Sustainable development, a universal commitment
By their very nature, business districts have an international vocation as they are crossroads at local, regional and international levels. Consequently, every district has to be competitive at the world level and tomorrow's business districts will have to meet the same sustainable development criteria: care for the environment, reduced energy consumption and improved living conditions for employees and visitors. However, acceptance of these criteria and their implementation can not just be the fruit of public and private sector policies. Involvement in sustainable development by everyone, at all levels, is indispensable. Moreover, business districts play an innovation-driving role that leads them to have societal and environmental responsibilities that they must assume. All these elements taken together mean that sustainable development has to be a universal commitment.
EPAD Agreement: a necessity
The EPAD Agreement is necessary due to the overarching nature of urban planning as a discipline in itself and due to the commitment required for sustainable development. This Agreement is not only a coherent and international commitment, but also the symbol of national and international political belief. Accordingly, when a business district signs up to this Agreement, its commitment is destined to be, and has to be, universal.
Download the synthesis of the round table.
Speakers
Nikos FINTIKAKIS
Architect - Read more
Born in Athens in 1945, Nikos Fintikakis is a trained architect and a director of "SYNTHESE ET RECHERCHE Ltd". In Greece, he is also a member of the Technical Chamber, the Hellenic Architects' Association and the Hellenic Association of Consulting Firms (HELLASCO) that represents engineering consulting firms based in Greece. Within IUA, Nikos Fintikakis is a member of the board of management and director of the "ARES" work programme on the architecture and sources of renewable energy. He has received a host of national and international architecture awards and has been involved in European research projects. Nikos Fintikakis has participated in numerous architecture exhibitions in Greece and in other countries. Some aspects of his research work focus on bioclimatic architecture, archaeology, urban planning and renewable energy sources. He also writes articles for the national and international press and co-ordinates a multitude of Greek and European projects. Finally, he has been a jury member in several international architecture competitions.
Jean-Pierre GAUTRY
Chairman of the French Society of Urban Planners (duplex from the World Days of Urban planning , Yaoundé, Cameroun)
- Read more
Jean-Pierre Gautry is currently chairman of the French Society of Urban planners (SFU). He holds a PhD in urban planning and is the co-founder of several concepts namely: “the Mediterranean Arc” and “Territorial Marketing”. Urban planner for over thirty years, he intervened on the global handling of complex phenomena concerning territories and initializes development strategies as well as sustainable planning strategies concerning cities and territories. Jean-Pierre Gautry positions the human being at the heart of the urban thinking and considers that “urban planning results from human activities as soon as they articulate throughout time with territories”.
He has recently contributed to:
- “Plea for harmonious city in a global world” – September 2007 (Grenelle de l’environnemnent)
- “For a reform of the commercial urban planning in France” – February 2007, as a member of the Committee in charge of the modernisation of commercial urban planning set up by Minister Renaud Dutreil.
Didier GUILLARD,
Territorial Development Director EDF
Alain Naman
Architect and Urban Planner, international expert, representative of the French Society of Urban Planners - Read more
Alain Naman is an international expert urban planner. After studying architecture and urban planning, he worked at the Paris Urban Planning and Design Studio (Atelier Parisien d'Urbanisme - APUR) and the Planning Office for the City of Paris where he contributed to the preparation of the Parisian urban development plan in the areas of forward-looking research. He then went on to participate in the design of urban development programmes for the Bercy and Gare de Lyon-Austerlitz areas of Paris. At the same time, he lectured at the Ecole des Ponts et Chaussées. In addition to his involvement in various professional organisations, Alain Naman joined the "Cabinet O.C. CACOUB" firm of architects to run its urban planning department. Currently, Alain Naman works as a free-lance consultant as well as an Associate Partner of "Cabinet O.C. CACOUB & Associés". He also acts as Secretary General of AFECTI, a professional association of francophone international experts based in Paris.
Marc RIZZOTTO
Sustainable Development Director, Dexia Crédit Local - Read more
Marc Rizzotto, 39, is a graduate of ESC Dijon School of Business and has a DESS Degree in Law and Economics (banking and financial transactions) from the University of Caen.
He began his career with the Crédit Local de France in 1993 and held various posts within the sales network.
In 2000, he was appointed Director for Local Government within the Dexia Crédit Local sales department.
Since 2002, he has been Deputy Managing Director of Dexia Sofaxis and Chairman of Dexia Sofaxis Services. He is currently Director of Sustainable development.
Gaëtan SIEW
President of International Union of Architects - Read more
Gaëtan Siew is an architect and Chairman of the International Union of Architects (IUA). Since 1981, he has been exercising his profession in Port-Louis (Mauritius). His ongoing and completed projects include tourism and shopping facilities, urban development and redevelopment programmes in Mauritius and elsewhere in the Indian Ocean, France and India. In particular, he is the author of the plans for Mauritius International Airport and the Chinese district in Port-Louis, as well as the terminal at the Seychelles International Airport. He was elected Chairman of the International Union of Architects (IUA) in July 2005.
The IUA was founded in 1948, in Lausanne with the aim of uniting architects from all countries throughout the world, irrespective of nationality, race, religion or architectural doctrine, and to bring together their national organisations.
> 14 February 2008 - 
> Is a global commitment
