EURO2021

‘Ecological and nature inclusive design
of the climate resilient city’

Two-day international virtual life conference 26 + 27 May 2021

[Green as Building Material]

 

 

The aim of 'virtual life conference' is to investigate and discuss the value of implementation of Nature in the built environment.

Nature offers a range of specific ecosystem services. Two examples of such services are provided by vegetation in form of mitigation of heat stress in cities through provision of shadow and evaporation of water, and retention of water during intense rain showers reducing risk of flooding. Ecosystem services can play an important role in designing current and future climate-proof cities.

However, this conference specifically wants to address a still largely unanswered question: how much vegetation or other types of Nature is needed to solve specific problems in current and future (changing) city environments? In addition to aforementioned city cooling and water retention, many more useful ecosystem services can be provided by Nature. Further examples are cleaning of air, water and soil, and strengthening of biodiversity in the urban environment. Nature-inclusive cities are therefore healthier, more attractive, and thus overall more liveable.

The application of ecosystem services is particularly suitable for an integrated approach, i.e. solving multidisciplinary problems. In relation to latter this symposium also seeks answers to questions relevant in the field of ownership and regulations. Who is or feels owner(ship) of which specific problem and is willing to finance (a part of) integral green solutions? What is the status of current regulation with respect to (affording) city greening or is it necessary to further develop and implement nature-inclusive building legislation? Methods and strategies for implementing ecosystem services in the urban structure at different levels of spatial scale (roof, façade, street, living quarter) will also receive attention.

The two-day conference is organized by the Sustainability group of the Material & Environment section, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Delft University of Technology, and aims to bring together representatives of governments, the creative sector, science, urban design agencies, and the supply industry.

 

The first day focusses primarily on science and comprises the following (English-spoken) sessions:

 

1. Fundamental research into the functionality and applicability of ecosystem services in the built environment

2. Quantification of ecosystem service performance – including experimental-, virtual- and cost / benefit analysis techniques

3. Case studies - practical examples of executed nature-inclusive building projects

The second day focuses on the situation in the Netherlands and Flanders. This day will be Dutch-spoken and will comprise the following sessions:

4. Case studies: examples of nature-inclusive building projects in the Netherlands and Belgium

5. Design consequences of integral nature-including building

6. Social cost-benefit analysis of nature-inclusive construction projects

 

Every day will be introduced by a ‘keynote’ invited speaker

 

An active contribution to this symposium is requested from all participants. This can be in the form of giving a 15 min presentation in one of the aforementioned sessions ‘on stage’ or in form of a poster presentation, or as an active listener also contributing to discussions. A maximum of two presentations (in different sessions either oral or poster) per participant are allowed, and presentations should be supported by a written abstract providing background information. The abstracts will be made available to all symposium participants at the start of the symposium.

 

The location of the symposium is the Art Center Delft, Rotterdamseweg 205, 2629 HD Delft (https://www.artcentredelft.com/).