Bridging the gap between policy priorities to ensure the safety of citizens through safer buildings and infrastructure - Thematic lunch to be held on 23 April 2015

An upward urbanisation rate is foreseen to continue to 2050, with a rate of more than 85% in the developed world. This urbanisation comes with a dramatic increase in infrastructural needs (incl. mobility, energy, environment, housing, public spaces, etc.) and brings a wide-range of societal challenges which include an increased vulnerability of citizens and infrastructure to a continuously changing environment. The development of a performance-driven legislative and normative framework, across all policy fields, is necessary to integrate adaptability and resilience in our infrastructure and building practices, as ultimately it will increase the long-term safety and security of citizens. In other words: protecting people, property and the environment. 

This forms the background for a lunch debate to be organised on 23 April 2015 by The Concrete Initiative, and which will be bringing together key stakeholders. Some of the questions that we intend to address include:

• Adaptation and resilience to climate change: is the “climate proofing” of action at EU level (e.g. through the revision of relevant building codes and standards) providing sufficient focus on the safety & security of citizens throughout EU territories?
• Safety in the living place through fire safety: do fire safety regulations across the EU need to be upgraded and harmonized in view of evolving building practices and materials?
• Healthy indoor air quality: how to evolve from mitigation strategies to more holistic approach by addressing the root of existing problems?
• The role of infrastructure in transport safety: How can EU action ensure that long-term safety performances are fully integrated from the design phase onwards?

Invited stakeholders will include specialist in wide variety of fields in order to address the above questions and work with The Concrete Initiative to propose a viable and value-adding way forward. It will include EU legislator and decision-makers that will contribute from the policy side.

Our objective: To bridge the gap between various EU policy priorities so as to ensure that the legislative framework is performance-driven and provides the highest level of safety for citizens (through adaptable and resilient buildings and infrastructure).

Upon invitation only.  For more information, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.