When Priorities Collide: An Interactive Workshop on Ethical Decision-Making

Webinar

Friday 11 December 2026
10:00 - 11:30

Members Only

Free

Ideal for architects, surveyors, planners, engineers, and other built environment professionals who want to sharpen their judgement, manage risk, and build trust through better decision-making.

When priorities conflict, deadlines loom and stakeholder expectations collide, how do you know you're making the right decision?

Today's headlines remind us that the decisions shaping our buildings, places and communities can have far reaching consequences. Yet ethical dilemmas are not confined to boardrooms or high-profile projects. They arise every day, influencing choices that affect safety, wellbeing, sustainability, and public trust.

Join the University of the Built Environment, in partnership with NLA, for the launch of the Professional Excellence Workshop Series. Designed to go beyond traditional CPD, the series combines applied learning, expert insight and peer discussion to help you strengthen your professional skills, deepen your industry knowledge, and enhance your leadership capabilities.

Inspired by the London Festival of Architecture’s theme of Trust and drawing on key themes from the University's 10-hour programme on Ethical Practice, our inaugural, online session explores the ethical dilemmas at the heart of contemporary practice, where professional responsibilities, commercial pressures and societal expectations intersect, often with no straightforward answer.

What You'll Take Away

· 1.5 hours of formal CPD, with confirmation of attendance to support your annual CPD requirements.

· Insights from leading industry and academic experts.

· A stronger understanding of ethical leadership and professional responsibility.

· Practical frameworks for addressing ethical challenges.

· Hands on experience with real world scenarios.

· Greater confidence in making and justifying complex decisions.

· Valuable perspectives from peers across the built environment.

· Access to further professional development opportunities through the University.

This workshop is not about compliance or knowing the rules. It is about navigating the complex grey areas that built environment professionals face every day.

Programme

10:00 Welcome and Introductions
Mike Speight, Executive Director, Strategic Enterprise, University of the Built Environment

10:05 Why Ethics Matter
An interactive discussion exploring the ethical and professional challenges behind today's headlines

Professor Lee Ivett, Head of School, London School of Architecture

Carys Rowlands, Head of Professional Standards, RICS

Alasdair Ben Dixon, Chartered Architect, Co-Founder of Collective Work

10:15 Ethical Decision-making Workshop
Working in facilitated groups, participants will:
Discuss a real-world ethical dilemma
Consider and debate potential courses of action
Share perspectives across disciplines

11:15 Interactive Feedback & Future Learning Discussion
Key takeaways, questions and networking, supported by Mentimeter

11:25 Closing Remarks

11:30 Session Ends

Speaker biographies

Mike Speight

Executive Director, Strategic Enterprise, University of the Built Environment

Professor Lee Ivett

Head of School, The London School of Architecture

Carys Rowlands

Head of Professional Standards, RICS

Alasdair Ben Dixon

Co-Founder, Collective Works

Members Only

Free

NLA WEBINAR ON ZOOM

Once you have registered, a reminder to confirm the event details and a link to access the webinar will be sent a day before the event. If you have any questions, please contact the NLA Events Team: events@nla.london

ACCESSIBILITY

This webinar will have the closed captioning and automatic transcript functions enabled. Please ensure you manually turn these on when you join. If you would like more information, or have any access requirements, please let us know what these are and how we can best accommodate these by emailing events@nla.london.