Partnerships
BE-ST provides the connections, infrastructure and culture needed to make big ideas a reality.
Collaboration is at the heart of the built environment ecosystem.
We build and nourish relationships across the sector to connect industry, policy, expertise, and skills to fuel our zero carbon mission and make positive change happen.
We have carefully aligned our strategy and programmes with key industry and government drivers of change at an international, UK, and Scottish national level.
Partnerships in practice
Together we’re unlocking innovation, inspiring change and maximising inclusive, sustainable economic, social, and environmental impact.
A pioneering initiative to accelerate the drive towards building a low carbon future for the North of Scotland.
Hub North Scotland, Glasgow School of Art and BE-ST worked together to develop a three-strand programme for the Hub North Scotland territory, which stretches from Argyll and Bute in the West to Orkney and Shetland in the North and Aberdeen in the East, and includes 16 local authorities, health boards as well as the police, fire, and ambulance services.
Report calls for greater circularity and higher-value applications for Scottish timber.
Built Environment – Smarter Transformation (BE-ST), Scottish Forestry and Zero Waste Scotland have published a first-of-its-kind report exploring timber cascading in Scotland. The report - ‘Wood Cascading in Scotland’ - considers the timber supply chain and looks at how the sector can encourage greater re-use of timber and wood fibre.
A strategic programme for Public Sector organisations.
In November 2023, BE-ST commenced a 12-month funded programme, in collaboration with Hub West, to support a group of public sector organisations (Local Authorities, Housing Associations, NHS, etc) with planning the decarbonising of their own estates.
Building a skilled workforce for the future.
In partnership with Class Of Your Own (COYO), we hosted over 180 young learners from 6 North Lanarkshire Council schools at our Low Carbon Learning: Next Gen Summit.
A total of 186 pupils were split across 20 different groups. This was the largest COYO eco-classroom event to date.
Accelerating net zero carbon within cities.
An initiative that aims to significantly reduce carbon emissions from densely packed buildings in UK cities led by the University of Edinburgh. The research partnership combines the Universities of Glasgow, Strathclyde, West of Scotland, Edinburgh Napier University, and BE-ST. The Centre for Net Zero High-Density Buildings will test new prototypes and retrofit buildings with low-carbon materials, heating and cooling systems, and energy storage technologies.
Delivering affordable Net Zero homes through offsite manufacturing.
Collaboration with the City Region Deal partners, offsite manufacturers and design professionals has allowed the EHD programme to develop a suite of housing typologies that are aligned with offsite manufacturing processes. Mass customisation of homes coupled with a design-led approach to place-making ensured that the EHD business model has positively contributed to place making and the delivery of net zero ready affordable housing within the South East Region.
