Sophie Taysom, Author at

Key Principles of Effective Stakeholder Engagement

September 5, 2023December 27, 2023 by Sophie Taysom Comment Closed

I’ve seen the good and the bad of stakeholder engagement – from getting support and buy-in to heated exchanges that quickly turn nasty and result in reputational damage. Having outlined 7 Benefits of Stakeholder Engagement, I want to turn attention to some key principles. Keep these principles in mind when developing and reviewing plans. A good engagement plan will grow and adapt to reflect both inputs received as well as further steps to be taken. 'The single biggest problem in communications is the illusion that it has taken place' George Bernard Shaw Plan You need to be asking a number of questions when developing a stakeholder plan. These include but are not limited to: What is the purpose of engaging with stakeholders? What are your objectives? Do you want to provide information, consult, involve and/or collaborate? Who are your stakeholders and how are you assessing them in terms of relative importance? What does implementation look like? Are you running a consultation, a series of...

UKAA Webinar – ESG in BTR: From strategy to practice on environmental considerations

August 20, 2023 by Sophie Taysom Comment Closed

I'm really pleased to be speaking alongside Hannah Durden from CNZW. We'll be discussing moving from strategy to practice on the E of ESG in Build to Rent on 6 September 2023. This is a webinar and it is open to members and non-members of the UK Apartments Association. It is free to attend. You can sign up here. ...

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

July 9, 2023March 20, 2025 by Sophie Taysom Comment Closed

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....

Considering ESG in Construction

May 9, 2023September 21, 2024 by Sophie Taysom Comment Closed

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...

Event roundup – How to avoid greenwashing in real estate

April 25, 2023April 25, 2023 by Sophie Taysom Comment Closed

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...

Impact-led innovation: investors’ friend or foe?

February 17, 2023 by Sophie Taysom Comment Closed

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...

Health and equity in the built environment

January 3, 2023 by Sophie Taysom Comment Closed

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...

No BS ESG

November 29, 2022September 21, 2024 by Sophie Taysom Comment Closed

Today I had the opportunity to discuss no BS ESG at the Festival of Place. I spoke alongside Elaine Cresswell who spoke on biodiversity. With thanks to Christine Murray for the invitation. You can see slides from my presentation below. Get in touch if you’d like to chat. 2211 Festival of Place - No BS ESG (2)Download...

The District Show – Real estate and the UN SDGs

October 28, 2022November 21, 2022 by Sophie Taysom Comment Closed

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...

Value in real estate: Looking beyond the financials

June 27, 2022June 27, 2022 by Sophie Taysom Comment Closed

On 8 June, I had the opportunity to take part in a panel discussion at the FIABCI Congress, held in Paris. The topic for discussion was how do we add value in real estate while also improving the lives of end-users. Here I provide some of my thoughts on this topic. Context I view value through the lens of Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) considerations. I work with companies across the built environment to focus on how they create value. The end-user, whether this be occupiers, local communities, or employees, have to be very much part of the conversations on what constitutes value. Making the case The view of value in purely financial terms in real estate and the wider built environment is too narrow. Value needs to be considered in the context of the extent to which activities improve social, environmental and economic wellbeing. And this involves engagement from every discipline including for example, engineers, architects, designers, planners, builders, asset owners and managers. The priority...