Reconstructing the Future for People and Planet Conference

The Reconstructing the Future for People and Planet Conference, hosted by Bauhaus Earth and the Pontifical Academy of Sciences (PAS), will be held June 9–10 at the Casina Pio IV, the PAS headquarters, in the Vatican Gardens. 

Reconstructing the Future is available to the public via livestream. Please follow this link to register and join online.

The conference will open with a speech from Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, and will bring together world-renowned scientists, architects, spatial planners, and policy makers to discuss the transformation of the built environment from a driver of climatic and societal crises into a force for planetary regeneration.

The program also includes keynote speeches from Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, founder of Bauhaus Earth and PAS Academician; and Francis Kéré, architect and this year’s Pritzker Prize Recipient. The June 9 program will conclude with a conversation between Kéré and von der Leyen at the MAXXI National Museum of 21st Century Art in Rome.

Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Founder of Bauhaus Earth: "The conference will address a key challenge of our time: averting climate collapse by the deep and rapid transformation of the global built environment. The construction sector can go from climate villain to climate hero, especially by switching to bio-based materials such as timber and bamboo. This transformation will require an unprecedented collaboration between the Global South and the Global North, the integration of advanced technology and vernacular knowledge, and the re-entanglement of nature and civilization in urban space. This is why we convene a superb diversity of experts from around the world and across all relevant disciplines.” 

Conference Speakers Include: Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission; Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, founder of Bauhaus Earth and PAS Academician; Francis Kéré, architect and this year’s Pritzker Prize Recipient; Joachim von Braun, Pontifical Academy of Sciences President; Lesley Lokko, architect and curator of next year’s Venice Architecture Biennale; Bjarke Ingels, leading Scandinavian architect; Francesca Bria, President of the Italian National Innovation Fund; Shigeru Ban, architect and 2014 Pritzker Prize Laureatel Andrea Gebhard, President of the German Federal Chamber of Architects; Geoffrey West, President Emeritus of the Santa Fe Institute; Carlo Ratti, Director of MIT’s Senseable City Lab; Wael Al Awar, architect and recipient of the 2021 Venice Biennial Golden Lion; Sandrine Dixson-Declève, President of the Club of Rome; and Archbishop Paul Gallagher.  

The two-day Reconstructing the Future conference will convene influential thinkers from previously siloed fields of expertise to discuss: Construction Challenges and Solutions Across the Globe; Meeting the Bauhaus Earth Challenges—Sustainable, Inclusive, Beautiful; From Mining to Gardening; Natural and Digital Resources; and Settling the Unsettled. The conference follows the launch of Towards Re-Entanglement: A Charter for the City and the Earth, a Bauhaus Earth initiative, which demands the transformation of the construction industry from a driver of the climate crisis into a regenerative force. 

About Bauhaus Earth 
Bauhaus Earth is a nonprofit organization, based in Potsdam and Berlin, dedicated to the transformation of the construction sector and building policies into creative forces for environmental preservation and systemic regeneration. Founded in 2019, Bauhaus Earth brings together experts from the fields of architecture and planning, the arts, science, governance, and industry. Through deep-research, demonstration projects and political advocacy, Bauhaus Earth is helping to create buildings, cities, and landscapes that serve our planet and its inhabitants. The Laudes Foundation is a financial supporter and partner of Bauhaus Earth.

For further information, please contact: Annie Schneider, annie@sendreceive.eu or contact@bauhauserde.org