The Architects Brussels Statement for the Future
Launched after the ACE Conference
 On the 10th
April last, the ACE Conference entitled Designing for the Future: The
Market and Quality of Life took place at The Flagey Building (see
image to the left) in Brussels. It was attended by about 400 participants,
the majority of whom were non-architects. The feedback that the ACE has
received to date has been entirely positive and the success of the Conference
has given added momentum to the policy objectives of the ACE and greatly
enhanced its reputation. In the General Assembly of the ACE that immediately
followed the Conference, a set of conclusions, known as the Architects
Brussels Statement for the Future was adopted. This stresses, to
mention just a few elements, that “…there is a need to better understand
why the market does not fully respond to the desire of citizens for a
high quality built environment – and to address these constraints one
by one”. It also affirms that “The true needs of citizens must be anticipated
and long-term viable solutions devised to respond to them for which economic
aspects are decided on the basis of life cycle costing”. Furthermore
it advocates that a “…reform of the public procurement process must be
devised in which quality outcomes become the main goal over and above
lowest cost” and it stresses that “…it must be recognised by all built
environment professionals that sustainability is an absolute. A challenge
that waits to be faced is the need to retrofit our cities, devising policies
and techniques at the scale of the challenge faced that will lead our
existing cities to a sustainable future”. Finally the statement also
underlines that “…cultural quality and diversity provide dynamism, identity
and real attractiveness to places resulting in economic, social and environmental
benefits”.
A short report of the proceedings has been prepared and
circulated to participants and more widely disseminated. Documents relating
to the Conference including the full text of the Statement mentioned above
and the report of the proceedings can be downloaded from the ACE website
at the following address:
http://www.ace-cae.org/MemberN/Content/EN/toc/toc/mytoc.html?id=1-1-3
ACE Campaign to Raise the European Legal Minimum Level
of Architectural Qualifications
 At its General Assembly,
the Member Organisations of the ACE agreed to launch a concerted campaign
to seek a revision of the relevant section of the Professional Qualifications
Directive (PQD) (2005/36/EC) in order to increase the legally required
minimum duration of studies from four to five years. This campaign is
built on the fact that the vast majority of courses that lead to a qualification
as architect within the EU are already of five years duration and that
it is the official policy of the ACE and its Member Organisations that
the minimum duration of studies should be five years. This position is
consistent with international practice as both UNESCO and the UIA also
have official policies that require a minimum duration of studies of five
years. The ACE position has been worked out in cooperation with the European
Association for Architectural Education, which fully supports the campaign.
Furthermore, and most importantly, the Slovenian Presidency of the EU
supports the campaign and it has brought the matter to the official level
by putting the question on the agenda of the recent Member States Coordinators
Group (Qualifications) meeting (held on the 22nd April) at
which architectural qualifications were discussed. First indications
are that the Member States present broadly support the proposal, but believe
that it may be pre-mature to revise the Directive as it has not yet been
fully transposed into national laws across the EU. However, the Commission
must present a report in 2012 on the implementation whereby, in effect,
it means that the process of assessing the PQD must start as early as
2009 and so the ACE remains convinced that the timing of the start of
the campaign is timely.
In a related move, recalling in particular that architectural
education is not harmonised throughout Europe and having regard to the
importance of professional practical experience, the ACE has been advocating
for the establishment of a sub-group of the Coordinators that will provide
expert advice on whether or not notified qualifications meet the requirements
of the PQD. ACE Info will give regular updates over the coming
issues on the progress of the campaign. It may be of interest to consult
the list of contact points for the PQD in order to contact the Coordinators
from the various EU Member States. It can be accessed at:
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/qualifications/docs/contact-points/info-points_en.pdf
ACE Declaration on Architecture and Sustainability
During its last meeting the ACE General Assembly adopted
the ACE Declaration on Architecture and Sustainability as a working document
for the 2008 UIA Congress scheduled to be held in Turin from the 29th
June to the 3rd July. The theme of the Congress is “Transmitting
Architecture” and it is intended that the ACE document will serve as a
basis for a discussion during a Workshop that will be organised during
the third day of the Congress, whose focus will be on “Hope”, and it is
anticipated that the ACE Declaration may eventually become a substantial
contribution to the final Declaration of the Congress (see also below).
http://www.uia2008torino.org/
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