Transforming Systems, Sectors and Places
The transformation of the global economy will be shaped by what markets value - but it’s what happens in specific sectors and places where impact counts and change needs to happen.
That’s where decisions are made, infrastructure is built, food is produced, homes are retrofitted. That’s where new market norms can be fostered and new structures can take shape.
Sectoral and regional transitions are where sustainability ambitions are tested, and where real progress must be delivered.
CISL’s work in this area takes a systemic approach by coordinating the ideas, technologies, policies and capabilities that catalyse and accelerate change.
We focus on sectors with the greatest influence over climate, nature and health outcomes - and the geographies where leadership, investment and innovation can combine to accelerate progress.
We'd like to stay in touch with you about our Transforming Systems, Sectors and Places initiative
Key sectors
Built environment
The built environment shapes how we all live, work and move. Transforming how we design, construct, and manage buildings and infrastructure allows businesses to seize new opportunities, reduce risk and future-proof assets as part of an economy that uses space, materials and energy much more efficiently and effectively.
This transformation can help protect nature and respond to the climate challenge.
Find out how CISL is working with businesses, innovators, investors and policymakers to incubate new solutions, drive green building standards, and scale sustainable infrastructure.
Land, food and agriculture
Land, food, and agriculture sit at the heart of society, playing a critical role in our economy, health and culture but also providing a powerful connection to climate and nature challenges. Sustainable food and land systems are a growing priority for businesses across the economy.
Discover how CISL is helping transform these systems. We're working to support community engagement, shape sustainable supply chains, support regenerative farming practices, and enable shifts in finance and policy structures to protect ecosystems, tackle climate change and ensure food security.
Industry and manufacturing
For manufacturers and industrial leaders, the shift to innovative production is a key opportunity. At the same time using products and materials in a circular economy offers opportunities for new business models, job creation, and reduced supply chain risk.
We aim to help leaders to redesign value chains, reduce emissions, and unlock innovation.
Coming soon: our latest report with BSI to help businesses unlock the opportunities of circularity and accelerate the shift towards a truly regenerative economy.
Health systems
Sustainable, resilient health systems are essential not only for human wellbeing but also for economic stability and social equity.
For companies in the health sector and beyond, rethinking the ways that society and the economy works to deliver for climate, health, and financial outcomes is becoming a business imperative and a growing opportunity.
CISL is working to explore how local communities can unlock win-wins that support people’s health and the economy, and identify new strategies for businesses to support a healthier society.
Energy systems
The shift to electrify energy is accelerating, with innovations in new renewables, battery technology and energy use increasingly disrupting the old energy industry and opening the door to a cheaper, more efficient, cleaner and more internationally secure energy system.
Find out how CISL is supporting this shift by aligning capital, policy and innovation to accelerate renewables, phase out fossil fuels, and ensure energy access, while exploring the reinvention of energy uses that are not easily electrifiable, like aviation.
We target geographies where market-shaping interventions are possible – working from Cambridge to Cape Town and across Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
Our approach
We combine a strategic view of how markets evolve with practical efforts to support real-world change. We:
- Convene cross-sector partnerships to align ambition and develop direction of travel;
- Work with business, finance and policymakers to shape enabling conditions - from policy and regulation to capital flows and procurement;
- Support leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs to build the capabilities and practical collaborations needed to act;
- Strengthen the wider ecosystem for sustainable innovation, including access to capital, networks and market insights.
Many of the innovations and partnerships we support would not happen without an independent platform able to align commercial ambition with public value.
We operate in spaces often overlooked by commercial actors and too complex for siloed interventions, helping to connect entrepreneurial solutions with institutional change. By linking these interventions across institutions, value chains and regions, we help shape the conditions for transformation at scale so that new models don’t just emerge, but take hold.
In doing so, we provide enabling infrastructure for funders and partners seeking to accelerate deep, durable change in sectors that matter, but are often under-served by conventional funding, research or consultancy.
Transforming Systems, Sectors and Places
We'd like to stay in touch with you about our new initiative
