Building a Greener Future: Cecilia Skarupa Joins the UKGBC Future Leaders 2025 Cohort
Cecilia Skarupa, our Data Science Team Lead, joined the UKGBC Future Leaders 2025 Cohort earlier this year. In this blog, we chat with Cecilia to uncover her thoughts on the power of collaboration in the built environment, and key lessons she’ll take forward to further accelerate the adoption of innovation into the sector.
How did you become involved with the UKGBC Future Leaders Cohort?
Building Atlas has been involved with UKGBC as an Innovative Start Up Member. I applied to the Future Leaders programme hoping that it would be a great way to meet like-minded professionals, and build on my collaboration, leadership, and innovation skills.
In what ways has the cohort environment facilitated a deeper level of thinking or approach to built environment sustainability?
During the program, we were put into small innovation groups to come up with solutions to a challenging problem. One exercise required us to brainstorm all the possible causes of our challenge. At first, everyone stuck to their own areas of expertise and I found it difficult to apply my knowledge. After some prodding from the facilitators to keep asking "but why?", we found it much easier to build on each other's contributions.
In the end, we came up with a solid understanding of the problem. We did this type of collaboration many times throughout the programme, and it was a great reminder on the power of collective effort. When we bring in the experiences and knowledge from others - we get much further together than we could on our own.
From your perspective, which non-technical skills (e.g., communication, leadership, strategic thinking) are becoming critical for success in the built environment field?
As we work to address the complex climate challenges of the built environment, human-centric leadership skills are becoming increasingly important. Addressing these challenges will require innovation, collaboration, and communication skills. These skills will thrive in teams where managers invest in individuals and support their growth. Leading with empathy will create psychologically safe environments where people feel seen, valued, and empowered.
When we understand what motivates people, we can align individual purpose with organisational goals. This alignment fosters a culture of trust, ownership, and collaboration. Ultimately, these leadership skills build resilient teams that are capable of driving meaningful, long-term solutions for the built environment.
How do you think this Cohort will bring innovation to the future of the built environment sector?
Innovation can sometimes feel risky, and we work in a traditionally risk-averse industry. This programme taught us strategies to de-risk innovation, such as getting to the root of the problem, prototyping to get feedback, and quickly iterating on the solution. These strategies can be used to solve big complex problems, but they're also useful in smaller day-to-day situations. Innovation doesn't always mean you have to reinvent the wheel. It's being committed to deeply solving real problems that either haven't been solved yet or haven't been solved well enough. And by that definition, there's plenty of room for innovation within the built environment!
What are you hoping to take away from the Future Leaders Cohort, and anything specifically for Building Atlas?
This programme has helped me build action-oriented and reflective habits that will benefit both my own personal growth and my impact at Building Atlas. The programme has encouraged me to take risks and embrace failure as an essential learning opportunity. By adopting practices like learning by doing, storytelling, and intentional reflection, I can better identify and refine my leadership style while also iterating on how we communicate Building Atlas's vision and innovative solutions. These practices will allow us to create lasting value for our customers, and push the industry forward as a result.
Connect with Cecilia Skarupa on LinkedIn.
