BIID Joins With Think Tank The Edge

Following a series of workshops organised by the Edge, the British Institute of Interior Design (BIID) has joined other built environment professional bodies in issuing a statement calling for greater integration of sustainability and climate perspectives in undergraduate education. The Edge is a built and natural environment think tank which works to encourage cross-disciplinary debate and campaign for change that will improve outcomes for society.

In July 2023 a meeting of 28 representatives of industry, academia and professional institutions met to discuss how undergraduate education for built and natural environment professionals needs to change in order to address the essential goals of net-zero. This was followed by three further workshops that were held in February, March and April of 2024. The first was attended by students, recent graduates and practitioners, the second by those working in academia and practitioners, and the third by representatives of Professional Institutions and Accreditation Bodies.

The following institutions* have now agreed to the following statement: 

‘We the undersigned have a shared understanding that the climate and nature emergency presents an existential crisis not just for our immediate environment, but also for our planet. It is fundamental that undergraduate education in all built and natural environment professions adequately responds to this crisis. It needs to teach climate and environmental literacy and ethics and develop the ability in students to collaborate, communicate, challenge and advocate. We agree that urgent action is required, and that this will require active collaboration between educators, industry, professional institutions and accreditation bodies.’

Liz Bell, Chair of the BIID’s Sustainability Committee, said: 

‘The BIID has increased its focus on sustainability over the past few years with the publication of our Sustainability Strategy, the Sustainable Specifying Guide and the inclusion of sustainability as one of the 8 competencies that membership candidates are required to evidence their knowledge and expertise in before they are able to become Registered Interior Designers. We are happy to add our voice to this cross-disciplinary call to intensify the climate and environmental focus of undergraduate curriculums’

* The British Institute of Interior Design (BIID), The Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists (CIAT), The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE), The Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM), The Construction Industry Council (CIC), Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA), The Institution of Environmental Sciences (IES), The Joint Board of Moderators (JBM), The Landscape Institute (LI), The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng), The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), The Society for the Environment (SocEnv).