Connect to Change 2026

Overview

The Infrastructure Client Group (ICG) is proud to host The Built Environment Connective at its second annual gathering, bringing together leaders and practitioners committed to transforming the UK’s built environment through systems thinking and action.

Building on the Connective’s manifesto, Connect to Change, which set out a compelling case for adopting systems-based approaches to achieve better economic, social and environmental outcomes, this event reflects ICG’s ongoing leadership in championing and advancing this agenda across the sector.

The manifesto’s nine recommendations—now backed by government, industry and academia—are progressing into tangible actions. Through this gathering, ICG is convening those at the forefront of delivering these recommendations, alongside a wider community of organisations and individuals driving system-level change, to assess progress and accelerate impact.

Connect to Change 2026, supported by both the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) and the Infrastructure Client Group, will provide a platform to share progress, emerging insights and practical next steps across three key areas:

• A major review into the built environment, designed to build the evidence base for greater investment in systems approaches and to enable improved outcomes at lower whole-life cost, informing both national policy and future investment decisions.
• Advancing the role of engineers as agents of system change, including embedding systemic competencies across education, training, and professional standards.
•  Understanding and measuring the impacts and benefits of systems approaches, including the development of meaningful metrics and evaluation frameworks.

The event will feature keynote contributions from senior leaders including Lord Toby Harris, Chair of the National Preparedness Commission, and Margaret Read, Interim Director of Infrastructure Policy and Strategy at NISTA. Attendees will also benefit from interactive audience Q&A sessions and focused workstream panels aligned to the core themes of the Review, systems competencies, and systems metrics.

Led by ICG, the afternoon offers a valuable opportunity to connect with those shaping system change in the built environment, stay informed on latest developments, reflect on collective progress, and actively contribute to the next phase of transformation.

Programme