Are architects approaching climate change with the right commitment? Very often the problem is the lack of specific guidelines and knowledge. A team for Environment and Climate Protection at the General Board of the Association of Polish Architects has come up with an answer to these problems.
"TheArchitecture and Urbanism Pact for the Climate" was created to focus on the most important issues concerning construction and urbanism in the context of climate change.
The pact was created during meetings of a team established at SARP
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We ask Marta Prominska - SARP board plenipotentiary for Environment and Climate Protection - about the purpose of the Pact, who it is intended to serve and what the team that created it plans to do next
Wiktor Bochenek: For what purpose was the "Architecture and Urbanism Pact for the Climate" created?
Marta Prominska: The purpose of the Pact is to focus the most important issues and topics in the field of environment and climate change. It represents a contemporary manifesto for sustainable development. Its postulates refer to the integration of climate goals, the creation of circular, energy-efficient, and at the same time aesthetic, creating local identity architectural and urban planning solutions.
The pact sets goals in areas such as energy, water, biologically active surface, materials, transportation, pollution, waste and urban planning. It is important to emphasize the aspect of health and use, two extremely important elements of sustainable design. "The Architectural and Urban Design Pact for the Climate" is a common denominator for environmental discussion and highlights areas necessary for implementation in national policies, ordinances, design documentation and implementations.
The document is the result of several months of intensive work by the Environment and Climate Team acting on behalf of the SARP General Board and within the framework of the Climate Positive program implemented by the UN Global Compact Network Poland. The pact is a continuation and update of the demands prepared and announced during the 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP24) in Katowice in 2018.
Marta Prominska - SARP Board Plenipotentiary for Environment and Climate Protection
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Wiktor: Who is it addressed to?
Marta: The pact is directed to a wide range of people, we encourage you to disseminate and share the document, this will allow for a broader discussion on conscious design of the built environment. The postulates are intended for:
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architects and industry designers;
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developers and investors implementing environmental strategies in their operations, and willing to add value to their investments;
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entities pledging to contribute to climate change mitigation
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representatives of non-governmental organizations participating in pro-climate architectural and urban transformation;
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representatives of state bodies implementing and updating national laws or policies in the area of environmental protection, sustainable development and climate change;
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all those who wish to spread awareness and knowledge about climate and sustainable development.
Victor: How do you want to encourage architects, investors and decision-makers to make pro-climate decisions?
Marta: We want to encourage architects, investors and decision-makers first of all by sharing knowledge and raising awareness of the benefits of implementing pro-climate solutions and designs. After all, these are not only long-term financial savings from reduced energy or water consumption, but also indirect effects, such as mitigating climate change or improving environmental quality, which in turn affects our health. Our activities are also wide-ranging discussions on the obstacles and challenges posed by design and implementation realities. It's environmental conversations on legislative issues, related to taxonomy, circular economy, and opportunities to implement EU policies domestically. It's a very extensive thematic preparation for the changing European policy, which, fortunately, inexorably imposes further technical thresholds and requirements on us.
Wiktor: What are your plans for the next steps as the Environment and Climate Protection Team?
Marta: The Environment and Climate Protection Team is planning in the near future to start working on the publication of a project tool, i.e. a collection of project experiences to date in the form of indicators, or specific technical values supported by examples of good practice. We also plan to promote Polish realizations that significantly relate to the issues of sustainability, adaptability or, finally, regeneration of the existing natural, social and built environment.
As a team, we have great support in this regard from the scientific and academic community. In the autumn, we will focus on organizing circular design workshops and sharing knowledge on defining the scope of design documentation for multi-criteria certification.
Victor: Thank you for the interview.
Below we publish the contents of the Pact:
Architecture and Urbanism Pact for the Climate
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