
About the project
Decisions about what gets built, where and how have major implications for people’s lives now and for many years to come. Decarbonizing strategies in the built environment currently neglect the social risks of an “unjust” transition that leaves workers and communities behind, as well as the specific opportunities and strategies for a just transition.
The building for today and the future project will strengthen pathways to just climate action in the built environment, combining deep dives in eight cities worldwide with international-level advocacy while building and supporting collective action along the way.

Aims
Building for today and the future aims to:
- Ensure the right to adequate housing, which encompasses elements such as security of tenure, affordability and habitability
- Consider construction workers’ rights, on site and through supply chains
- Apply non-discrimination and spatial justice, so that climate action in the built environment reduces rather than deepens existing inequality
- Implement meaningful participation, so that all residents have opportunities to shape decisions that impact their lives

Activities
Through Building for today and the future, ICLEI is:
- Advocating for stakeholder-informed policies at local, regional and national levels to advance the just transition
- Strengthening the evidence base for a just transition in the built environment, through action research
- Build a collective narrative(s) through visioning sessions, narrative-building and the sharing of inspiring examples
- Influencing policy and practice by governments, finance and business
- Inspiring next generations through university partnerships, guest lectures and academic engagements/publications
Partners
The project is implemented by ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability and IHRB – Institute for Human Rights and Business with the support of Laudes Foundation and Ove Arup Foundation.
For more information or questions, please contact circular.development@iclei.org