Joining the dots: A single EDI portal for the sector

It’s everywhere, yet often nowhere, and if this isn’t a frustrating description, then I suspect it goes a long way to understanding two recent key actions in the sector that have mightily cheered me up:

1. The formation of the Construction Leadership Council’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) committee and its swift adoption of the FIR Programme at the Supply Chain Sustainability School as the single EDI portal for the sector.
2. Building People’s recognition of the huge value behind having this one place that hosts EDI content from across the sector, and the transfer of material from our Network of Networks to the School’s Resource library.

So, what does this look like? Building People was founded over eight years ago to bring together people, opportunities and needs, with a laser focus on under-representation. Our Network of Networks now has over seventy members (e.g. Black Women in Real Estate, Neurodiversity Architecture Network, Built Environment Schools Trust, and Bounce Back), all providing careers support to people from under-represented groups.

The Building People role is to enable collaboration, amplify voices and to ensure connections between industry leadership and bottom-up inclusion and skills activities. It doesn’t make sense for us to do this isolation, so partnering with others is core to all that we do.

Sharing resources from this Network of Networks with the FIR Programme means that we’re giving greater space for those in our Network (the voices of the under-represented) to be heard, and for their knowledge and expertise to reach a far wider audience; and we’re being true to one of our core commitments: to reduce fragmentation, avoid duplication and to drive collaboration.

Like everything I do, this isn’t about Building People nor is it about the FIR programme. It’s a far bigger picture. This is about enabling collaboration, simplifying user journeys, and coming together to grow a resource hub that fundamentally aims to make the built environment sector better in every way – for those that we should be encouraging to join in, those already studying, training or part of the workforce, and everyone that lives, works and plays in the built environment that we create. If we can get the culture right, then the rest should more easily follow.

So, I’m excited to share news of this new partnership between Building People and the FIR Programme at the Supply Chain Sustainability School. As part of this collaboration, the School has created a dedicated microsite containing all the resources that Building People has shared from its Network. These valuable resources are also available in the School’s FIR Resources Library, making it even easier for individuals and organisations across the built environment to access guidance, tools, and support on fairness, inclusion, and respect. 

As our great friends at the School say, “Together, we’re strengthening efforts to create a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable sector”. 

It’s another beautiful dot that we’ve joined with fellow believers in a holistic approach. If you’re looking for content, for example, to help grow your business through representation, fairness and belonging; maybe for guidance to support neurodivergent employees, or to understand best practice in allyship; perhaps to explore social justice in procurement, or to focus on inclusive design, then there’s a joined-up place to go. 

As we continue to grow the Building People network, we will continue to share content with the FIR Programme at the Supply Chain Sustainability School. It’s a great way to reduce fragmentation and to demonstrate active collaboration – and there are so many opportunities for all to participate, with a request for case studies and the sharing of more material. Will you join in too?

PS. Please get in touch if your organisation would like to tap into us and the networks we represent, and – crucially – support the work we do. We really can do so much more together, but we certainly can’t do it alone.

Important links:
https://landing.supplychainschool.co.uk/FIR/buildingpeople.html
https://www.buildingpeople.org.uk/Home/Network