The General Manager of the LafargeHolcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction, Edward Schwarz, stated that roughly 300 speakers-participants are to attend the sixth International LafargeHolcim Forum for Sustainable Construction from more than 50 countries.
The LafargeHolcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction, announced the organisation’s sixth international forum to be held in Egypt, in a press conference on Monday.
Schwarz added that it is the first time to have this conference hosted in the Middle East, noting that the conference will be hosted by the American University in Cairo in the period from 4 to 6 April 2019, under the auspices of Assem El Gazar, the minister of housing, utilities, and urban communities.
Schwarz stated that Egypt was selected to host this year’s event due to its current efforts to save its rich cultural heritage spanning over 8,000 years, its techniques of archaeological restoration to safeguard and maintain ancient monuments, as well as its expansion in building new cities and the current unprecedented economic growth.
He explained that the sixth International LafargeHolcim Forum for Sustainable Construction will be dedicated to the topic of “Re-materialising Construction”, noting that the keynotes speeches, workshops, and site visits will focus on the strategies to reduce consumption throughout the material life cycle, from extraction to processing, transport, installation, maintenance, and removal.
Schwarz added that the forum aims to suggest solutions in order to address the technological, environmental, socioeconomic, and cultural issues which affect building and construction. He also noted that the foundation is grateful to be working hand in hand with the AUC, the host of April’s event.
For his part, Hussein Mansi, the CEO of Lafarge Egypt, said that organising the sixth International LafargeHolcim Forum for Sustainable Construction in Egypt is a recognition to Egypt’s great history and its 40-year learning curve across the efforts to urbanise the desert through the launch of a large number of new cities and national megaprojects across the country.
Mansi also noted that this forum is one of the most important platforms to host discussions about how to achieve a quantum leap in the field of construction and sustainability of urban communities, thus effectively contributing to the sustainable development activities of LafargeHolcim.
He also stressed that hosting several experts from around the world in Cairo sends a positive message about Egypt’s capabilities in organising international conferences, highlighting that the forum was organised in previous rounds in Switzerland, the US, Mexico, India, and China.
