The 8th ECTP Conference took place at the Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels on November 13-14, 2018 (cf. the conference programme).

More than 170 stakeholders from the whole construction value-chain and representatives of the European Commission (see list here) shared their experience and discussed how the EU construction industry is shaping a high-tech Sustainable Built Environment.

• Links within the programme to the presentations per session (when available) here.
• Links within the programme to photos here.

NB: The above links lead to a PDF version of the programme and you should roll the mouse over the title of each session and click to download corresponding presentations or photos, including pictures from the exhibition & catering area.

The conference report can be downloaded here.

The conference opening session, chaired by Emmanuel Forest, CEO of Bouygues Europe and ECTP President, and Alain Zarli, ECTP Secretary General, introduced the main expectations and challenges of the built environment and the construction sector. In his keynote speech, Jürgen Tiedje, Head of Unit at the European Commission, DG Research and Innovation, gave a focus on how digitalization and industrialization are supporting construction activities, while Haitze Siemers, Head of Unit at the European Commission, DG Energy, placed the construction industry within the wider Smart Cities and Communities context.

Kjetil Tonning, President of the European Construction Industry Federation (FIEC), then discussed the integration of the construction industry within the upcoming Horizon Europe research and innovation programme that will succeed to Horizon 2020 and the challenges related to it. Marie Yeroyanni, European Commission, DG Research & Innovation and Ugo Guarnacci, European Commission, EASME, then presented the new EU strategic Research and Innovation agenda on Cities.

Antoine Aslanides, EDF, co-chair of the EeB cPPP, provided an overall update on the impacts achieved by the R&I projects supported by the cPPP, all projects being featured in the 2018 edition of the EeB PPP Project Review published by ECTP, and introduced to a potential vision for future R&D beyond Energy-efficient Buildings.

Last but not least, Emanuela de Menna, European Commission, DG Research & Innovation, concluded the opening session with a focus on R&I topics and actions for Cultural heritage being supported under Horizon 2020, 2018 being the European Year of Cultural Heritage.

9 parallel sessions over the two days of the conference covered a wide range of topics, innovation and market foresight trends addressed by the five ECTP Committees:

• Construction Innovation for the Transport Infrastructure of the future
• Materials and Sustainability Innovation in Construction
• The EeB cPPP as a catalyzer of the most Promising Technologies for a Sustainable and Energy Efficient Building Stock in Europe
• Building an Age-Friendly Europe
• Living in a Positive Energy District: combining Technologies for a higher Quality of Life
• Industrialisation of the Construction Sector
• Digitalisation of the Construction Sector
• Promoting Innovative Business Models for Energy Efficient Renovation
• Boosting Innovation with Living Labs

 More information on these sessions in the conference report.

Plenary Assemblies of the five ECTP Committees: Active Ageing & Design(AA&D), Energy Efficient Buildings (E2B), Heritage & Regeneration (H&R), Infrastructure & Mobility (I&M) and Materials & Sustainability (M&S) were also conducted in conjunction with the conference.

Signature of a Memorandum of Understanding with FEHRL and with ENCORD

The closing session of the conference chaired by Emmanuel Forest, CEO of Bouygues Europe and ECTP President, and Alain Zarli, ECTP Secretary General, started with the signature of two Memorandums of Understanding (MoU): one with FEHRL, the Forum of Europe’s National Road Research Centres, represented by Thierry Goger; and the other one with ENCORD, the European Network of Construction Companies for Research and Development, represented by Juan Elizaga. Both organisations are willing to reinforce their cooperation with ECTP in several areas identified in each MoU.