Reconstructing the Future - Cities as Carbon Sinks

Bauhaus Earth and Pontifical Academy of Sciences conference, June 2022

Hans Joachim Schellnhuber will be speaking at the UIA World Congress of Architects, Bella Center on July 5th, Keynote Dialogue: Climate Adaptation - Building for an Unpredictable Future'.

The built environment is a critical factor in the climate equation. Approximately 40 percent of global emissions derive from the construction, operation, and demolition of human settlements. The 21st century must be the century of re-entanglement, where quintessential functions (housing, work, culture, recreation, etc.) are reintegrated within urban spaces; where socioeconomic and ecological systems form a mutually supportive network of networks; and where past, present, and future are perceived as interwoven waves in the river of time.

Fortunately, opportunities exist to transform the built environment from a carbon source to a carbon sink through, e.g. timber construction high-rise buildings, circular bioeconomy methods, AI-assisted design, smart recycling technology, multifunctional land use, integrated regional resource management, and community-based urban development, to name just a few.

This volume compiles the papers presented by world-renowned scientists, architects, spatial planners, activists, and policy makers at the Reconstructing the Future for People and Planet conference, held at the Vatican in June 2022.

• First publication of the Bauhaus Earth think tank
• Ideas to transform the anthropocene
• Contributions by Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Ursula von der Leyen, Edgar Pieterse, Francesca Bria, Xu Tiantian, Shigeru Ban, Sheela Patel, Ana María Durán Calisto, and many others

We look forward to the re-entanglement of our cities with the ingenuity of nature’s systems, and to forging closer alliances across Built by Nature, Bauhaus Earth, and all our partners in this endeavor.

Donald Brenninkmeijer, Chair Built by Nature, Chair Laudes Foundation Investment Committee
Leslie Johnston, CEO, Laudes Foundation
James Drinkwater, Head of Built Environment, Laudes Foundation

Author information

Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Rocío Armillas Tiseyra, Bauhaus Earth, Berlin and Potsdam

Bauhaus Earth was initiated by Prof. Hans Joachim Schellnhuber and a circle of more than 20 renowned personalities from science, art, politics, and business in 2019.

Authors in alphabetical order:

Wael Al Awar

Rocío Armillas Tiseyra

Shigeru Ban

Francesca Bria

Sandrine Dixson-Declève

Ana María Durán Calisto

Andrea Gebhard

Andreja Kutnar

Elspeth MacRae

Giovanna Melandri

Klaus Mindrup

Fredric Mosley

Marc Palahí

Sheela Patel

Edgar Pieterse

Carlo Ratti

Hans Joachim Schellnhuber

Joachim von Braun

Ursula von der Leyen

Olena Vozniak

Venla Wallius

Geoffrey West

Xu Tiantian