Conservation researchers get a new roost in Cambridge

Abstract

Renovated building aims to foster alliances.Since 2007, the Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI) has helped support collaborations among the largest concentration of conservation scientists in the world, in Cambridge, U.K. Several years ago, CCI saw an opportunity to deepen such alliances after two university departments left a 1960s-era Brutalist concrete office building in the heart of the university. As part of a £58 million overhaul, architects designed spaces to foster collaborations. Planners say the relationships will be mutually beneficial: Up to 150 academics will find new opportunities to apply their research, while an estimated 350 conservation practitioners will bring new problems. Participants believe that by harnessing "the Cambridge brand" for conservation research, the hub will become a go-to resource for government, business, and philanthropy leaders.