1 NORDIC BUILT 2.O Nordic Built 2.O Recommendations based on development workshops in Nordic countries about nordic built 2.O Nordic Built 2.O is the continuation of the original Nordic Built program, but with a changed focus from just buildings to include cities and urban spaces. The project will bring together the most forward-thinking actors in areas such as urban planning, architecture, construction, environment, energy, transport, information technology (smart cities), safety and human well-being to create innovative solutions for the development of attractive and sustainable cities in the Nordic Region. Nordic Built 2.O builds on the proven model from Nordic Built 1.0: It will set up a forum of professionals with prominent business people, experts and ministerial participation to formulate the project. This will be followed up by large-scale competitions / funding / activities, which can form the basis of export promotion campaigns abroad. Just as in Nordic Built 1.0, emphasis is on the development of innovative solutions leading to increased growth, employment and exports for the many companies involved. Executive summary This report presents the possible directions for the upcoming Nordic Built 2.O project. It is divided into five tools that describe the possible focus of Nordic Built in the period from 2014 to 2017 and how to reach the goal of creating Nordic added value in the building and city planning sector. The report is based on five workshops held in the five Nordic capitals with more than 150 participants from the building sector. Sustainia has collected, assessed and analysed the data provided from the workshops and created the report from the abundant ideas and suggestions.
2 NORDIC BUILT 2.O Five Tools for Nordic Built 2.O This report provides Nordic Built with five concrete tools that can be taken into use when developing projects for the Nordic Built 2.O. The tools are prioritised according to how well they were represented in the workshops and are described in detail throughout this report. Tools in prioritised order: 1. Competition for sustainable urban development 2. Mapping of Nordic finance models for a sustainable built environment 3. Expansion of the Nordic Built Charter as a driver for sustainable development 4. Funding for bottom-up sustainable urban development projects 5. Showcasing existing building projects and creating awareness Each of the five tools described later includes two concrete ideas for Nordic Built 2.O projects that were developed by workshop participants. All twenty-seven ideas from the workshops can be found in the appendix. Overall Themes of Ideas from Workshops Going through the ideas, six overall themes were apparent. The themes represent ideas from all the Nordic countries. Themes of ideas in prioritised order: 1. Focus on social sustainability in urban neighborhoods, e.g. in socially disadvantaged areas 2. Highlight economic benefits of the sustainable built environment 3. Develop a comprehensive communication plan to share the story of Nordic Built 4. Establish a Nordic network for sharing experiences on building green 5. Create export campaigns showcasing Nordic sustainable buildings abroad 6. Help build infrastructure for sustainable transportation - especially bicycles The Nordic Strengths At the workshops, participants were asked to share what they thought the strengths of their native country s building sector were. When comparing the strengths with the Nordic Built Charter great synergies emerged. The following strengths were mentioned in all five workshops and give a common understanding of shared strengths in the Nordic countries: High quality of construction and buildings built to last Focus on quality of life in the built environment Culture of adaptability and preparedness to make changes to fit solutions Broad collaboration across the sectors in the building industry Transparent and open for partnerships Projects are approached systematically and with clear project management Reliable and stable infrastructure from suppliers and government International attitude and outlook
3 NORDIC BUILT 2.O Tool 1 Competition for Sustainable Urban Development An overarching theme in all five workshops was for the continuation of the Nordic Built Challenge competition but with a focus on sustainable urban development. The Nordic Built Challenge 1.0 was well received but lacked more focus on the life between the buildings and needed a stronger corporation with municipalities and cities. Several participants thought that a Nordic Built Challenge 2.0 requires an approach that goes beyond technical solutions and dedicates even more attention to improving quality of life. Furthermore, a focus on sustainable urban development would showcase the systematic and holistic approach in the built environments as a Nordic strength. Two main directions were mentioned in creating a sustainable urban development competition. One was to give attention to socially challenged neighbourhoods that lack access to meeting spaces, cultural activities and green areas. The other direction was a stronger focus on accessibility for pedestrians, public transportation and especially bicycling as the future Nordic city planning. A framework for the competition could be a mix of environmental and social sustainability and building more dense areas yet healthier. There is a strong need in the world for rethinking urban planning with the megatrend of people moving to cities from the countryside. This creates many global challenges that the Nordic countries already have solutions for and therefore must be showcased and shared. Challenged urban neighbourhoods are also increasing and the built environment is both the problem and solution of issues they are facing. Nordic Built Challenge 2.0 (see appendix no. 17) Learn from experiences by copying the Nordic Built Challenge 1.0 but focus on developing urban areas and cooperating with municipalities. The teams competing in the competition should consist of people from different Nordic countries in a mix of product suppliers, private developers, consultants and architects. A proper Nordic delegation of ministers and private companies will choose the winners and therefore also promote the Nordic Built trademark. The competition could alternatively find the five best examples on integrating buildings into urban areas (appendix no. 5) Social sustainability (see appendix no. 8) Nordic socially challenged neighbourhoods require an approach that goes beyond building technical solutions (see also appendix no. 2). Nordic Built 2.O should use community experts to engage citizens to revitalise and create life between the buildings as part of a Nordic competition. It would be similar to the Nordic Built Challenge with focus on challenged urban neighborhoods. Interesting approaches have been made in other countries where city developers not only reach out to building owners but to citizens through schools, cultural centres and health centres. A competition could alternatively honour the Nordic cities with the best 5-year bicycle plan (see appendix no. 24) or renovate the city for public transportation (see also appendix no. 21)
4 NORDIC BUILT 2.O Tool 2 Mapping Nordic Finance Models for a Sustainable Built Environment One of the main concerns from participants at the workshops was to secure financing for refurbishing and building sustainably. A mapping of existing, innovative models for financing would address this concern and further engage the private sector in Nordic Built s activities. By mapping existing financing projects of sustainable building and refurbishment, data is made available for highlighting attractive business cases, which will drive the establishment of new projects. The similarity of the Nordic countries in terms of structure in financial institutions could also make it possible to create an overall Nordic financing model based on the mapping. This would require engagement from a range of different actors in the financial sector as well as the building industry and technical solutions providers. The participants throughout all workshops pointed to a need for Nordic Built to address the challenges that the industry is experiencing with securing financing for sustainability projects. Pilot projects are fine but participants expressed a need to share knowledge on the concrete projects that already have secured financing and return on investment while also structuring new finance models. The Sustainable Economy (see appendix no. 18) This project involves three steps: 1. A comprehensive mapping of the financing models for sustainability in the Nordic countries. The mapping will enable Nordic Built to analyse and compare results with an emphasis on describing the business case (see also appendix no. 22). 2. The development of a Nordic financing model for building sustainably that tackles the most common barriers and creates a standard for how to finance sustainability projects for the built environment. 3. From talk to action! Inspire other industry actors through showcasing the concrete financing projects. The overall aim of the project is to change the mindset of financial institutions in the direction of investing more in projects that maximises societal benefits. The project could also be more narrowly defined towards refurbishment only (see appendix no. 16) or urban neighborhoods and city development (see appendix no. 1). Competition on models of financing (see appendix no. 15) This project involves a competition for banks, insurance companies, private developers, etc. to find a financial model for refurbishing existing neighbourhoods. The call would be for joint finance models where several actors come together to create new financial setups that could be replicated by other actors. The finance models should spur investment early in the process and avoid short-term thinking and focus on long-term returns on investments.
5 NORDIC BUILT 2.O Tool 3 Expanding on the Nordic Built Charter as a Driver for Sustainable Development Most workshop participants agreed on The Nordic Charter as a very useful tool for sustainable development in the building sector. A larger focus should be put on retrieving charter signatures to strengthen the Nordic Built network with the Nordic Charter as the base. More signatures would create pressure on more organisations to sign and develop ties to possible ambassadors for the charter. These ambassadors would invite new organisations to sign the charter and a competition for most collected signatures could be set in motion to create ownership of the charter. It was expressed that the charter could also fit into urban development and city planning projects and a handful of Nordic cities would be invited to adopt the charter. This would serve as a continuation of Nordic Built Charter 1.0 and segue into city development. The charter is a strong tool and it would be a waste of experiences not to continue what has created a base for shared values and principles. The charter in itself is a Nordic added value and by giving it a stronger focus for the Nordic Built 2.O, it would showcase projects built with the Nordic Built Charter as a guideline - thus moving from signature to significance. Nordic Built Charter 2.0 (see appendix no. 4) The idea is to expand the Nordic Built Charter to urban development and deploy a task force to host workshops on how to build with the charter. The project would also showcase upcoming and existing buildings and city development projects that are built on the charter principles. The overall aim of the idea is to go from planning projects to actual development while implementing concrete ideas and increase the innovation efforts (see also appendix no. 9). Tell the World And Go Ahead and Build (see appendix no. 14) By continuing Nordic Built Charter 1.0, this project will involve Nordic cities in using the charter in the planning process by highlighting five projects across the Nordic countries and communicate the process and results. The project would identify five Nordic cities that are planning sustainable city development and invite them for a conference focussing on the charter principles. The project would then follow their implementation of the principles in the planning and building process and communicate the projects to invite more cities and organisations to join the charter (see also appendix no. 7).
6 NORDIC BUILT 2.O Tool 4 Funding for Bottom-up Sustainable Urban Development Projects In all five workshops, it was suggested to start a funding program specified for sustainable urban development projects. It was also highlighted as important for Nordic Built to create stronger connections with municipalities and cities to emphasise the strong Nordic understanding of urban planning and citizen involvement. The bottom-up approach in urban development is a deeply rooted culture at some of the most renowned Nordic architectural companies. Even so, most urban development projects in the Nordics do not take the environmental and social aspects into account when it comes to better infrastructure for walking and bicycling, green areas, local communities, recreational activities, etc. The suggested instrument is to establish a Nordic Fund for financing sustainable urban development projects with focus on environmental and social aspects. It will then create knowledge sharing and showcase Nordic sustainable urban development to be exported. Nordic Built has an opportunity to co-fund specific urban areas in Nordic cities in collaboration with municipalities that have existing urban development projects. Also, a Nordic funding programme for sustainable urban development has big potential for exciting storytelling and potential for export of the Nordic building sector and lifestyle. Nordic Future Cities (see appendix no. 26) A funding program to promote experiences and abilities in sustainable Nordic urban development. The concept is to build on best experiences and create a network between cities while Nordic Built provides strategic and financial assistance (see also appendix no. 20 and 27). Concrete framework for the funding program could be to build more dense cities or to promote walking, cycling or public transportation. This idea builds on the Norwegian governmental project Framtidens byer (www.regjeringen.no/nb/sub/framtidensbyer) that sponsors 13 Norwegian cities to lower CO2 emissions and simultaneously create quality of life for citizens. Co-creation and administration of sustainable urban areas (see appendix no. 13) This idea is to fund and develop five pilot projects on sustainable urban planning and link with five international projects in collaboration with C40 (www.c40.org). There is a great need and potential for bottom-up approaches and citizens involvement combined with urban planning both in the Nordics and abroad. Several directions can be taken, such as waste as a resource (see appendix 6), Cradle to Cradle and circular economy (see appendix no. 19) or wood as the primary driver in construction (See appendix no. 12). The experiences from the projects will be gathered and shared through a communications effort.
7 NORDIC BUILT 2.O Tool 5 Showcasing existing building projects and creating awareness In the workshops, many participants pointed to a need for sharing experiences from existing Nordic sustainable buildings and urban areas. By showcasing best practice, the building and planning professionals will be able to share knowledge on what constitutes a successful sustainability project and be inspired by approaches from Nordic countries. A more comprehensive databank of projects would also enable builders and planners to extract knowledge and ensure that conclusions from projects are related across the Nordic countries. The workshop participants emphasised that the target group of an awareness campaign should not only be professionals. The best practice examples would also need to be communicated to the general public in order to create awareness around the existing projects in the Nordic region and create a deeper involvement in sustainability. Throughout the workshops, it was argued that the Nordic countries have a rich portfolio of interesting projects within sustainable buildings and urban areas. By showcasing the best examples, sharing knowledge and communicating the benefits, Nordic Built will further strengthen the Nordic countries as frontrunners on sustainable urban design. This could also work as a driver for export and international interest. Explore the existing projects (see appendix no. 3) Develop an overview and a databank of existing sustainable city and building projects. A comprehensive search for projects will identify well-known as well as the less profiled projects in each of the Nordic countries. By gathering the information in a databank, professionals within the industry around the Nordic countries will be able to extract knowledge and learn from the experience from other projects, thereby reducing the risk of reinventing the same projects. The target group of the project is primarily the industry professionals, such as building constructors, engineers, contractors and public agencies, however, the database should be accessible by all and integrated with social media for everyone to share their favorite project. The databank would therefore need to be continuously updated by the project owner. The project could also be expanded to also encompass ambitious city strategies (see also appendix no. 11). Education on urban awareness (see appendix no. 23) Increased awareness about sustainability at an urban scale is a key driver for changing habits of Nordic citizens. This project involves education efforts aimed at the general public thereby involving them in how the Nordic countries are planning and building more sustainably. Firstly, best practice examples are communicated using documentaries for TV or web. The latter would have big viral potential through social media. Secondly, the project would host conferences about sustainable practice and engage educational institutions at all levels.