- This event has passed.
2nd Conference of European Ministers of Culture and launch of the Davos Baukultur Alliance
Five years after the 2018 Davos Declaration, Alain Berset brings the European ministers of culture together again. Thirty-one countries are represented, along with civil society organisations and construction and real estate companies. He opens the conference on 15 January: “At present, high-quality Baukultur is more important than ever. Without it, there can be no sustainable development.” It is, he says, a precondition for a rapid energy transition and for the fight against urban sprawl.
On 16 January, the conference launches the Davos Baukultur Alliance. The members sign its founding charter; Switzerland chairs it for five years; the secretariat is hosted by the World Economic Forum, which acts as the interface with the private sector. Working groups are planned on the circular economy, the quality of energy renovations and a certification system.
At the official dinner, he wonders why English has no word for “Baukultur”, and whether to welcome a borrowing from German, a language that has already given Angst and Schadenfreude. The answer lies in another word: Gesamtkunstwerk. And in a conviction: “There IS such a thing as society.”
Sunday 15 January 2023 — Davos
- Opening of the conference, speech by Alain Berset
- Welcome address by Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum
- Presentations by Jenny Osuldsen (Snøhetta) and Gabriel M. Ahlfeldt (London School of Economics), discussion chaired by Alain Berset
- Official dinner, address by Alain Berset
Monday 16 January 2023 — Davos
- Statements by the delegations
- Adoption of the Davos memorandum and signing of the founding charter of the Davos Baukultur Alliance
- Election of the Alliance’s steering committee
- Close of the conference
Speeches on this site
- Davos Baukultur Alliance : allocution de table (in English, French-language page)
Sources