THE UIA AT RIO+20

UIA President Albert Dubler will lead a delegation of architects from around the world at the United Nations conference on sustainable development Rio+20 in Brazil, on June 20 - 22. Christiano Lepratti, director of one of the UIA work programme dedicated to responsible architectural design will be among the members of the UIA delegation. 

In parallel, the UIA will contribute to several key events open to NGO’s and civil society representatives as part of Rio+20:

• A conference on the environment and urban regeneration on 15 June, organised in collaboration with the UIA, by the Italian Ministry of the Environment and the Rio de Janeiro regional authorities. Two conference sessions will address on the following themes: Urban landscapes: informal cities, urban spread cities and former industrial cities, will be led by Massimiliano Giberti and will include architects, academics, and urban planners ; Under the title Building for the environment, three case studies will be presented by Emilio Ambasz, Marco Casamonti and Elias Cattan.

• The UN-Habitat sessions on 17 & 18 June. As a partner in the World Urban Campaign and the 6th World Urban Forum, the UIA will take part in the Global Compact Corporate Sustainability Forum entitled, Building Partnerships for Urban Futures: Leveraging Strengths, Driving Change through Shared Values. The UIA will also be represented in the open debate on the campaign "I'm a city changer".  

• The dialogue initiated by the Bhutan government to define and present to the United Nations concrete measures and an outline for a new economic paradigm based on sustainable well-being. This session will be led by the Prime Minister of Bhutan, Jigme Yoser Thinley, and will take place on 18 June. UIA President Albert Dubler is invited to participate in this session.

• A series of conferences and round tables, organised by the Institute of Architects of Brazil, from 18 – 22 June on the theme: the sustainable city- expression of the 21st century. It will be presented by Inês Magalhães, Secretary of State for Housing, Joan Clos, ONU-Habitat Executive Director, Albert Dubler, UIA President,
Jorge R. Monti, FPAA President, Haroldo Pinheiro, President of the Brazilian Architecture and Urban Planning Council, Sérgio Magalhães Ferraz, President the Institute of Architects of Brazil.

Rio+20 marks the 20th anniversary of the Earth Summit that resulted in three Conventions on deforestation, climate change, and biodiversity. The goal of Rio+20 is to renew political commitments to sustainable development, while evaluating the progress made in these areas and identifying the gaps that still need to be filled. The conference will focus on two main issues: the green economy, within the framework of sustainable development and the eradication of poverty; and the institutional framework for sustainable development. Rio+20 will draft a policy document to be used by United Nations member states as guidelines and suggestions for responsible, sustainable development in the decades to come. 

The UIA was also present to represent the world architectural community at the United Nations conferences on climate change COP15 in Copenhagen in 2009, COP16 in Cancun in 2010, and COP17 in Durban in 2011.

Visit the Rio+20 conference website

http://www.uncsd2012.org/rio20/index.htmlx