COMMENT As I sat and watched the latest cohort of EG Future Leaders take to the stage, my mind was immediately taken back to being part of the first cohort.
As a group of property professionals bound together as friends through the EG Future Leaders programme, we all had different stories but collectively called on the industry to change. To reimagine our image of successful leadership; to redefine our ways of working with more team-orientated goals; and to make the built environment part of the solution to climate change rather than the problem. Three years and one global pandemic later and some of these almost revolutionary concepts, around flexible working and putting the E of ESG at centre stage in our industry, now seem quite mainstream.
The industry has moved forward in many ways. But what I saw and heard at the EG Future Leaders 2022 event is that the future voices of our industry have no interest in resting on their laurels. Such a range of voices, at different stages of their careers, in different parts of the industry and with different experiences but with one common passion: that the real estate industry can and must play a vital role in driving positive social change.
Delivering hope
Priscilla Idowu from HB Reavis challenged us all to move away from being part of developments delivering “Social OK” and to instead unlock “Social Good” and to really focus on the S in ESG. She opened our eyes to exploring opportunities to provide meaningful change for everyone who comes into proximity with development schemes. She used the example of the work done with Rise 365 at Worship Square, EC2, as HB Reavis strives to deliver specific social value KPIs for the development.
Sophie Stewart from DLA Piper took us on a journey down Argyll Street in Birkenhead. A street in one of the most deprived areas in the country which people used to pass along, heads down, on their way somewhere else. Argyll Street has now become home to a Place of Contribution, a National Lottery-funded community hub which is a platform for people from all walks of life to come together to make change in the community. From a pay-as-you-feel supermarket to a six-stage programme tailored to empower people back into work and education, a building has become a place to connect and promote resilience and hope.
I have never been to Argyll Street or the Worship Square development but I suspect we all have our own Argyll Street and Worship Square.
As a solicitor drawn to the property sector by working on the legacy projects for the Olympic Park and inspired by Shaftesbury’s holistically created villages, these stories resonated.
Sharing the passion
I share the passion so evident in these talks and the pledges the audience made to “see, listen and do” for the industry. Community and inclusivity must be at the heart of our industry and regeneration. These anchors bring purpose to us all. They help make sure we can retain the brightest minds of the future within our industry and allow us to use the built environment to deliver positive change.
Let us all pledge that when we fast-forward another three years, it won’t have taken another global pandemic to make some of the topics spoken about at the event seem mainstream. Let everyone who attended the event or watches the videos of the speakers, amplify the messages that resonated with them and do something with those messages.
Alanna Hasek is a partner at DLA Piper and an EG Future Leader
