How can we stop the '£100m bat tunnel' becoming the next culture war? What steps need to be taken to ensure that development and nature genuinely work together? How can we get the right balance of 'on-site' mitigation of environmental harm and 'off-site' strategic nature recovery from Biodiversity Net Gain and other environmental requirements for developers?

This event will see our expert panel explore these questions and more, considering recent government policy announcements and their implications for the sector.

This event is part of the 2025 BNG in Practice event series from the Institution of Enviornmental Sciences (the IES) and the Association of Local Government Ecologists (ALGE).

Our speakers

Alex Hutchinson, Senior Public Affairs and Communications Officer, Aldersgate Group

Alex is a Senior Public Affairs and Communications Officer at the Aldersgate Group, a cross-economy membership organisation focused on accelerating the UK’s transition towards a competitive, resource efficient and net zero emissions economy. Alex supports the Aldersgate Group's strategic communications efforts to disseminate and promote the Group's work amongst various audiences. He also leads on aspects of the Secretariat's work on decarbonising the built environment, transport, and agriculture. Before joining the Aldersgate Group, Alex has held a number of roles in the corporate sector, both at energy companies and engineering and environmental professional services consultancies.

Rico Wojtulewicz, Head of Policy and Market Insight, NFB & HBA

Head of Policy and Market Insight, Rico Wojtulewicz has been the National Federation of Builders' (NFB) and House Builders Association (HBA) policy mainstay for more than a decade. As one of the most experienced industry voices he sits on industry and government working groups and boards, such as the Construction Leadership Council (CLC), Future Homes Hub and Heritage Alliance, and is across all manner of topics including Net Zero, skills, planning, industrial strategy, retrofit and procurement. He has a special interest in Biodiversity Net Gain, having been on various working groups during its inception, speaking to the parliamentary committee scrutinising the Environment Bill and writing guidance and recommendations for future BNG tweaks and reforms.

More speakers to be announced soon.