Creative solutions to the climate crisis must work for all of us, not just the wealthy, which is why we were encouraged by news of a new initiative to tackle the lack of class diversity in the UK’s creative industries. Design Week reports on a new toolkit which has been developed by the Social Mobility Commission, in partnership with businesses across the creative sector, and aims to tackle what it labels a “class crisis” in the sector. According to research by the commission, just 27% of the creative industries workforce comes from a working-class background. More than half of the workforce are from high socio-economic backgrounds. The toolkit lays out the issue and offers solutions across hiring, progression, advocacy and leadership. More here

EBBA Architects has designed the Construction Skills School using recycled and reusable elements. The School, situated on London’s Olympic Park, will provide building skills training to local people. The main body of the building was created by re-using three modular buildings that were previously used as classrooms by a local primary school. They are wrapped in a facade using off-the-shelf timber which, when the building reaches the end of its five-year lifespan, can be removed and re-used elsewhere. Dezeen has the full story here

URGE’s John Grant is speaking at MarketingKind’s xChange event, exploring the question, ‘What is the path to climate compatible living?’ The online panel is on October 20 at 5pm. John will be joined by researcher and writer on carbon-footprinting Mike Berners-Lee, and author and Professor of Urban and Public Policy at Northeastern University, USA, Joan Fitzgerald. Details here

URGE is now an official partner of the Design Council’s Design for Planet conference on November 9 and 10. The aim of the festival is “to galvanise and support the UK’s design industry to commit to a sustainable, climate-first future. [It] will give a platform for visionaries across the sector who are leading the way in sustainability and climate action, and will support others in the industry to prioritise the welfare of our planet in their work.” URGE members Sophie Thomas, Ella Doran, Alexie Sommer, Michael Pawlyn, John Grant, Federico Gaggio and Patrick Burgoyne will all be either speaking or running workshops at the event, which will be a mixture of in-person and online sessions. Full agenda here

The link has been copied!