This year has taught us many things – most of them character-forming as my mother was fond of saying - but one genuinely good thing to have emerged from this pandemic is the curative power of communities to care for each other.

A recent report published by CBRE, shows that Grade A office supply in Glasgow has now reached a critically low level and, with just one more modest letting, the city could be left with nothing to offer potential tenants or investors.

Today marks Giving Tuesday, a day of global giving fuelled by the power of social media and collaboration. Last week hub West Scotland launched its annual Winter Warmer Appeal for new warm clothing for children living in poverty.

By 2050 the world’s population is expected to be close to 10 billion, and with it a serious demand for food. Feeding a growing population is a challenge but so too is doing it in a way that reduces the impact on our planet. So how can we sustainably ensure the world has enough to eat?

Conservation engineering is about repairing and preserving what is there. However it can also be about developing the future use and purpose of a building to ensure it remains viable.

The Shared Rural Network sees the four UK mobile network operators - with considerable financial support from the UK Government and backed by the regulatory heft of Ofcom - come together to make 4G mobile broadband available to 95% of the UK – by 2026. 

Buyers have a greater understanding about interiors and, spending more time at home, want the space to be functional as well as stylish. Home designers and interior specialists are taking note.

The responsibility of a landscape architect extends beyond creating spaces for today’s group of young learners, it is about sustainable design that will meet the needs of future generations.

We need a workforce with an overarching aim to protect the global environment to deliver a green economy. The pace of change is fast and the opportunities for an interesting and rewarding career in the IB sector are wide and diverse.

There are most definitely bright spots – certainly with respect to the construction and development sector in Scotland, which is showing remarkable resilience – and I include Aberdeenshire in that analysis.

As the house building industry begins to return to work, sites re-open, and companies re-examine their business strategies and models, it will become even more important to embrace new technologies and processes to ensure the restart and future development of the sector is done in a way that it can thrive long term.

The idea of a net zero carbon emissions and zero waste economy isn’t as far-fetched as some may think. The key promise of a bio-based economy is that we can grow the sources of raw materials for every day products. Industrial Biotechnology (IB) is one of the many faces of innovation in the life sciences world. IB offers sustainable, scalable solutions to the current environmental challenges facing many industries.

Over the past four months, like many people, I have experienced some of the most challenging times in my career. But while this has been devastating in so many ways for so many people, it has also created a unique opportunity to prove that rough sleeping can be ended in our cities and it is possible to create and support positive change in the lives of the people we support.

From an early age, I was always interested in the world of property and construction. I loved playing with Meccano and initially thought I would follow a career in architecture. As I moved through secondary school and studied more business-related subjects like economics, I began to envisage how my interest might take a turn into the development and property investment side.

“With so many people making the transition to working from home, there is a school of thought that the coronavirus pandemic might signal the end of office life as we know it. In reality, it’s likely to fast-forward its rebirth.”

As the construction industry begins its journey through the restart plan, we consider how lockdown has afforded us the opportunity to rebuild the future of this vital sector.