Climate Emergency Panel: Radically Re-thinking the Built Environment
Date and Time
Wednesday, September 23, 2020 from 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM EEST
Location
Online Event
About this Event
Humans are impacting and changing the climate, and in turn the changing climate is impacting our entire society and natural world, as we have never seen before. Buildings are responsible for around 40% of the EU’s energy use with an associated 36% of CO2 emissions. Our collective failure over the past decades to design and construct buildings with a lower carbon footprint has significantly contributed to the current climate crisis and buildings are now being designed to be zero carbon.
As such this proposal is set against the background of the EUs target of 80% or more energy savings and carbon neutrality by 2050; with Finland aiming for this by 2035. Innovation, and inter-disciplinary collaboration is key to transform these hopes into realities. Yet there is a significant skills and competency gap in built environment education and practice related to sustainable design, highlighted for example by the architecture profession’s own ‘architects declare’ and ‘architectural education’ declaring a biodiversity and climate emergency.
At the same time the question also arises whether carbon neutrality ‘is enough’ on its own, and whether – and how– we go beyond this? What is a carbon neutral society if, for example, biodiversity declines further, increased climate and social injustices arise, health and well-being are adversely affected, and future spatial and climate change adaptability and our global responsibilities are neglected?)
Clearly, these goals can only be unlocked through well studied, planned, and executed design of new buildings, neighbourhood, and cities, and the careful and effective (re)design of the built environment we have created thus far. And this must happen with urgency.
This panel and workshop brings together stakeholders from different inter-related fields, to openly discuss, brainstorm, radically re-think and inspire each other about the needed innovation, in response to the climate crisis and its implications for the built environment.
Panelists
Anna Tapio – CEO Housing Fair Finland
Juha Kostiainen – Executive Vice President, Urban Development, YIT Corporation
Markku Hedman – Director General of Building Information Centre
Kimmo Lylykangas – Professor of Architecture, head of unit at TalTech University
Lars-Erik Mattila – Helsinki based Architect
Laura Inha – Sustainable Tampere 2030 programme, City of Tampere
Matti Kuittinen – Prof. Aalto University, Ministry of Environment
Miimu Airaksinen – CEO of the Finnish Association of Civil Engineers RIL
Salla Jokela – Lecturer in Sustainable Urban Development, Tampere University
Sofie Pelsmakers – Assistant Professor Sustainable Housing design, Tampere University (event Chair)