This year’s IFLA World Congress 2019 was held in Oslo, Norway under the theme “Common Ground”. In keeping with this topical focus, the more than 1,450 participants from all over the world devoted themselves collectively to the functions of landscape architecture and reflected on these functions in light of current global developments.
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As had been the case at the World Conference of Landscape Architects, the overarching theme was the global climate crisis and the rapidly advancing loss of global biodiversity, as well as the role that landscape architecture can or must play in these crises. The united effort to make professional contributions to defusing this ecologically precarious situation was just as palpable as the sense of urgency experienced by the field of landscape architecture in light of the global environmental crisis. This is an opportunity for the field to continue to bolster its relevance, however, in order to do so, landscape architects will need to position themselves better in the flow of global change.
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No sooner said than done! In order to underline the urgent need for action, the IFLA World Council 2019 – the General Assembly of the International Federation of Landscape Architects – declared a climate and biodiversity emergency to which the 77 voting member organisations committed themselves. The specific actions desired in order to counter these global challenges were developed and formalised in a Climate ACTION! Plan. An unusually bold step for the World Organization – and such a welcome one!
In addition to climate and species protection, landscape architecture must continue to focus on the complexity and versatility of the discipline in any event; it would be wrong to prioritise environmental tasks. How this balancing act can succeed was illustrated through the countless contributions at the Congress from a wide variety of countries, research areas and fields of activity that are now continuing to grow together on a fertile “Common Ground”.
The Urban Future Global Conference is Europe’s largest event for sustainable cities. This year, the event will be held in Oslo, the 2019 European Green Capital, from May 22-24. topos will be there, too.
When it comes to creating a sustainable future, cities play a key role. Given the fact that an increasing number of people will live in urban environments, it’s high time to put urgent issues on the agenda and strive to solve urban challenges, such as climate change or social inequalities. This is what city changers aim to do during the conference. The topics change slightly from year to year, taking into account all the discussions that the conference leadership has with stakeholders who share views on the most important issues for the future of cities.
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The four key themes are: Urban Mobility, Built Environment and Architecture, Leadership, Green Business and Innovation.
The conference participants come from the fields of cities and municipalities, business, research, innovation and science, architecture and urban planning, NGOs and start-ups.
Session with topos: design cities for the well-being of citizens
topos editor Anja Koller moderates a session titled “Places vs. Buildings” within the series “What if” on the second day of the conference. She asks the question: how to build and design cities for the well-being of citizens? A noisy, polluted, car-dominated urban space with far too little urban green is, unfortunately, familiar to all of us. It’s difficult to walk there, to bike there, not to mention to stay there. Such spaces are hardly inviting. But it is a fact that the way our cities are shaped, designed and built effects our way of life, how we move from A to B, how we live, our wellbeing and our health. What if we change our perspective and shape cities for the wellbeing of their citizens? How to make a city more livable, sustainable, healthier and more communicative?
Anja’s speakers are:
- Daniel Tobin, co-founder and creative director of UAP, which creates public art programs that humanize our cities by embedding creativity in the hearts and minds of their populace;
- Lior Steinberg, urban planner and co-founder of Humankind, a multidisciplinary collective accelerating the transition towards urban happiness for all;
- Hanna Maria van Zijp, urban planner at LINK arkitektur, who works on projects that involve the development of the “everyday city”;
- Elisabeth Meze, sustainability coordinator for the real estate corporation of the city of Innsbruck, who focuses on citizen participation in housing projects, as well as the intergenerational and intercultural development of parks and common spaces.
The many other exciting topics and lectures of the conference can be found here.
