Arendal Week 2022: The future of construction – sustainability in the driving seat

Future construction must be sustainable – but how should we build, which materials should we use, and what about architecture? 

The challenges in the construction industry are obvious: The construction sector accounts for around 40 percent of global CO2 emissions, with the majority of a building’s climate impact coming from building materials, construction, and demolition. The good news is that something can be done about it! 

During Arendal Week, we’ll help to shed more light on the role of construction in addressing global challenges. Furthermore, we want to demonstrate that Nordic co-operation is fully committed to finding and creating new local solutions to global problems, to raising national Nordic awareness and co-ownership of the Nordic agendas, and to collecting information and data
from the different countries about what’s at stake and what solutions are being worked on for further Nordic co-operation on sustainable construction. 

• Harald Vaagaasar Nikolaisen, CEO, Statsbygg 
• Linda Monsen Merkestad, Energy and Environment Committee, Norwegian Labour Party 
• Benedicte Wildhagen, Senior advisor and specialist in public system and service innovation, DOGA 
• Pasi Aalto, Head of Centre NTNU Wood, NTNU 
• Guro Hauge, director of sustainability and social policy, Federation of Norwegian Construction Industries 

Organiser: Nordic Council of Ministers