The SBE21 Heritage Round Table: a discussion about the role of historic buildings in new European policies

Abstract

In the framework of the international conference SBE21 Sustainable Built Heritage, a round table was organised to discuss the role of historic buildings in the light of the new European policies recently launched. The European Commission highlighted in a communication related to the European Green Deal that the current renovation rate will need to at least double in order to achieve the EU’s energy efficiency and climate objectives. In order to address the enormous energy and resource consumption in the building sector, the Renovation Wave was also launched. When Ursula van der Leyen explained the idea of a New European Bauhaus (NEB), she clearly pointed out the need for a climate-neutral building sector not only as an environmental or economic project, but as a new cultural project for Europe. It is therefore all the more surprising that in all these initiatives the built cultural heritage has not been given any special attention. Reason enough to discuss possible strategies for anchoring the architectural heritage in the EU climate initiatives with the invited panellists of the SBE21 Heritage Round Table. All of them know the current policy making in the framework of the Green Deal from a different perspective – from EU-Level to the local implementation, from research to practice. The invitation to the round table was accepted by: