Συνεδρίαση Θεματικής Περιοχής 3
31 Ιανουαρίου 2007, Βρυξέλλες
ΗΜΕΡΗΣΙΑ ΔΙΑΤΑΞΗ
Note of the coordination meeting
Thematic Area III “architecture and society”
The meeting was held in ACE office, Brussels, 31 of January 2007.
At the meeting were participating:
Olgierd Dziekonski (OD); Coordinator of the pillar III
Alain Sagne (AS) ; Secretary General of ACE
J Owen Lewis (JOL); Chairman of WGESA
Antonio Borghi (AB); Chairman of WGUI
Teresa Taboas, Chair of the WG Housing was not attending. She had been informed on the issue in advance.
The agenda of the meeting concerned:
1. brief introduction to the current challenges and the role of the WG as seen by the Board (OD)
2. planned external events where the position of ACE will be needed (AS)
3. presentation of the newest activity of the WG (JOL, AB)
4. exchange of the views on the priorities for the WG activity
5. proposed timing for the actions
OD presented the Board’s expectations concerning the WG activities in relation to the new challenges, which arise with the political agenda of EU. Especially this concerns on the one hand the Energy Package, which was presented by the EU President Mr. Barroso in January this year, and, on the other hand, the ongoing process of the approval by the Commission of the National Strategic Reference Frameworks and, maybe more importantly, the Operational Programs of the Member States for the new financial perspectives 2007-2013 (Structural Funds/Cohesion Policy).
WGESA
OD indicated that there is a need for a new political document of the ACE in the field of energy and the environment that would also elaborate on the ACE policy on sustainable architecture based on the activities of the ACE WG since its adoption back in 1999. It was felt that the Draft Proposal for an Action Strategy already prepared by the WGESA Chairman, would be a good basis for the political position of ACE. The political position document could have the form of a Charter on Sustainable Architecture and Energy and could be reviewed by the Board in March with a view to be presented at the General Assembly in April for its formal adoption.
The Chairman of the WGESA, JOL, agreed that this new activity could be realized even in such a short time frame, assuming that the elaborated policy paper already prepared could be reworked into a final document, which shouldn’t be longer then two pages and would have a form of a political statement, with some additional reference papers based on the existing documents of ACE. Thus it is proposed that the policy document in preparation, after internal review within the WG and supplemented by the ACE political statement (or Charter), will be presented to the Board on 2 March. Moreover it would be communicated as a draft to the Members Organizations for their comments, bearing in mind that the Co-ordination meeting has been cancelled. Assuming that the Assembly would approve the statement/charter it could be presented in connection with the EU Summit, in spring this year, as the view of the profession on one of the most important European challenges namely, energy conservation and reduction of the energy use at the municipal level and in the building sector.
WGUI
WGUI Chairman AB has proposed a new area of activity for the WG as a work priority to engage in. It is proposed that the group would focus on the physical dimension of the new EU urban policy, where cities are seen as engines for growth and development. This new policy, including documents accepted by EU Parliament such as the Thematic Strategy on Urban Environment, places emphasis on the fact that the quality of the built up environment is an important factor of European competitiveness (attractiveness of cities and regions). Then the role of the quality of the public realm is an important prerequisite for such an approach. The group would like to work more strongly in liaison with the ACE Member Organizations towards collecting the best practices in this area.
It was agreed that the Chairman of the WGUI will prepare a draft proposal for this re-focused activity and after review by the Coordinator and pending the agreement of the EB the existing ToR of the WGUI could be revised accordingly. The role of Secretariat in the process of the implementation of this new activity can be seen as a technical support notably for the distribution of background material and documents, as a clearing-house. The role of the Members Organizations in this process will be crucial and therefore it was recommended that the Chairman should prepare a cover letter explaining the new task and the request to MO to appoint a liaison person who could cooperate with the WG for the identification of best examples of well-designed public spaces. This task will be also closely co-ordinated with the work currently under way in the Hous-Es Network, which is also going to work on case studies in urban regeneration. Moreover, there is also an opportunity to use the collected and elaborated best cases in support of the ACE Summit and /or to present them in the framework of the planned sub-regional conferences on the role of the EU Structural Funds in ensuring high quality of architecture and the urban environment.
Pending discussion with the Chair of the WG Housing (WGH), Teresa Taboas, it was also agreed that relevant activities in the WGH should be closely co-ordinated with the activities of the WGESA and WGUI in accordingly with the ToR of this WG.
End of the notes