CAA 2024 -2025 Continuing Development Programme
Event: 2024 CAA Awards Showcase –Environmental Impact Award
Post-Event Attendance & Feedback Report
Date created: 6 January 2025
Executive Summary
The following document has been prepared for CAA Council to report on the attendance, feedback and promotion strategies for the first session of the 2024-2025 season of the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme. For this season, the programme will principally be focused on an Awards Showcase from the CAA 2024 General Assembly held in Kigali, Rwanda in August 2024. This session was delivered by Anton Larsen of Mass Design Group on their project, the Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture. The project was the overall winner of the CAA Environmental Impact Award.
The learning outcomes for this session were centred on understanding the SDGs and their application through an exemplar case study. Participants were introduced to a number of construction techniques and approaches to architecture not merely as a ‘building’ but as a whole-of-life and whole-of-system approach, involving consideration of the project’s education curriculum, its context, materiality, construction and day-to-day operations. The education outcomes for this session were directly linked to how the SDGs were realised in this project as well as key ideas which attendees might seek to bring back to their own practice or projects.
The session represented a number of ‘firsts’ for the CAA and its programme. The event was the first to adopt a multi-pronged approach to promotion, being distributed widely via X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and newsletter. Members of the Council also showed invaluable support in helping to repost, share and request their own member architectural institutions share the event, which contributed to a well-attended event delivered effectively within the space of a three weeks. The event is one of the first to be successfully broadcast simultaneously live via ZOOM and Facebook, with attendees on ZOOM reaching 154 individuals and the live Facebook stream reaching approximately 50 people. These moves represent an ongoing pivot and exploration by the CAA to diversify its outreach to ensure that its programme and its ideas can reach as many people as possible.
In terms of attendance:
- Total number of registered participants: 380
- Total number of unique viewers: 179
- Maximum number of concurrent views: 157
Of this, 147 participants were present for 30 minutes or more which meant that they qualified for the Certificate of Participation. All regions of the Commonwealth were represented by attendance, with overwhelming support (73% of attendees) from Asia and Africa.
As a mark of the programme’s ongoing success, feedback on the event has been overwhelmingly positive. Responses indicated that:
- 100% found the event was of interest
- 100% found the event to be well managed.
- 80% found the event to be just the right amount of time.
- 85% of attendees were architects or practitioners of architecture.
- 100% would like to see the CAA CPD programme continue.
Nevertheless, this report highlights that there are still areas for improvement, namely that:
- 85% of respondents felt that there needed to be more time for engagement with the speakers (i.e. more time for Q&A).
- 20% of respondents felt that the event was too short, and that more time should have been scheduled (the event was one hour long).
Feedback from respondents overwhelmingly support the continuation of the CPD programme and in particular, seek more sessions on the following areas:
- Sustainability & Sustainable Projects (i.e. Case study focus)
- Materials and Construction Methods including Energy Efficiency in Design
In view of the feedback and to build on the continued success of the CPD Programme, four areas of observation and improvement are suggested:
1. Promotional Strategies – continue to develop and expand on existing networks of engagement to build interest in the CPD programme, expanding and encouraging greater registrations via member organisations and also sign-ups to the newsletter.
2. Attendance Retention – develop a component of newsletter or social media outreach to serve as ‘reminders’ to ensure that all registrations are used, and a larger portion of registered attendees will commit to actually attending.
3. Audience Retention – develop strategies or review structure of presentation to ensure high level of audience retention is maintained for full duration of the programme.
4. Feedback Monitoring – continue to maintain consistent feedback sheets and questions to ensure that trend-mapping to monitor the CPD programme, enhance and review success of the programme can be undertaken.
On a personal note, it was a pleasure to have been able to assist the CAA in the delivery of this CPD session, representing also my first public engagement role as a Council Member. I am therefore also grateful for the opportunity and ability to assist in this important aspect of the CAA’s outreach and look forward to the upcoming sessions in 2025,
Hugo Chan Youth Representative Commonwealth Association of Architects
CPD Event Objective
Season 4 of the CAA's CPD Programme will be centred as a celebration of the awardwinning projects and individuals from the 2024 CAA General Assembly held in August this year in Kigali, Rwanda. The objective of this awards showcase season is to serve both as a celebration of the individuals and projects from the awards programme as well as to provide a forum for thought-provoking conversations through real-life ‘concrete’ case-studies of projects and individual designers and students who push boundaries to deliver thoughtprovoking propositions addressing the climate and urban challenges of our age.
Learning Outcomes for Attendees
The sessions learning outcomes were to be able to:
1. Understand how to work within a design framework and mindset of achieving the aims of the SDGs through a real-world exemplar case study.
2. Understand how to make informed decisions about integration of various strategies to deliver a climate-positive outcome through a whole-of-system approach to architectural design.
3. Be introduced to a range of different construction methods, technologies and techniques which integrate the contextual architectural language with climatepositive design in mind.
As part of attendee’s reflections, three learning questions were asked:
1. What was the key takeaway message you took from the session?
2. What is a key idea, construction technique or design method that you learned from today’s CPD session that you feel you could apply to a project you are involved in?
3. What do you see as a key challenge in your home country or practice environment which is preventing further progress towards ecologically sustainable development and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?
Principal Contributors
This event featured one principal presenter and was supported by three CAA Council members.
Mr. Anton Larsen (Presenter)
Managing Principal, MASS Design Group
Mr. Steven Oundo (Introductory Remarks) President, CAA
Mr. Hugo Chan (Host / MC)
Youth Representative, CAA
Mr. Jacob Mgwani (Technical Coordination) Executive Director, CAA
Recording – Online Platform
A digital recording of the event has now been prepared and will be made accessible to the public via our website.
The file is accessible via the following digital link: CAA CPD Session 1 (2024-10-31) - Enviro Impact Award Recording.mp4
1. Still Image from ZOOM Recording
Event Promotion
As part of an ongoing review of social media strategies, a number of additional event promotion methods were adopted, in addition to the standard CAA CPD Newsletter. The following strategies were used in aid of promoting the event:
- CAA CPD Newsletter - LinkedIn - Facebook
- Twitter - Instagram
In the subsequent sections, a brief review of the event promotion strategies is considered, alongside broad comments on potential adjustments to increase interest and registration numbers.
CAA CPD Newsletter
A total of two newsletters were issued to registered newsletter recipients for this CPD event. The first newsletter was sent on 23 October 2024, just over a week prior to the event and with a second newsletter sent on 29 October 2024 just two days before. For this event, there were a total of 1,330+ emails registered. A record of the newsletter is in Appendix A
Newsletter 1 – 23 October 2024
- The newsletter was successfully sent out to 1,293 emails, representing 97% of registered emails.
- Of this, 62% or, 807 emails were opened.
- Of this 12% or, 151 persons clicked to register on the ZOOM link provided.
Analysis
Newsletter 2 – 29 October 2024
- The newsletter was successfully sent out to 1,295 emails, representing 97% of registered emails.
- Of this, 51% or, 656 emails were opened.
- Of this 6.2% or, 80 persons clicked to register on the ZOOM link provided.
These values are placed in comparison to our last CPD event held in June 2024 (the previous Council), in June 2024:
- The newsletter was successfully sent out to 1,274 emails, representing 99.1% of registered emails.
- Of this 53% or, 675 emails were opened.
- Of this 14% or, 177 persons clicked to register on the ZOOM link provided.
In view of this in comparison to the most recent newsletter campaign, it is concluded that the newsletter readership and click-rate is comparable, indicating that a degree of interest is being maintained.
It would be appropriate to discuss in due course however, whether there are ways of improving the newsletter structure in terms of its visual interest and simplicity to improve click-rates and registrations.
Following re-establishment of the CAA LinkedIn page in early October 2024, this CPD event was the first to be advertised via LinkedIn. A total of two posts and one repost was made, spread on average over one every three days in the lead up to the event. A record of the posts is contained in Appendix B.
- For the first post, there were 298 views, with a click rate to the link of 5.7%
- For the second post, there were 273 views, with a click rate to the link of 10.26%
The event was shared on Facebook and pinned (in the leadup) to the event. The post was noted as being liked by multiple persons as well as being shared by two Individuals.
A trial livestream of the event was also held on Facebook via the CAA Page. This was met with some success, noting that a variable number of persons joined the Facebook Live feed at various points throughout the event. It is noted that in future, where attendance may exceed the ZOOM Assembly capacity, this will be an important alternative channel to live stream our events.
X (formerly Twitter)
The post concerning the CPD event was viewed close to 150 times, with multiple likes.
The post concerning the CPD event was viewed by 240 different accounts, with multiple likes.
Summary of Findings – Promotion Strategy
To garner additional information on the promotion of CPD events, an additional survey question was added to ask attendees where they heard about the event and from what source.
Preliminary data notes that a majority of registered attendees registered for the event via the CAA Newsletter, which remains our most direct and effective way of outreach to member individuals.
It is however reassuring to report that, out of 55 responses:
- 5 persons found out about the event from LinkedIn (9%)
- 4 persons found out about the event from Facebook (7%)
- Another 20 records showed a method other than the newsletter, including individual member organisations, word of mouth and other sources. (36%)
Attendance Breakdown
Number of Attendees
Summary
- Total number of registered participants: 380
- Total number of unique viewers: 179
- Maximum number of concurrent views: 157
Additional information:
- 201 participants were registered to attend but did not attend.
- 147 participants were present for 30 minutes or more – qualifying for the Certificate of Participation
- 123 participants show that individuals were present for less than 30 minutes. (see note below).
Note:
- In review of data, it was noted that several participants joined and rejoined on one or more occasion. It is my assumption that they may have had an internet connection issue or other matter. I note that the ‘cumulative’ attendance time exceeded 30 minutes for some of these individuals and would suggest a follow up with some of these to confirm their attendance.
- This also contributes to the number of attendees not adding up equally.
Attendance Summary
Did not attend
Attended (Certificate)
Attended (Short-Period)
A comparison is made to the three most recent CPD events by the CAA denoted by the trend chart below. Whilst attendance was lower than previous events, the attendance (which qualified for the certificate) was comparable in numbers to the CAA’s most recent series of events.
From these numbers, it is also noted that on average, approximately 50% of registered attendees actually attend the CPD event. Whilst not currently an issue, it should be noted that the CAA’s current maximum attendance capacity is 500 persons. There may in future be a need to warn or advise attendees that they should do their best to attend, so that their ‘reserved’ registration spot is not ‘lost’ if we have events which are hitting upwards of 500 persons.
Registration & Attendance Numbers
Registrations Unique Views Concurrent Views
3 Trend Chart – Registration & Attendance Numbers
Of the attendees, it was noted that 54% or 147 participants attended for at least 30 minutes (half the session) to qualify for the CPD Certificate for the event. It was noted that there were a few additional individuals whose internet appeared to break up and rejoined. Overall therefore, retention sits at half of all attendees, indicating an opportunity for further improvement and continued reminder to participants that they are required to stay for at least half the session to ensure they receive their required certificates.
Professional Background
It was noted that the vast majority of attendees identified as architects. A small number of individuals identified themselves as academics and/or researchers and several architecture adjacent professionals (engineers, quantity surveyors, urban designers) were also registered as attendees. This indicates that the programme’s core audience continues to be registered architectural professionals.
Regions & Countries Represented
The event was well attended by all regions of the Commonwealth, including individuals from outside the Commonwealth. The majority of attendees were from our Asia and Africa regions, which made up 73% of attendees.
Regional Representation of Attendance
4 Chart – Regional Representation of Attendance
The table below provides a detailed breakdown of the attendees separated by nations. Note that attendees outside the Commonwealth are denoted by the asterisk ‘*’ for reference. It was noted that 130 of the participants were recorded as being from the Commonwealth (88%) and 17 were registered outside (12%). The data presented is limited only to individuals who attended for 30 minutes or more (i.e. qualified for the Certificate of Participation).
Breakdown of Attendees by Nation
Event Feedback
Feedback on the event has been overwhelmingly positive. There were a total of 61 survey respondents received within the first week after the event, representing approximately 34% of total unique viewers (179). Out of these responses:
- 100% found the event was of interest
- 100% found the event to be well managed.
- 80% found the event to be just the right amount of time
- 85% of attendees were architects or practitioners of architecture.
- 100% would like to see the CAA CPD programme continue.
In terms of areas for improvement, it was observed that:
- 85% of respondents felt that there needed to be more time for engagement with the speakers (i.e. more time for Q&A).
- 20% of respondents felt that the event was too short, and that more time should have been scheduled (the event was one hour long).
A review to responses on the question around ‘future topics’ was found to predominantly focus on ‘sustainability’, with comments being:
- Sustainable design conceptualisation
- Sustainable materials and construction methods
- Sustainable residential architecture (passive solar / energy-efficient layouts)
- Sustainable development – real life examples (like RICA)
- Sustainability – understanding sourcing and life-cycle of materials
- Sustainable heritage – adaptive reuse, heritage conservation and sustainable cultural practices in architecture.
Other, less conventional topic suggestions also included:
- Artificial Intelligence – Impact on design process and future of architecture
- Techniques for Project Management & Processes
- Accessibility (Universal Access) – Designing for Persons with Disability
- Finding ways of bridging the challenges of disconnect between academics and practice.
Concluding Observations
From the attendance information and feedback, the following observations with identified areas of improvement and further development to continue to build on the success of the CPD programme is made:
1. Thematic Engagement
• Sustainability continues to be a principal theme which audiences request CPD sessions on, across various topics.
• There was a warm reception to the use of ‘case study’ project via our awards which is seen as ‘low hanging fruit’ in terms of requesting award winners to participate, as well as finding a diverse mix of themes, and as part of the promotional strategy for the CAA Awards Programme.
• A few additional ‘ new’ topics should be considered for the 2026 programme, particularly around new technologies and how it may impact the profession, such as Artificial Intelligence. Commitments to diversity and inclusion – such as accessible design principles and their impacts in terms of achieving the SDGs should also be considered as future topics.
2. Promotional Strategy Enhancement
• Continued refinement and development of a ‘ project timeline’ for each CPD event (HC to set up on OneDrive) with coordination of newsletters and promotional materials so that event interest is maintained and can be promoted in an orderly fashion.
3. Attendance Retention
• Continued reminders to be worked into the CPD introduction to remind viewers that minimum half-attendance is required to ensure they comply with CPD requirements.
• Separate reminder in newsletters should be added to ensure that ‘spare seats’ on ZOOM are not wasted. It is noted that the 500 person ZOOM Assembly is purchased by CAA at great expense, and it is noted that this should be supplied to those who actually attend.
4. Audience Retention
• Per above, remind viewers that attendance at the event is encouraged and required.
5. Continued Feedback Monitoring
• This report is an updated template from one previously supplied by Peter Oborn (Immediate Past President) for use as a template to monitor feedback.
• HC has now set up a project file on OneDrive with CPD matters which will be shared with Council members for record keeping.
Appendix D: Event Promotion – X (formerly Twitter)
Image Caption
Join us on #WorldCitiesDay 31 October 2024for a #CPD talk by Anton Larsen from @MassDesignGroup who will be sharing their project, The Rwanda Institute for Conservation Architecture, overall winner of the 2024 CAA Environmental Impact Award. The project is set to become the first climate-positive campus of its kind, leveraging a unique agricultural model, sustainably sourced materials, and off-grid power sources. The campus’s embodied carbon will be ~60% less than the baseline approach for institutional works.
To discover more, join us for the free CPD session on:
� Thursday, 31 October 2024, 12:00 Noon1:00 PM (UTC+0)
�Register via the link! https://shorturl.at/QhC36
The CAA Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme aims to facilitate knowledge sharing from member organisations from across the Commonwealth, helping to promote mutual understanding and greater awareness of issues related to climate change and rapid urbanisation together with the UN2030 Sustainable Development Goals #SDGs. The series is targeted at built environment professionals, policymakers, city leaders and students alike.
Image Description: Aerial photo of RICA’s First Year Farm and the Upper Student Housing are paired along the campus spine, which showcases different ecological types. Photo: Iwan Baan
Appendix
F : Sample – Certificate of Participation
The following is a copy of the Certificate of Participation issued to approximately 147 attendees. Issuance of this certificate was limited to individuals who attended for half (30 mins) or longer of the session.