How is climate action driving cultural transformation in architecture?

What happens when architects turn climate action efforts inward and begin challenging
their own profession? This second talk examines how climate action in architecture across
the UK and Europe evolved from collective action focused on education into a movement
that began to challenge the structural and cultural conditions of the profession itself. As
grassroots initiatives gained legitimacy and influential architects, practices, professional
bodies, and architecture schools endorsed climate activism, architects pressing for change in
practice frequently encountered resistance.

By 2021, the demands of voluntary activism, combined with structural barriers to reform,
began to expose burnout and generational tensions in architecture, raising questions about the
values and power structures that shape the profession. The findings show that education alone
cannot drive change without a culture that supports it. Climate action in architecture depends
on cultural transformation and collective responsibility as the defining feature of architectural
practice.

Together, these two talks tell the story of how climate activism is reshaping architecture
education, challenging the culture of the profession, and creating the conditions for
transformative change in architecture.

Event Date

Thursday 7 May – 6pm (AEST) Online