Europe’s #1 destination for EU research collaboration and market opportunities

The 11th annual edition of Sustainable Places (SP2023) is a hybrid event, from 14th to 16th June 2023, with the in-person sessions hosted in Madrid, Spain.  

Overview and detailed agenda

One-page Event Overview

Detailed agenda

Highlights video

Conference Scope

Sustainability targets and climate change objectives cannot be met without addressing buildings and the built environment at the building, district and urban scale to include our transport and energy infrastructures. Renowned for showcasing results coming out of the EU Horizon 2020 and EU Horizon Europe Framework Programme via the participation of cutting-edge research and innovation projects, the scope of Sustainable Places is captured directly in its name. It involves designing, building and retrofitting the places we live and work in a more sustainable way.

Conference Concept

Sustainable Places prides itself on being an ideal platform for the dissemination of research, the conduct of workshops, EU project clustering and networking between stakeholders of all types. SP2023 will be held over three days in a hybrid (digital + in-person) event format. Between opening and closing keynote sessions, parallel technical sessions and project-organized workshops will explore the various conference themes. Given world events we encouraged submissions on technology transfer, renewable energy implementations and energy security with the aim of facilitating actions that increase the rate of renovation and renewable energy implementations.

Conference Themes

Each year, Sustainable Places features topics that are shaping how we think about cities and the built environment. Across all editions, Sustainable Places is open to all topics related to building sustainability and most often reflect priorities described in the European Commission Societal Challenges and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

This year we propose the following list of themes. These themes are non-exhaustive and proposals received on other topics related to sustainability will also be examined:

  • Energy Communities, Smart Cities and Urban Transition
  • Renewable Energy Technologies
  • Sustainable Construction & Renovation
  • Decarbonization & Circularity, Climate Change mitigation and adaptation.
  • Facilitating the energy transition: Policy, Finance, Training
  • Sustainable Urban Renewal & Cultural Transformation
  • Digitalization, Smartness & Artificial Intelligence
  • Resilience and Energy Security

Publication Opportunity: ORE

Sustainable Places is pleased to announce its partnership with Open Research Europe (ORE), the open access publishing platform for the publication of research stemming from Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe funding across all subject areas. ORE makes it easy for Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe beneficiaries to comply with the open access terms of their funding and offers researchers a publishing venue to share their results and insights rapidly and facilitate open, constructive research discussion.  Peer-reviewed articles are optional, they can be submitted by any SP2023 contributor whose contribution was associated with an EU-funded project under Horizon 2020 or Horizon Europe calls, and it will be published by ORE in a specific collection dedicated to Sustainable Places 2023. Articles can be published in various formats such as Research Articles, Brief Reports, Data Notes, Method Articles, Software Tool Articles, Reviews, Case Studies or Open Letters. More information can be found on the Article Guidelines for the article type you would like to submit. If you’re unsure which type of article their paper might be classed as, you can send it to the SP organizers and they’ll assist in choosing the correct article type.

Articles must meet the following eligibility criteria: (i) At least one author must be involved in a running or finished Horizon 2020 or Horizon Europe project from the European Commission, and the article must be a result of that project. (ii) The article must be an original work (see section on Originality). More information can be found on ORE Policies.

Sponsorship Opportunities

SP2023 sponsors had the opportunity to position their brand in this unique event at the crossroads of European Research and market implementation in the sustainable built environment. The sponsorship program is available for download : English version |  Spanish version. This year’s sponsors will benefited from increased visibility with conference growth, professional media coverage, profile appearance in the agenda, coverage in the conference newsletter, coverage in social media and allocation of a digital booth during the event on the event platform Hopin. Sponsorships were also possible for the social program and meal events. Sponsorships make it possible to increase event user experience and to invite additional guests or participants to the event that our core audience are trying to reach.

Post-event booklet

The Sustainable Places 2022 Post-event photo book is available for download and viewing on Issuu. The book narrates the workshops held in Nice during SP2022, the parallel sessions and networking activities, in addition to some testimonials from the organizers and attendees and the sponsors and participating projects. Buildings Journal special editions were published from SP2019, SP2018, and SP2017, Proceedings editions were also published from SP2021, SP2020, SP2019, SP2018, and SP2017 and the SP2022 collection was published in ORE.

Media partnership

We are excited to announce that Sustainable Places has partnered with BUILD UP, Europe’s largest international portal for energy efficiency and renewable energy in buildings.

BUILD UP aims to bring together stakeholders working in the building sector to reap the collective intelligence about energy reduction in buildings by encouraging knowledge exchange.

The BUILD UP portal is updated daily reaching around 120 new items each month including news, events, publications, articles, and video content. The editorial work is organized around a Topic of the Month, and BUILD UP produces overview and technical articles, interviews with experts, webinars, and more under each monthly topic.

BUILD UP is also a community and by becoming a member, it is possible to contribute by uploading content such as news, events, publications, and more. By contributing content, BUILD UP can help its community to reach a broader audience through our online portal, social media channels, and monthly newsletter.

A team of BUILD UP representatives will be present at Sustainable Places in Madrid, filming “Expert Talks”. You can take this chance to network with them. And if you are interested in being showcased as an expert, let us know at sustainableplaces@r2msolution.com.

SP23 at EUSEW

Sustainable Places 2023 is part of the EU Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW), being one of the Energy Days of the event. Sustainable Energy Days are activities and events organized by local public and private organizations around the world to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency. They are a key component of the European Sustainable Energy Week.

Everyone will be able to attend the “Nebula Matchmaking Session” for free as part of the European Sustainable Energy Week: The aim of this matchmaking session is to expose the B4P Stakeholders Community, ECTP members and WorldGBC members to relevant upcoming European and national funding opportunities related to the NEB. The NEB is a creative and interdisciplinary initiative from the European Commission that connects the European Green Deal to our living spaces and experiences. It calls on all of us to imagine and build together a sustainable and inclusive future that is beautiful for our eyes, minds, and souls. Join the free session on June 14th at 9:00am at ETSAM, UPM, Madrid, with the code “nebula”.

More about EUSEW: EUSEW brings together public authorities, private companies, projects, NGOs and consumers to promote initiatives to save energy and move towards renewables for clean, secure and efficient energies.

Commitment to Sustainability

Sustainable Places 2023 tree pledge

The Sustainable Places 2023 Organising Committee through LifeTerra has adopted the first 1.000 trees to help offset the impact of the organisation and associated travels of the conference. Each of the registrants at the event is contributing to plant trees in La Junquera, Murcia, Spain as a percentage of the tickets goes directly towards this project.

You can help adopt more Junquera trees to support this project and other restoration projects throughout Europe. Any small contribution will contribute to saving the planet. 

Do you want to help us make a greener world? Adopt your tree now! 

Sustainable and local providers: catering and gifts

This year we are going one step beyond in terms of sustainability. For the SP23 lunches and coffee breaks we have chosen a local and zero waste catering that recycles in all their events. As well, they use 0 plastic, as they have eliminated household items and plastic bottles. And 70% of the menu is suitable for vegetarians!

For the gift providers we have chosen a sustainable and local business with an innovative product for the paper industry: plantable seed paper. Apart from the plantable notebook and pencil, the bag this year is ecological and made out of jute and cotton handles. Perfect gifts do exist.

Venue

ETSAM: Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid (UPM)

The 2023 Sustainable Places Conference will be held at the  Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid, from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid.

The Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) is the oldest and largest of all Technical Universities in Spain. It has more than 3,000 faculty members, around 35,000 undergraduate students, and over 8,000 graduate students.

UPM is made up of 21 Technical Schools and Faculties, including the Architecture Faculty (ETSAM)

UPM graduates around 5,000 students every year, of which 20% have participated in one of the existing international mobility programs. For cultural and historical reasons, UPM has especially strong relations with European universities.

UPM has a strong commitment to Research and Innovation. Participation in competitive European and National research programs provides 40% of the sponsored research funds, and research services and contracts with the industry supply the rest.

UPM ranks first among Spanish universities in the European Union R&D funding, having around 15% of the total number of the European Union funded projects such as the Framework Program, EUREKA and ESA (European Space Agency) held in Spain.

Digital platform and Virtual Booths - Hopin

Digital participants of SP2023 will use the Hopin platform for online participation and virtual networking, including live chat dialogue during the sessions. When sharing slides, presenters should choose to share their “entire screen” and then put their slides in presenter mode. The speaker will only see their slides but the audience will see both the speaker and the slides. For “virtual booth” setup (one per project), registered SP2023 speakers can send this info no later than 10th June to sustainableplaces@r2msolution.com.

Check the user guide por SP2023 speakers to learn everything about the Hopin platform. Register now and start networking with the SP2023 community!

Please, in case you want to do a test before the event starts, let us know at sustainableplaces@r2msolution.com

Social Dinner at Casa Suecia

An unique gala dinner location to celebrate the 11th edition of Sustainable Places: Casa Suecia.
Casa Suecia
is a restaurant and rooftop located in the heart of Madrid, next to emblematic places and monuments of the capital like the Puerta de Alcalá, the Cibeles fountain, the Parque de El Retiro or Gran Vía Street, among others.
Casa de Suecia opened its doors in 1956. It became the nerve center and meeting point of great intellectuals, resulting in one of the most emblematic buildings in the capital. Cortázar, Sábato or Hemingway frequented its spaces, as did the Swedish royal family on their visits to the city. Casa Suecia offers a gastronomic experience that includes the best of the Mediterranean cuisine with local products and top quality raw materials. Recipes that bet on tradition that will make you feel at “home”.
The event will take place the evening of the 15th of June. It will start at 20:00 with a cóctel, followed by the gala dinner at 20:30 at the lounge salon. The restaurant is located at the Planta G of  Hotel NH Collection Madrid Suecia, in Calle del Marqués de Casa Riera, 4, Planta baja, 28014 Madrid.

Please note that every in-person registration comes with one gala dinner ticket included.

Organized by

With the support of our Silver sponsor

Participating Research Projects

More than 130 European Projects will be presenting results and/or clustering in workshop sessions at SP2023. Sustainable Places keeps consolidating itself as a benchmark for innovation clustering and network among EU financed projects.

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