The Reconstructing the Future for People and Planet Conference, hosted by Bauhaus Earth and the Pontifical Academy of Sciences (PAS), has begun today at the Casina Pio IV, the PAS headquarters, in the Vatican Gardens, Rome, Italy.

The president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. Image courtesy of Bauhaus Earth

The conference will open with a speech from Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, and will bring together world-renowned scientists, architects, spatial planners, and policy makers to discuss the transformation of the built environment from a driver of climatic and societal crises into a force for planetary regeneration.

The program also includes keynote speeches from Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, founder of Bauhaus Earth and PAS Academician and Francis Kéré, architect and this year’s Pritzker Prize Laureate. 

The June 9 program will conclude with a conversation between Kéré and von der Leyen at the MAXXI National Museum of 21st Century Art in Rome.

Reconstructing the Future is available to the public via livestream, June 9 ‒ 10, 2022. You need to follow this link to register and join online.

Image courtesy of Reconstructing the Future for People and Planet Conference

Conference Speakers Include:

- Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission

- Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, founder of Bauhaus Earth and PAS Academician

- Francis Kéré, architect and this year’s Pritzker Prize Laureate 

- Joachim von Braun, Pontifical Academy of Sciences Presiden

- Lesley Lokko, architect and curator of next year’s Venice Architecture Biennale

- Bjarke Ingels, leading Scandinavian architect

- Francesca Bria, President of the Italian National Innovation Fund

- Shigeru Ban, architect and 2014 Pritzker Prize Laureate

- Andrea Gebhard, President of the German Federal Chamber of Architects

- Geoffrey West, President Emeritus of the Santa Fe Institute

- Carlo Ratti, Director of MIT’s Senseable City Lab

- Wael Al Awar, architect and recipient of the 2021 Venice Biennial Golden Lion 

- Sandrine Dixson-Declève, President of the Club of Rome

- Archbishop Paul Gallagher 

Lycée Schorge Secondary School, Koudougou, Burkina Faso, 2016. Image courtesy of Francis Kéré.

"The conference will address a key challenge of our time: averting climate collapse by the deep and rapid transformation of the global built environment. The construction sector can go from climate villain to climate hero, especially by switching to bio-based materials such as timber and bamboo," said Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Founder of Bauhaus Earth.

"This transformation will require an unprecedented collaboration between the Global South and the Global North, the integration of advanced technology and vernacular knowledge, and the re-entanglement of nature and civilization in urban space. This is why we convene a superb diversity of experts from around the world and across all relevant disciplines," Schellnhuber added.

Tony Rinaudo - World Vision Australia -Tony Rinaudo - Principal Climate Action Advisor -1 Trailor circa 1983. Courtesy of Tony Rinaudo

The two day Reconstructing the Future conference convenes influential thinkers from previously siloed fields of expertise to discuss: Construction Challenges and Solutions Across the Globe; Meeting the Bauhaus Earth Challenges - Sustainable, Inclusive, Beautiful; From Mining to Gardening; Natural and Digital Resources; and Settling the Unsettled. 

Lesley Lokko African Futures Institute speaker series. Image courtesy of Bauhaus Earth

The conference follows the launch of Towards Re-Entanglement: A Charter for the City and the Earth, a Bauhaus Earth initiative, yesterday evening at the MAXXI Museum. 

The charter launch was attended by Giovanna Melandri, the President of MAXXI; Marc Palahí of the European Forest Institute; Enrico Pompei from the Italian Ministry for Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies; Monica Tanuhandaru, the Executive Director of the Environmental Bamboo Foundation; Philip Misselwitz the Executive Director of Bauhaus Earth; and Alan Organschi, Director of the Innovation Lab at Bauhaus Earth; and Hans Joachim Schellnhuber. 

Wael Al Awar - waiwai - Wetland. Image by waiwai

Authored by eighteen scientists, architects, spatial planners, and policy makers from around the world, the charter demands the transformation of the construction industry from a driver of the climate crisis into a regenerative force. In recognition of the dire threat of climate collapse and global mass extinction, the charter signatories commit to the systemic transformation of our buildings and cities. 

Bauhaus Earth is a nonprofit organization, based in Potsdam and Berlin, dedicated to the transformation of the construction sector and building policies into creative forces for environmental preservation and systemic regeneration. 

Founded in 2019, Bauhaus Earth brings together experts from the fields of architecture and planning, the arts, science, governance, and industry. Through deep-research, demonstration projects and political advocacy, Bauhaus Earth is helping to create buildings, cities, and landscapes that serve our planet and its inhabitants. 

The Laudes Foundation is a financial supporter and partner of Bauhaus Earth.

Top image: Francis Kéré, Kéré Architecture. Portrait © Urban Zintel.

Download Bauhaus Earth’s Program Bauhaus Earth - Reconstructing the Future Conference.pdf program. 

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