme in 1994; the Corporate Leaders Groups in 2005; ClimateWise in 2007; the Global Sustainability Fellowship Programme in 2018 and most recently the Aviation Impact Accelerator, amongst others. We are honoured to continue our long-standing association with His Majesty.

Read more.

Building a New European Competitiveness Deal

In partnership with E3G and the ZOE Institute, CLG Europe released its briefing on "Building a New European Competitiveness Deal", acting as a guide to policymakers on the future of European competitiveness and industrial policy.

Read more

CISL moderates key panels at Innovation Zero on Living Labs

Our Chief Innovation Officer, James Cole , moderated a panel on living labs at the Innovation Zero conference in London, UK, earlier this month, discussing the next steps for CISL's HQ, the Entopia Building. He spoke with some of the building's key stakeholders about the need for data-driven, considered design with sustainability at its core.

• Read more about Innovation Zero
• Find out more about CISL's own Living Lab

Sustainable Real Estate: Creating a Better Built Environment

Our 8-week online course has been updated. Some highlights include a case study on the award-winning Entopia project, updated examples of nature-based solutions for a resilient built environment, and new content on sustainable finance strategies for real estate development, like green mortgages.

Find out more

CISL announces key nature work partnership

CISL is a partner in a new project, A-Track, working to accelerate action for nature by business, financial institutions and government. CISL will be leading on two work packages, drawing on our expertise as a globally influential centre of thought leadership for business and financial system transformation in pursuit of a fairer, circular and less impactful global economy

Read more

CISL Courses

• Postgraduate study for mid-career professionals
• Self-paced and tutor assisted online learning courses
• Strategic business and sustainability leadership workshops for executives
• Customised learning

Job Opportunities at CISL

Programme Manager, Centre for Sustainable Finance - EN40497 - Closing date: 9th June 2024

Senior Programme Manager, Policy & Systems Change - EN40501- Closing date: 17th June 2024

Upcoming events you could attend

12 June 2024: CISL's Canopy Open Doors: Cambridge Wide Open Day

19 June 2024: The Green Deal and Beyond: A Business Agenda for a Sustainable, Competitive and Resilient Europe

25 June 2024: Igniting Discourse: Galvanising Key Stakeholders for UN Sustainable Development Goals at Reset Connect

27 June 2024: Climate Innovation Forum

May's blogs

Towards Climate-Smart Buildings and Infrastructure: A Call to Built Environment Practitioners

Dr Tim Forman, Senior Teaching Associate and Course Director of the Interdisciplinary Design for the Built Environment postgraduate courses, calls for built environment practitioners to consider climate change and climate risk more holistically to achieve 'climate-smart' buildings and infrastructure. Read blog

Rethinking the housing crisis – three radical ideas to fix the current trajectory

Dr Kayla Friedman, Course Director for the Master's and Postgraduate Certificate in Interdisciplinary Design for the Built Environment (IDBE), showcases her ideas to address the housing situation the UK is facing. Read blog

What does leadership mean and look like in the context of a sustainable built environment?

Kayla also explores what leadership means and looks like in the context of a sustainable built environment. Read blog

News from CISL's Network Members

How CISL alumni are transforming the built environment

As part of our focus this month on the built environment, Network Manager Jennifer Greggs explores how CISL alumni are shaping a sustainable future for the sector. Read more

Author and Professor Chris Marquis delivers lunchtime seminar on business action

Chris Marquis delivered a special lunchtime seminar to CISL staff and local Network members on his new book "The Profiteers: How Business Privatizes Profit and Socializes Cost". Read more

New Citizenship Project Co-Founder Jon Alexander delivers galvanising talk

Jon Alexander spoke at CISL on the essential role of citizens in the climate emergency. Read more

CISL in the News

📰 Farmer protests and Just Stop Oil are two sides of the same coin | New Statesman | Priya Rajasekar explores the politics of protest and the implications for business in the New Statesman

📰 UK businesses want a consistent net zero policy – not a laissez-faire approach | BusinessGreen Opinion | Beverley Cornaby writes an op ed in BusinessGreen on UK business calls for a consistent net zero policy, quoted by Ed Miliband at Innovation Zero

📰 Comment: Through distraction and denial, governments are playing politics at the cost of the planet | Reuters | Katherine Quinn writes in Reuters on governments playing politics at the cost of the planet 

📰 Europe needs to triple renewable capacity by 2030, and community buy-in is critical | Euronews | Sanna Markkanen in Euronews on why community buy-in is critical to Europe’s renewables goal

📰 Air Quality Standards in 2024: A landmark tool for addressing air quality in Uganda | New Vision Official | Prince of Wales Global Sustainability Fellows, Dr Okello Gabriel, has written in New Vision about the threats to human health that air pollution poses