Known as The Worshipful Company of Chartered Surveyors Sustainability Leadership for the Built Environment (SLBE) Scholarship, the Company in partnership with the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (part of Cambridge University), provides a scholarship for a Master of Studies in Sustainability Leadership for the Built Environment.
The University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) is a globally influential institute developing leadership and solutions for a sustainable economy. CISL’s Rewiring the Economy framework shows how the economy may be ‘rewired’ through focused collaboration between business, government and finance institutions, to deliver positive outcomes for people and environment in pursuit of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The funding of this award is made partly from the LE Sutton Fund and the Company’s charitable Trust. An annual award will be made to a surveyor or university graduate to undertake a research project on a subject of current interest which will help foster a better understanding of the built environment. This partnership will maximise the benefit of this award and hopes to result in outstanding projects in this key area which aects us all.
The Name of course
Master of Studies in Sustainability Leadership for the Built Environment
Scholarship amount
£5,000 per year (£10,000 in total over the 2-year course)
Eligibility criteria
To be eligible, applicants must be graduates with at least 3 years post-qualification experience in the built environment. In addition, they must:
• be able to demonstrate their interest in, and commitment to, sustainable built environments and
• have submitted a full application for admission to the Master’s programme, separate from their Scholarship application, via the standard application process and by the published deadline
The scholarship will be awarded to the successful applicants once they have received an offer of admission to the SLBE Master’s following the competitive selection process and fulfil any admission conditions set by the University.
Application process
Applicants are required to demonstrate their interest in, and commitment to, sustainability in the built environment. As such, the research proposal, submitted as part of the Master of Studies application, will be used as a key criterion to award the scholarship in the competitive selection process. In addition, applicants are required to complete a bursary application form.
Within this form, candidates will be asked to provide comment on:
• Why the candidate would like to be considered for the scholarship;
• How the candidate believes that attending the course will be of benefit to them and relevant to their career aspirations.
• How the candidate hopes to use learning from the programme to benefit the wider profession (candidate may make reference to research proposal if appropriate).
Expected commitments from recipients
The Company may wish to ask the recipient to present their findings or share the results of their research. Applications will be accepted until 29 April 2026. Current Scholarship amount is £5,000 per year (£10,000 in total over the 2-year course)
For further information visit the CISL web site.
Current recipients
James Sheppard, Director, Equals Consulting
Building on binary: Integrating creative collaboration within digital design processes in the UK Construction Industry
Dissertation Abstract
The construction industry has dealt with increasingly complex design challenges by employing Building Information Modelling (BIM); a collection of socio-technical collaboration processes, augmented by digital tools. Previous research has established that whilst BIM tools are invaluable at helping interdisciplinary design teams identify and resolve issues; it is often in a rigid, task focused manner, with siloed working practices and social barriers which are detrimental to the creative collaboration required for innovative problem solving. This could be conceived as a human problem of creativity within the socio-technical process. Previous academic literature identifies numerous attempts to apply further technology as solution but there is scant existing research into human, social solutions.
This study examines the extent that digital BIM processes act either as blockers or facilitators to creative collaboration; and if the situation can be altered by addressing how they affect human, social aspects. Following an initial literature review, findings have been developed via thematic analysis of qualitative data collected from semi-structured practitioner interviews and given further generalisability through quantitative data from a practitioner survey. The research has identified the importance of establishing trust and personal motivation among project participants to stimulate creative collaboration. It is suggested that this can be encouraged within digital BIM processes by creating an environment to develop human relationships through real life interaction. The research suggests a framework for practice which will be of use to design practitioners and researchers seeking to enhance creative collaboration within BIM processes in the construction industry.
What
Looking at how digital processes in the construction industry either facilitate or block creative collaboration.
How
Literature review – academic and grey
Interviewed practitioners
Survey
Why
To establish that little attention is being made to address human and social aspects in digital working practices, to the detriment of creative collaboration.
Peter Greenhalgh, Director, Turner & Townsend
Understanding Conflict of Interest in UK Infrastructure Delivery
Dissertation Abstract
Investment in infrastructure will be a critical driver for outcomes such as sustainability, resilience, decarbonization, the energy transition and social equity. Bold commitments and strong collaboration across the public and private sectors are likely to prove essential to addressing climate change (Hansen, 2021). In the UK alone, between £21 billion and £31 billion of contracts across economic and social infrastructure will be brought to market over the next year, with a projected £650 billion over the next 10 years (IPA, 2021). To gain maximum societal benefit from this investment these projects need to be delivered with optimum efficiency. Increasingly, collaborative delivery models are seen as the best way to deliver on this scale, and much is made of the benefits of this type of delivery model. However, there is very little in the literature concerning potential problems or issues with these models. This seems unusual given that project and programme performance remains poor.
Major UK infrastructure projects and programmes are tending towards collaborative delivery models. At first glance these delivery models have appropriate governance structures. In addition, all the organisations involved are likely to have policies and procedures in place to deal with conflicts of interest. These policies and procedures are not however designed to cover temporary and parallel organisations where the employees of one organisation are empowered to make decisions on behalf of another. The research is concerned with the potential problem of conflict of interest – in a UK context. In understanding the potential problem, it may be possible to make allowances for it in organisational design, contracts, and governance.
The study employed a qualitative research methodology, and a number of semi-structured interviews were conducted. These interviews all indicated that conflict of interest can exist in collaborative models and further, that it is difficult and important to combat. The vast majority have also seen a client organisation impacted negatively by examples of conflict of interest.
In demonstrating that this problem exists to decision makers, further work can be undertaken to understand how best to minimise negative consequences. This will likely be essential to ensure efficient delivery of infrastructure programmes in the future.