Sustainability webinar sought new answers

The first week of February saw researchers, architects and students from 50 countries join forces to tackle a major and pressing issue: How to forge a path towards more sustainable architecture in a changing climate.

16.02.2021

When Lab 3 of Aarhus School of Architecture opened the virtual doors to the webinar on sustainable architecture last week, they had not foreseen the overwhelming and global interest in the topic. An average of 350 people joined the discussions every day throughout the intense week.

The turnout was ample evidence that the issue is a deep concern for a lot of architects around the world right now.

”What struck us was the shared, underlying desire for change. We discussed the role of the architect, amongst other things, and we noted a willingness to go beyond the standard practice of the architect in order to further the goals that we have so far failed to reach”, says assistant professor, PhD, Elizabeth Donovan.

Honest, hard talks

The webinar featured 14 influential keynote speakers and five tracks. Each day covered a specific question ranging from climate adaptation to health and well-being.

”There was a general sense that we need honest, hard talks like the ones we’ve had at the webinar. Another common realisation was the urgent need for inter-disciplinary partnerships in order to properly tackle the multi-layered challenges for sustainable architecture ”, says assistant professor, PhD, Urszula Kozminska.

Inspiration

Urszula, Elizabeth and research assistant Stine Dines Lebech Schmidt are currently working on a book on the subject, expected to be published in 2022.

”People said they were very inspired by the talks, and the webinar also provided us with knowledge that may help us further develop the way we teach in the future”, says Urszula Kozminska.

More about the webinar