Our industry urgently needs its younger voices to be heard

The real estate industry has always prided itself on its experience – and rightly so. Multi-million-pound decisions require the sort of judgement that comes from decades of navigating market cycles, planning and economic upheaval. But while many of us have been perfecting what we know, the world has shifted beneath our feet.

Our needs are changing fast. Investment structures are changing. AI is reshaping everything from design to asset management. Yet the people driving these changes are rarely in the room when decisions get made.

This is precisely why we are expanding the MIPIM Challengers programme for 2026, increasing its intake from 15 to 40 participants, our largest cohort yet, and making entry more accessible than ever.

The truth is, we have got plenty of technical expertise. What we are missing is the perspective of the people who understand how their generation actually wants to live, work and move through cities. They are watching from the sidelines.

The Challengers programme gives under-30s who haven’t attended MIPIM before the kind of platform they wouldn’t otherwise have had: a complimentary delegate pass, access to exclusive roundtables with senior figures, leadership development training and the chance to contribute to thought leadership pieces published across MIPIM’s global network.

What we get in return is invaluable and the last two years’ Challengers proved exactly why this matters. Thirty one professionals presented ideas that many senior figures in Cannes simply hadn’t properly considered. In 2025, these included treating embodied carbon as an asset to be amortised and implementing material passports using blockchain to create circular supply chains.

These weren’t theoretical exercises. Tom Sells of EY emphasised that incorporating embodied-carbon metrics into financial modelling is no longer an abstract concept, but a practical way to future-proof assets by anticipating regulatory shifts and mitigating obsolescence risk. This signals that valuation frameworks are evolving and the market needs to adapt.

Justine Noulin, project assistant at PCA-STREAM, highlighted Landsec’s sponge-city initiatives not only as a technical solution to increase permeability and ease peak-rainfall pressure, but as a strategic tool to reduce insurance exposure and long-term asset risk – a concrete illustration of resilience moving from urban design theory to a core investment driver.

These are solutions that directly affect asset values, presented by people who’ll be managing those assets in 2050. This isn’t about young people lecturing their elders, rather it’s about creating the conditions for proper exchange – where experience and fresh perspective can challenge each other productively.

Future Challengers will sit in rooms with people deciding which assets and projects to invest in next. They’ll hear first-hand how decisions get made at the highest levels. And those senior figures will be confronted with viewpoints and questions they might not encounter in their usual circles.

Since this needs to be a collective effort, we are actively encouraging nominations from organisations who want to support the bright talents in their teams. Every firm benefits when the industry’s discourse becomes richer and more representative.

MIPIM brings together more than 20,000 professionals from across the globe. It’s a unique platform for cross-border collaboration and knowledge exchange. But that only works if we’re hearing from everyone who needs to be part of the conversation about real estate’s future.

If you’re under 30 and curious about where the industry is heading, or if you know someone who should be involved in these conversations, I’d encourage you to apply or nominate them. You can find details of the Challengers programme on the MIPIM website.

It’s worth remembering that the most valuable voices are often those of people we haven’t thought to invite yet.

Nicolas Boffi is director of MIPIM