News, News - Members Area

The Swiss Confederation alongside the World Economic Forum and UNESCO have organised the Davos Baukultur Alliance (DBA) Kick-off in Venice on the 19 and 20 of May 2023.

Ruth Schagemann, President of the Architects’ Council of Europe joined a in-depth panel discussion with others DBA members Jyoti Hosagrahar, deputy director of UNESCO’s World Heritage Center; Cédric de Meeûs, head of Group Public Affairs at Holcim; and James Middling, Global Sector Leader—Built Environment at Mott MacDonald.

Topics included how heritage and culture can enable sustainability and affordability when they are considered not only as a material asset but also as a knowledge resource; the role of local government in adapting the procurement process to enable the fundamental changes we need to make in a context where long-term goals are too often sacrificed to short-term cost reduction; the need for unprecedented cooperation between previously compartmentalized sectors to create industry ecosystems than can achieve the DBA’s goals; the role that systems thinking and data can play in performance optimization, future-proofing, upgradeability, and retrofitting of buildings of all ages; and the need to consider building culture not just as an end to churn out the required number of units but as a means to forge the kind of society we aspire to in terms of jobs, economy, and culture.

"Tomorrow’s Baukultur is being created today!"
ACE has been elected as one of 9 members of the Steering Committee for this Alliance for 5 years. This multi-stakeholder global alliance is dedicated to advancing quality design and construction of more sustainable and vibrant communities.