Gensler, the world’s largest design firm and an active advocate of sustainable practices within the built environment, brought together industry leaders to discuss ecological urbanism in the run-up to COP28. The event elevated the discussion of cities, climate change and landscape-led approaches to resilience, as part of a series of talks which encourage collaboration and climate action in the construction industry.

The featured high-level speakers from Buro Happold, Martha Schwartz Partners, OBMI and Studiolibani, highlighted the urgent need to take accountability for the decarbonisation of the built environment, take advantage of nature-based solutions and green infrastructure, focus on environment regeneration, learn from the past, and build for the future.

Each speaker gave an in-depth presentation on the progress that has been made following the landmark Paris Agreement, key issues that continue to impact the built environment, and potential solutions to boost decarbonisation efforts in support of the MENA region’s Net Zero goals and sustainability mandates.

“Climate change, ecological urbanism, and inclusivity are crucial topics given where the world is on its Net Zero journey today, and what we are all trying to achieve in the near future. It’s vital to have as many of these discussions as possible in the lead-up to and as a result of COP28, with meaningful action taken following the event’s conclusion. There’s an urgency to drive positive change in our industry and our speakers demonstrated that there are a number of powerful nature-based solutions, as well as a need to innovate and actively drive sustainable outcomes,” explained Steven Velegrinis, Design Director at Gensler Middle East.

Dr. Rob Cooke, Director at Buro Happold explained why reframing the challenge of climate change is crucial. “There is a difference between needs and wants, and we really need everyone to buy into sustainability,” he said. “We also need to reframe the economics of thinking and planning. Countries in the MENA region have vision mandates and goals and those should focus on ecosystems, worthwhile jobs, supporting and valuing nature and how development can positively support humanity and society.”

Martha Schwarz, MSP and Research Professor in the Practice of Landscape Architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design shared invaluable insights into Climate Change Reversal projects. She believes that decarbonisation is critical to achieving a sustainable future for all, with a focus on capturing existing CO2. “Along with our annual emissions, we will still need to take down the 2.4 trillion tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Direct air capture (DAC) is a geoengineering idea that is being explored as a way to extract CO2 directly from the atmosphere and will be needed at a multi-billion tonne scale by mid-century, along with deep emission reductions. Currently, there are only 18 DAC facilities worldwide and they capture less than 10,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide. The United States is developing one of the world’s biggest facilities, which will be able to capture 1 million tons of carbon dioxide per year. The world will need to build about 30 DAC plants of a similar scale to have a positive impact, and the Middle East could contribute significantly here by investing in such facilities,” remarked Schwartz.

In addition to manmade infrastructure undertakings such as DACs, Dima Rachid, Founding Partner, at Studiolibani discussed the importance of ecological infrastructure and nature-based solutions: “- it’s important to re-think landscape as infrastructure in response to the contemporary challenges that we’re facing today. We need to focus more on this as we’ve seen examples of it used to create a positive effect in the past. In Lebanon, for example, the Beirut Pine Forest was first planted to protect the city from sandstorms. This is what we mean when we say ecological infrastructure, but it was never framed like that in the past. Starting today, we need to look at how we can embrace and shape ecological infrastructure to support our efforts to achieve and maintain a sustainable future in response to a rapidly changing physical landscape,” explained Rachid.

In a similar vein, Islam Mashtooly, Design Director at OBMI advocated for designs that are functional, have a purpose, and suit the environment: “It’s important to link architecture, context, purpose, nature, and sustainability into a cohesive piece of design. Today there are many examples of ‘easy architecture’ that look great and are recognised as iconic by the industry and clients but, in reality, they have limited purpose, natural usage or sustainable elements. We must find ways to move away from this sort of approach, and design with purpose to not only protect and support the environment but create something that is functional and with an actual purpose for humanity,” he concluded.

The event took place at Gensler’s Dubai office and was live-streamed to a global audience in partnership with the American Institute of Architects (AIA).