Cambridge University’s Programme for Sustainability Leadership (CPSL) is set to collaborate with the UK Green Building Council and WSP, an environmental consultancy group, to offer a sustainability leadership programme aimed primarily at senior leaders in the built environment sector, it was announced earlier this month.

The collaboration between the university and the industry groups follows on from an analysis last year which highlighted the increased demand for training courses from those working within the relevant sectors.

CPSL’s role falls under one branch of the Green Building Council’s Sustainability Training and Education Programme (STEP).  As part of STEP, the Council will also partner with the College of Estate Management to offer an introductory course in sustainable development and the built environment to up to 12,500 individuals this year.

Through these courses, the Council hopes to assist the UK in realising carbon reduction targets, while ensuring the nation’s position as a significant player in the international green economy at the same time.

The second part of the STEP programme, which will be led by CPSL and WSP, is expected to launch this spring with 90 places available for a two-day residential course. It will be open chiefly to leaders from the property and construction sectors, but customised seminars will also be accessible to those working in smaller organisations who are interested in effecting a change in the built environment sector.

Speaking to Varsity, Mike Peirce, Deputy Director at CPSL, said that the purpose of CPSL’s “high impact training course” was to “rapidly generate a network of leaders who should feel empowered to effect change and be equipped with the tools to do so”.

Peirce explained that one of the most significant barriers hindering transformation was the lack of shared vision regarding what a sustainable environment should look like and, furthermore, a lack of common knowledge and language in the built environment sector.

According to Peirce, the STEP programme will allow the participants to “gain strategic insight from informative and transformative business models, at the same time as allowing them to become part of a growing community of action for sustainability, possessing a common language and perspective on the nature and scale of the change required.”