Posted: February 25, 2021

Get inspired by SBE21 Heritage Keynote Speakers Dr. Ege Yildirim and Prof. Harald Garrecht  

Dr. Ege Yildirim is an urban planner and heritage conservation specialist. She has recently been ICOMOS Focal Point for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and is currently coordinating the Sustainability Thematic Debate of the Our World Heritage Initiative. Her speech titled “Power Back On: Built Heritage and Beyond as a Force for Sustainable Development” (Wednesday, 14th of April)  will analyse the current framework of global policy discussions on the sustainable improvement of the built heritage, with a focus on various advocacy works around culture and heritage as a powerful drivers and enablers for the SDGs. Dr. Yildirim will explore the implications for the built heritage sector and the energy-efficiency debate providing suggestions on how to introduce the sustainability agenda into our daily practices. 

Harald Garrecht is Professor at the Institute of Construction Materials and Director of the Materials Testing Institute of the University of Stuttgart. On the 16th of April he will present the renovation project of the historic district Margarethenhöhe in Essen, Germany. His presentation “Margarethenhöhe goes towards low-carbon area – sustainable concepts for energy-efficient built heritage” will provide insight on the project’s comprehensive approach, taking into consideration legal, structural, and technical aspects. Particular attention will be given to the inclusion of renewable energy and digital components, as well as monitoring practices used to validate theoretical models and the results obtained by means of numerical simulations. 

Click here to find out more about SBE21 Heritage Keynote Speakers! The third speaker will be announced in the upcoming days.