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Nordic cooperation on sustainable building given new lease

06.10.14 | Nyhet
Byggarbetsplats
Photographer
Johannes Jansson/norden.org
The future city should be one where both people and businesses thrive in a sustainable way. The Nordic Built principles might just be the key. Nordic cooperation on sustainable building is now extended to also cover city planning and given three more years of funding.

The Nordic Built programme on sustainable building will be renewed for three more years under the name Nordic Built Cities – shifting focus from the single building to sustainable city planning and export. It will build upon the previous Nordic Built programme and the principles found in the Nordic Built Charter.

With a broader scope, the new programme will involve different ministries from the Nordic countries and gather the most visionary actors within areas such as city planning, architecture, building, environment, energy, transport, safety and social wellbeing. Together they have the potential to create innovative solutions for attractive and sustainable Nordic cities.

Both political and commercial interest

“Nordic Built Cities” is an initiative by the Nordic Council of Ministers, administered by Nordic Innovation, the Nordic institution for the promotion of cross-border trade and innovation.

The programme is based the premise that there is both a political and a commercial interest in supporting the development of more innovative solutions and promoting those solutions.

Jeppe Fisker Jørgensen, head of division at the Danish Ministry of Housing, Urban and Rural Affairs, explains:

– Worldwide, the large cities are growing. More than half of the world’s population is living in cities, and the trend seems to continue. This places a huge pressure on the cities and a demand for structure and planning of urban spaces. If we solve these challenges, we create well-functioning cities. If we don’t, the cities will evolve into hot spots for massive environmental and social problems, he says and continues:

– The growing cities opens for big commercial opportunities. Nordic Built Cities rests upon a belief that the Nordics have a commercial interest in fortifying our stronghold within sustainable solutions in cities. One of the aims of this project is to promote our solutions and concepts on a common basis outside the Nordics for the growth and financial benefit of Nordic companies.

Competition, call and export promotion

Nordic Built Cities is one of the five lighthouse projects in the Nordic cooperation programme for innovation and business, and the plan is to make it one of the so-called flagship projects under the Danish presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2015. One of the main activities will be a competition planned for launch in the start of 2015, involving Nordic communities looking for innovative and holistic solutions to sustainable city challenges.

The Nordic building sector will be challenged to come up with sustainable city solutions, creating Nordic consortia that may include related branches, such as smart city technologies, holistic know-how, ecosystem services and material production.
 
Read more about Nordic Built Cities on the website of Nordic Innovation.