Futurebuild 2026 Gives Young Professionals a Purposeful Platform

Futurebuild 2026 Gives Young Professionals a Purposeful Platform

Futurebuild 2026 (12-14 May at Excel, London) is inviting visionary thinking from the next generation of industry professionals to tackle the green skills gap for a built and natural environment led by sustainability.

LinkedIn’s latest Green Skills Report, highlights that the global workforce is not equipped to sustain the climate transition - particularly in the construction sector. Futurebuild is compiling a conference programme to give expert, passionate young professionals a voice and an opportunity to share knowledge and tools.

“The Arena Conference is designed to bring strategy and delivery together in a way that feels relevant to the challenges the industry is facing. It’s vitally important that we give young professionals the platform to influence how we respond to some of the biggest challenges of our time,” says Event Director, Martin Hurn.

With this in mind, the session Chair, Simon Rayner - a Policy Analyst at the Climate Change Committee - is posing the question: ‘What should 2030+ look like?’ to an impressive panel of ambitious Futurebuild 2026 speakers.

Participants include the Building the Future Awards’ Young Planner of the Year 2025, Munashe Mhemba, and  Darcy Arnold-Jones - circular economy lead at architectural practice, Marks Barfield. 

Also joining the discussion are Kimberley Ertl, an Engineer and Senior Sustainability Consultant at Expedition Engineering; Thomas Yunqing Bai, an Associate at Ares Landscape Architects  and a member of the LI Knowledge and Practice Committee, alongside Ahmed Gilani, VP Construction Society and University of Reading and Constructionarium alumnus.

“I have a keen interest in climate conscious design and as a member of the Circular Do Tank, ACAN and The Edge I’m proud to be having some influence on the future of our profession. I implore anyone coming into the industry to leverage platforms, like Futurebuild, to establish cross-disciplinary collaboration and connections that allow for continual and collective improvement,” says architect Darcy Arnold-Jones, who has experience in regenerative design and retrofit, specialising in material reuse and whole life carbon.

Young professionals are being given a voice over several stages across Futurebuild’s Main Conference and The National Retrofit arenas, as well as throughout its CPD-accredited knowledge programme.

A new fringe event being run by a collective of industry groups including ACAN, Architects Declare and Arc, is also providing a dedicated platform for up-and-comers to  play a part in delivering content their peers care about and can act upon.

Furthermore, with organisers strategically collaborating with UK Construction Week London and The Stone & Surfaces Show, visitors can access  700+ high profile speakers across 11 stages - making it Futurebuild’s richest content programme yet.

Register to access all three events for free at futurebuild.co.uk

Register today: https://register.visitcloud.com/survey/00jckvxw5jvn9?actioncode=5000

 

-ENDS-

Notes to editors

About LinkedIn’s latest Green Skills Report

Published November 2025, it highlighted that the demand for green skills still far exceeds supply. ‘Green hiring’ grew by almost 8% per year during 2021-2025, while workers with such skills increased by only 4.3%.  Intimating that construction could struggle to deliver on the necessary pipeline of green building and infrastructure without serious upskilling.

What’s more, for the first time, workers citing green skills - yet not in sustainability roles - accounted for 53% of all green hires. This means that construction professionals including project managers, procurement specialists and finance personnel will also need to demonstrate broad sustainability acumen in order to remain capable and competitive.

About Futurebuild

Futurebuild is the UK’s leading built environment event, taking place at Excel London from 12 to 14 May 2026. The show brings together thousands of professionals from across construction, housing, local government and sustainability to share knowledge, showcase innovation and build partnerships.

By bringing together the entire supply chain, Futurebuild is a powerful platform to connect with the right people from senior specifiers and architects to major contractors and developers - all actively looking for innovative solutions to shape ambitious construction projects.

With a three-day CPD accredited knowledge programme and a dynamic, solutions-focused exhibition, Futurebuild is where meaningful conversations turn into impactful collaboration.

For more information visit: futurebuild.co.uk

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About UKCW

Organised by Media 10 - the multi award-winning events and publishing company, UK Construction Week (UKCW) is the UK's largest built environment event. Running twice per year in London (12-14 May 2026, Excel London) and Birmingham (Sep 29-Oct 1 2026, NEC Birmingham), the event attracts an engaged audience from all sectors of the construction industry to share knowledge, solve problems, and explore new, sustainable ways of working.

UKCW also plays host to hundreds of companies showcasing their latest innovation, products and services. For stand and sponsorship enquiries visit www.ukconstructionweek.com/exhibit

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