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Dear Madam, Dear Sir,
On behalf of the Architects’ Council of Europe,
we are pleased to invite you to participate in our Conference “Designing
for the Future: Architecture and Quality of Life” that
will be held on the 10th April 2008 in Brussels at the
Flagey Building.
The Conference, which enjoys the patronage of Mr.
José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, is addressed
primarily to European leaders and decision makers from all levels,
who act in matters relating to the built environment. It will present
a number of ideas and concrete recommendations in relation to quality
and planning that could be adopted and put in place very quickly.
The objectives of the Conference aim to:
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Promote qualitative developments through
the adoption of diverse approaches during the conception and
maintenance of the built environment, putting the citizen
at the heart of all policies.
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Promote and manage policies that fully take
the needs of sustainable development, territorial planning
and effective, integrated management of the built environment
into account.
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Notably include the cultural dimension of
the built and urban environment without restricting it solely
to heritage elements.
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The economic policies adopted by the European Union
continue to cause distortion by their strictly limited point of
view – and by not adequately taking account of environmental,
social and cultural dimensions, which are the very essence of a
truly shared European project.
Many architects, citizens and an increasing number
of political leaders are more and more convinced that the advantages
of sustainable development in general and on a quality built environment
in particular, are key elements for the future of the European economy
and society. However, this glaring fact is still not brought to
the fore in the specification of construction and planning projects
to the extent where assessments and budgetary decisions are too
limited to a short-term view thus penalising the possibility to
have truly sustainable works.
Despite many and repeated calls, the progress in
this direction of a more holistic and sustainable vision remains
very modest both at community and national levels[1]. The Leipzig
Charter on Sustainable European Cities, which particularly underlines
the role of “Baukultur” [2], is certainly a major political
step on condition that it is put into place.
Over the past ten years, the Architects’ Council
of Europe (ACE) has presented a series of proposals aimed at improving
the quality and sustainability of the built environment in Europe,
notably through its policy book entitled “Architecture and
Quality of Life” that contains 21 key messages for the 21st
Century.
By also identifying the questions that concern the
profession, like those relating to qualifications and the commitment
of architects to urbanism, the policy book underlines the necessity
to constantly concentrate on sustainability, on the cultural dimension
of architecture and on urban policies in which one of the objectives
is to ensure the right to decent, quality housing for all.
You will find the provisional
programme of the Conference on the following site, as well as
a description of the six main themes
of the conference from which key questions will be developed.
We invite you to register without delay by using
the application form that can also be found on the conference
website. We draw your attention to the need to reserve a hotel
as this time of year in Brussels is always very busy indeed.
Looking forward to having your active participation
in our conference and to welcoming you among us,
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Juhani Katainen
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Susini Jean-François
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President
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Past-President (2006-2007)
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[1] See, for example, the follow-up report of the
EU on its Sustainable Development Strategy (COM 642 SEC 1416).
[2] “One must understand “Baukultur”
in the largest sense of the term as the sum of all the cultural,
economic, technological and social aspects that influence the planning
and development processes.” – extract from the Leipzig
Charter on Sustainable European Cities adopted at the informal ministerial
meeting on sustainable development and territorial cohesion, May
2007.
To
download the document click here 
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