On 19 May, the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe hosted the Davos Baukultur Alliance kick-off meeting at Palazzo Zorzi, its premises in Venice, Italy, marking the first public event of the Davos Baukultur Alliance under the title "Creating Vibrant Communities for All 鈥 Spotlight on Affordability".
The first day of the meeting included interventions by Alain Berset, President of the Swiss Confederation, Ana Luiza M. Thompson-Flores, Director of the UNESCO Liaison Office in Geneva and the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe, Jyoti Hosagrahar, Deputy Director of the World Heritage Centre, and other leading speakers. Presentations discussed various projects on how high-quality Baukultur is being implemented across the globe.
In her opening speech, Ana Luiza M. Thompson-Flores highlighted the points of convergence between the and the MONDIACULT 2022 Declaration, the latter recognising culture as a 鈥済lobal public good鈥 and advocating for heightened attention in public policies for cultural rights, spanning social and economic rights of artists, artistic freedom, and the protection and promotion of, including access to, cultural and natural heritage.
Ana Luiza M. Thompson-Flores also elaborated on the synergies of the Davos 2018 Declaration with the principles and guidelines of UNESCO's normative instruments, such as the 1972 Convention concerning the protection of the World鈥檚 Cultural and Natural Heritage. She also mentioned the 2011 Recommendation concerning the Historic Urban Landscape, which reinforces the message that a high-quality built environment is inseparable from the processes underlying its construction and the historical urban fabric in which it is embedded, while stressing the incredible resource that built heritage represents.
We wish to leverage our joint resources to explore opportunities for progress in our shared objective, to build more inclusive, sustainable and prosperous societies.
Alain Berset, president of the Swiss Federation, reflected on the progress established after the adoption of the Davos Declaration in 2018. It has since become a reference for improved planning and building, aided by the definition of 8 criteria for high-quality Baukultur, now established as a widely recognised standard. Berset further stressed the great challenges facing our living environment, such as climate change and its mitigation, the biodiversity crisis, demographic changes and weakened social cohesion, geo-political shifts, and war in Europe. He furthermore emphasised the struggles produced by a shortage of resources, negative effects of globalisation, and a lack of renewable energy. All of these challenges have a significant impact on the way we should shape our built environment.
To showcase how Baukultur can combat these challenges, architects Alejandro Aravena, Christian Benimana, Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu were invited to demonstrate, through specific projects, how high-quality Baukultur is being implemented across the globe and how they cope with local and regional challenges. The presentations focused on innovative solutions for affordable housing, ecologically responsible design and construction, and adaptive reuse.
The presentations were followed by a panel discussion among leading members of the Davos Baukultur Alliance, featuring Ruth Schagemann, Architects' Council of Europe; Jyoti Hosagrahar, Deputy Director for the World Heritage Centre at UNESCO; C茅dric de Mee没s, Head Group Public Affairs, Holcim; and James Middling, Global Sector Leader - Built Environment, Mott Mac Donald. Together with the audience, they debated how governments, businesses and civil society can work together to advance a quality-oriented and context-based approach to planning, construction, and management of communities that embraces local history and culture while also prioritising affordability and sustainability.
Baukultur and la Biennale 鈥 a good match that can clearly be felt at the first meeting of the Davos Baukultur Alliance. Founded at the Swiss initiative, it brings together governments, business and civil society for high-quality Baukultur and better quality of life.
A dedicated meeting for the partners of the Davos Baukultur Alliance followed on 20 May, hosted by the UNESCO Regional Bureau at Palazzo Zorzi, in Venice.
In his opening remarks, Oliver Martin, Head of the Section on Cultural Heritage and Historic Monuments at the Swiss Federal Office for Culture, invited participants to use this opportunity to debate new approaches on high-quality Baukultur and to discuss and agree on the way forward for the Alliance.
Jyoti Hosagrahar, Deputy Director for the World Heritage Centre at UNESCO, in her functions as meeting鈥檚 co-chair, emphasised the importance of leveraging global frameworks as UNESCO鈥檚 normative instruments, and notably the 1972 Convention for the Protection of the World鈥檚 Cultural and Natural Heritage and the UNESCO 2011 Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape.
The meeting offered members of the Davos Baukultur Alliance the opportunity to engage in 3 topic-based workshops on "Affordability and Social Value Creation", "Resilience and Climate Adaptation", and "Sustainability and Circularity", respectively. The output of the 3 working groups will serve to develop a roadmap for the future work of the Davos Baukultur Alliance.
In the words of the Director, Thompson-Flores, 鈥淯NESCO stands ready to further advance the cooperation with the Alliance and its members, leveraging our joint resources to explore opportunities for progress in our common quest towards more inclusive, sustainable and prosperous societies鈥.
Links
