ANNOUNCEMENT – Dr. Sophie Taysom Appointed Ambassador to Connected Places Catapult

ANNOUNCEMENT – Dr. Sophie Taysom Appointed Ambassador to Connected Places Catapult

I am delighted to announce my appointment as an Ambassador to Connected Places Catapult—the UK’s leading accelerator for cities, transport, and place leadership. Strengthening Innovation in Cities & Infrastructure As part of the Catapult’s newly formed Affiliates Network, I will contribute to advancing innovation ecosystems across business, government, and academia. The network is designed to enhance the reach and impact of Connected Places Catapult in shaping sustainable, smart, and future-ready places. Ambassador Role & Strategic Impact 🔹 Providing strategic advisory input to drive innovation🔹 Facilitating key industry connections across sectors🔹 Identifying strategic opportunities to maximise the Catapult’s initiatives Stay tuned for insights on smart cities, sustainable infrastructure, and place-based innovation! Interested in collaborating? Get in touch to explore opportunities in ESG, sustainability, and urban innovation....
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Considering ESG in Construction

Considering ESG in Construction

 Today I had the opportunity to lead a discussion on Considering ESG in Construction alongside Hannah Durden. It was for the Cambridge Forum for the Construction Industry and open to all. I'll update as soon as they post the recording on their website. The aim was to make sense of ESG in construction, outline new and emerging market, policy and regulatory priorities, and provide examples on where to start on embedding ESG into business as usual. Slides below with a great short video on the circular economy from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Get in touch if you'd like to discuss how we might work together. 2305 Considering ESG in constructionDownload...
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Event roundup – How to avoid greenwashing in real estate

Event roundup – How to avoid greenwashing in real estate

Last week I had the opportunity to discuss how to avoid greenwashing in real estate. On the panel was: Jessica Pilz, Global Head of ESG, Fiera Real Estate, Katie Whipp, Head of Innovation & Strategy at Trustek and  Iona Silverman, Partner at Freeths LLP.  The event was moderated by Alex Dunn, Research Manager at the Cromwell Property Group. It was sponsored by RE: Women and The Society of Property Researchers, and hosted by Freeths. It was a really rich discussion. I raised a number of points I wanted to touch on here. The role of data First, and nothing new to anyone who’s seen me speak before – I stressed the importance of data in how to avoid greenwashing. And with that, it’s important to be clear about the accuracy of the data. I also stressed the need for it to be open, transparent, and externally verifiable. This of course is more difficult in considering the various ‘S’ elements of ESG, but not impossible. I also stressed...
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Impact-led innovation: investors’ friend or foe?

 Last week I had the opportunity to take part in a panel discussion at Connected Places Catapult. The topic of discussion was ‘Impact-led innovation: investor’s friend or foe?’ The discussion was facilitated by  Yusuf Chadun, the Catapult’s SME Investor Relations Manager. The other panelists were Arnold du Toit, Co-Founder and CEO WeSprint, and Rajiv Tanna, CO-Founder and CPO of Birdie. The discussion Given I work in ESG, it won’t have been surprising for me to say that impact led innovations, and being able to clearly evidence that impact, is an investor’s friend. As I flagged, I work with companies to develop their approach to ESG.  I outlined that the focus of ESG is on risk management and sustainability in the broadest sense.   We then moved on to discuss what we mean by impact-led innovation. For me, impact-led innovations are both longer terms, and focus on what’s termed the triple bottom line with its emphasis on profit, people and planet, as opposed to a...
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Health and equity in the built environment

Health and equity in the built environment

I’m pleased to announce that I and Keyah Consulting Ltd are signatories of the Urban Land Institute’s Commitment to Health and Equity in the Built Environment. The Commitment is an actionable commitment. It is to affirm health and equity as core values of our work. It’s a call to action to those of us shaping of our cities and communities and decision-making processes tied to the built environment. It’s founded on the recognition that our decisions and actions have a significant impact on our lives and our communities. It also recognises our responsibility in supporting conditions that improve the health, environmental quality, economic vitality, and social equity of communities. I see my contribution, and that of Keyah Consulting’s, as promoting the importance of health and equity considerations across the built environment through talks, articles and promoting good work that is taking place. There’s also important work to be done through the ESG lens – in working with companies to embed these considerations across...
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The District Show – Real estate and the UN SDGs

The District Show – Real estate and the UN SDGs

Last week I was in Barcelona at the inaugural conference -  The District. It brought together a range of specialists across real estate with a focus on investment. I had been invited for a panel discussion on how the real estate sector is contributing to delivery of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The main points I made include: That the SDGs are more thematic in nature than Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), factors. The SDGs are globally recognised and can be integrated into business strategy. However, it’s important in linking the SDGs to strategy that this is grounded in specific metrics i.e. there are 17 SDGs with a total of 169 targets. And that in the next iteration of these global goals, that we focus on a ‘just transition’ in terms of addressing, mitigating, and adapting, to climate change. The SDGs form an important part of my conversations with clients. I work with them to identify the most relevant SDGs, and the specific targets...
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