Joining the dots in 2026 and beyond
In the 5th blog in our ‘Joining the Dots’ series, Hazel Johnson, Director at Built Environment Forum Scotland, reflects on a year of cross-sector collaboration and strategic advocacy. As we approach the 2026 Scottish Parliament elections, Hazel explores how the conversations held throughout the year have revealed encouraging common themes – from breaking down policy silos to embracing whole systems thinking. She examines how BEFS Manifesto 2026 positions the built environment sector as essential to achieving Scotland’s climate and wellbeing targets, and looks ahead to the opportunities for collective action in the year to come.
I started the year and this series by asking ‘How can strategic advocacy be amplified through joined-up thinking and cross-sector collaboration, towards legislation that delivers for our people and places?’. A big question.
And the big conversations we, as a sector, have been having throughout 2025 have shown some encouraging common themes emerging. With their excellent and thought provoking contributions, the authors of Joining the Dots blogs over the past 12 months have explored the need for breaking down silos and embracing a whole systems approach to policy. This includes how work on the ground must be recognised as contributing to Scotland’s overarching goals such as Net Zero, and the transformative benefits that integrated and available data can and should have for people and places.
BEFS Membership and the wider ‘sector’ is broad; finding a common hymn sheet to sing from is often far from straightforward. But when the conversations are generous, collegiate, and strategic we can, and do, achieve much together. Further, knowing who is doing what, and where, presents opportunities for identifying commonality and consensus across seeming disparate areas of specific interest; such as across Culture and Heritage, the Climate Emergency and Net Zero, Repair, Maintenance and Retrofit, Training and Skills, and Planning and Placemaking- the main themes in BEFS Manifesto 2026.
These conversations have helped BEFS in presenting what we believe to be a reflection of a truly cross-sectoral ask. This helps to clearly make the case for how investment is key to unlocking substantial value for public money and driving progress across vital public policy portfolios. It is a call to action for the next Scottish Government, and we need to make our message as simple as possible; without recognising and leveraging the benefits brought by the sustainable use of Scotland’s historic and existing built assets, critical climate and wellbeing targets will not be met. You can’t do this without us!
Demonstrating value:
BEFS five main Manifesto policy areas are designed to demonstrate how joined up and strategic investment will contribute materially towards the long-term benefit of Scotland’s people and places. This diagram shows how these can be read against Scotland’s national outcomes.
It has also often been noted that de-mystifying the policy landscape is one of the keys to successful joined-up thinking and action. To help with this, BEFS 2025 Policy Map is a useful tool, demonstrating some of the essential areas of overlap to push open policy doors and support collective advocacy. Our recently updated Advocacy Toolkit can also help navigate a complex landscape.
Hitting the ground running in 2026
We know that as a resilient and innovative sector there is a will and readiness to work together, especially important in this election year, to unlock the value and potential of our shared built heritage. We can support any incoming Government to create the conditions for a well-resourced, dynamic, and effective built and historic environment sector – during and beyond the ebb and flow of parliamentary cycles.
Looking ahead to March, BEFS team look forward to working with you all, as we plan our pre-election activity and engagement – and explore further how we can help to join the dots in 2026 and in the long term.
Get in touch – to find out more about BEFS work or to discuss a particular topic or policy area email us at info@befs.org.uk or contact the Team.
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