Inclusion in Practice: Building social value into how you win work

Led by Marsha Ramroop (Unheard Voice/Building People and former Director of Inclusion and Diversity at the RIBA)

• Online (option to join fourth session in-person)
• 6 x Friday AM (10am-1pm)
• Fri 31 Oct to Fri 05 Dec
• £625

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“The London School of Architecture’s Part 4 programme provides exactly the kind of support that the profession needs to respond to the most urgent issues facing our cities. I am delighted to see this innovative professional development programme focus on the issues that practitioners in London are grappling with including inclusion and social value, fire safety and community heritage. Ultimately upskilling the sector on these matters is going to lead to a built environment that better serves Londoners.”

Jules Pipe CBE, Deputy Mayor

Public sector clients mandate evidence of commitment to diversity, inclusivity and equity. Private sector clients are increasingly expecting the same through supply chain charters.

Inclusive practice is no longer a ‘nice-to-have’, it’s a commercial imperative. But to demonstrate it meaningfully, consistently and impactfully requires clear frameworks and evidence bases.

By taking inclusive practice for granted, you are locking yourself out of these frameworks and wider opportunities for developing your business.

This course, produced in collaboration with Unheard Voice (global, award-winning specialists transforming organisations through Cultural Intelligence for Equity, Diversity & Inclusion), will give you the tools to capitalise on your good intentions by helping you think about your business, your design and your outreach and engagement in order to score higher in procurement processes whilst focusing your energies on rebuilding our depleted social infrastructure.

What will I get from this course?

• Doing the work: You will develop the tools to embed inclusive practices at the heart of your business, building on established methods and learning from best practice in demonstrating ESG values, EDI principles and commitment to social value.
• Communicating the work: You will learn authentic and reflective ways of describing your inclusive practices and outreach work in order to score higher and with greater impact in procurement assessments.
• Winning the projects: Get on more frameworks, and fulfil and exceed public and private sector clients’ expectations.
• Building new work into projects: Implement seamless interfaces between inclusive business practices and producing accessible and equitable built environments, adding measurable social value and creating a virtuous circle of inclusive practice.
• Expanding your networks: Gain exposure to diverse collaborators, both when procuring subconsultants and subcontractors, and being procured by committed and progressive clients.

Course context

How our buildings and spaces are shaped, and how they ultimately shape us is a fundamental matter of inclusion. If we can influence the creation of inclusive spaces in professional practice, we can influence the creation of an inclusive society and an inclusive world.

Yet besides the fact that being inclusive is simply the right thing to do, Inclusion in Practice also demonstrates that taking a strategic approach to inclusion will also drive far stronger business outcomes and financial results for your practice, thus driving more innovative outcomes for our buildings, spaces and places.

Simply put, demonstrating inclusive behaviours and social value is a fundamental requirement in public procurement processes, and increasingly in the private sector through supply chain charters and social sustainability commitments. This course will provide clear guidance on how to score higher, more effectively and more impactfully, and win more work.

Course format and objectives

The six-week course is led by Marsha Ramroop (Unheard Voice/Building People and former Director of Inclusion and Diversity at the RIBA) and contributors include Jerome Tsui (Kent School of Architecture, Planning and Design), David Ogunmuyiwa (ArchitectureDoingPlace), Tessa Wright (Professor of Employment Relations, Queen Mary University of London), Shawn Adams (Co-founder, POoR Collective), Kudzai Matsvai (EDI Expert, activist, Architectural Designer, educator and TEDx Speaker), Peter George (Strategic Director of Economy & Sustainability at Ealing Council), Neil Onions (Beyond The Box) and Sarah Jones-Morris (Co-CEO, The Association of Collaborative Design).

The course curriculum has also been shaped by advisors including Juliet Sakyi-Ansah (Black in Architecture), Teri Okoro (Toca & ARB) and Harriet Powell (Homes England).

Through teaching and workshops comprising a series of scenario-based design-led exercises, the course will assist you with understanding all areas of EDI demonstration, from how you use the right language in the process, to the areas you need to act on, how you do that well, and how to evaluate the project for inclusion throughout, and at the end.

It will provide insight into how to score higher while making maximum social and cultural impact, providing templates to support diversity placements and learning programmes, to design frameworks promoting greater inclusivity and accessibility, and methods of co-design and community engagement.

Week-by-week outline

1. Behaviours: Fri 31 Oct 10am-1pm (online)

   Demonstrating inclusion requires us to review some fundamentals of the behaviours required, and what that means for you and your practice.

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2. Attract: Supplier diversity – Fri 07 Nov 10am-1pm (online)

   Recognising and understanding supplier diversity, who you work with and how, and the value that brings to bids.

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3. Retain: Winning work – Fri 14 Nov 10am-1pm (online)

   Ongoing commitment to inclusion is likely to be scored in public procurement. We’ll point you to what’s necessary in order to win the marks here.

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4. Create: Design – Fri 21 Nov 10am-1pm (in-person)

   Use of the new RIBA overlays will be examined to help you get the most out of the tools to demonstrate social value.

   –

5. Engage: Co-creation – Fri 28 Nov 10am-1pm (online)

   Learn to engage external stakeholders, users, customers, clients, communities

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6. Inclusion in practice: Fri 05 Dec 10am-1pm (online)

   Pulling all our work together into a review with a panel of experts, to help you demonstrate your learning on real competition and procurement opportunities.

Course contributors and advisors

Led by:

• Marsha Ramroop: Unheard Voice/Building People and former Director of Inclusion and Diversity at the RIBA

Supported by:

• Jerome Tsui: Spatial Interior Programme Director and Director of EDI, Kent School of Architecture, Planning and Design
• David Ogunmuyiwa: ArchitectureDoingPlace
• Tessa Wright: Professor of Employment Relations and Principal Investigator on Buying Social Justice research project at Queen Mary University of London
• Shawn Adams: Co-founder, POoR Collective
• Kudzai Matsvai: EDI Expert, activist, Architectural Designer, educator and TEDx Speaker
• Peter George: Strategic Director of Economy & Sustainability at Ealing Council
• Neil Onions: Beyond The Box
• Sarah Jones-Morris: Co-CEO, The Association of Collaborative Design
• Juliet Sakyi-Ansah: Founder, Black in Architecture Research Unit, Oxford Brookes School of Architecture
• Teri Okoro: Director, Toca and Board Member, ARB
• Harriet Powell: Senior Manager, Homes England

General information

• The course runs over six weekly three hour sessions in an online format, every Friday morning 10am-1pm from Friday 31 October to Friday 05 December 25
• Week 4 (Friday 21 Nov) will be hosted at our studio in Dalston (4 Beechwood Rd, Dalston, London E8 3DY) – attending in-person is optional (you will be able to join online) but is a chance to meet your cohort, course leaders and contributors
• To ensure high contact, we’re recruiting a small cohort of no more than 40 – spaces are limited
• The course cost is £625 per participant
• You can read full Part 4 terms and conditions here

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