Europe Region
Dominika Czerwinska
Regional Network Manager
- Full
- Emerging
- Prospective
- Associated Groups
Europe Regional Network
Introduction and Overview
The Europe Regional Network is a coalition of Green Building Councils around Europe that work together in their common mission to shift the market to green building practices. Together they become more that the sum of their parts in furthering policy and education initiatives and building capacity within the European region.
The Europe region holds both great opportunities but also significant challenges due to its geographic and cultural diversity, and the wide range of practice with regards to green building.
The development of the Europe Regional Network has been gradual and organic, arising from networking and communications between various GBCs in Europe.
The UK-GBC and Germany SBC (DGNB), as the first Established GBCs in the region, began looking forward at the opportunities of bringing influence on the European region scale. Meanwhile, other GBCs in the region (at various stages of development) began networking in order to learn from one another’s successes and challenges.
As at May 2010 the region is made up of 26 GBCs at various levels of development - bringing significant strength, representation and potential for driving the green building agenda from a regional scale.
The Europe Regional Network has identified three main focus areas for their work moving forward:
Policy - to coordinate the positions of European GBCs in regards to green building/sustainable construction policies and present a common position (as appropriate) to EU government institutions - to help share information and best practices between GBC countries in regards to policy implementation strategies and approaches - to co-ordinate policy input/discussions with common industry members across EU GBC countries.
Education - to develop consistent and reliable baseline education on sustainable development and green building across Europe
Capacity Building - to improve knowledge sharing, networking and capacity building through the further development on online resources, regular networking calls and meetings, a regionally focused coordinator and Taskforces.
Network Meetings
Meetings to date:
- June 2009 - Initial meeting at Consense Conference in Stuttgart
- April 2010 - Build Green CEE Conference in Budapest
- June 2010 - Consense Conference in Stuttgart
- October 2010 - SAIE Conference in Bologna
- March 2011 - EcoBuild in London
Europe Regional Network meetings will take place on a quarterly basis. The next meeting is currently being planned for Barcelona in May 2011.
Taskforces
European Policy Taskforce
- Terms of Reference and participating individuals
- Comparing list of EU member states and Europe country GBCs
European Education Taskforce
Partnerships
Contact Information
For more information about the Europe Regional Network or to share your ideas, suggestions, or comments please contact Dominika Czerwinska, Manager, Membership and Europe Regional Networks. If you are a member of this network please sign on to the Council Development Gateway for information on current Network activities, past meetings and ongoing work.
Europe Regional Network
- Introduction and Overview
WorldGBC's Europe Regional Network is a coalition of green building councils (GBCs) working together to facilitate industry leadership and drive the transition to a sustainable economy.
Through knowledge sharing and collaboration, this leadership network interacts directly with governments to inform EU and local policy, and ensure consistent implementation through education and practical local action.
"The WorldGBC Europe Network represents an explosion of interest in green building right across this culturally and economically diverse region. Time and again we see that green and sustainable building practices - whether in bew builds or refurbishments - are delivering important econommic and social benefits as well as critically reducing negative environmental impacts. Our built environment offers twice the cost effective carbon mitigation potential of any other sector, and embracing this opportunity will create hundreds of thousands of new jobs, contribute to energy security and affordability, and green economic growth. Europe is at the forefront of the green building revolution that is set to transform the way people live, work and play around the world. Green Building Councils and their member companies are the lifeblood of that revolution. We are proud to introduce the work of the Europe Netwok and the ways in which you can get involved." - Paul King, CEO UKGBC and Chair of WorldGBC Europe Network
As at January 2012 the region is made up of over 30 GBCs at various levels of development - 20 of which are member states of the European Union - bringing significant strength, representation and potential for driving the green building agenda from a regional scale.
These 30+ GBCs represent the interests of more than 3,500 companies across the breadth of the building and construction industry, including:
- developers
- building owners and facility managers
- engineers, architects and designers
- tenants
- contractors and builders
- manufacturers and distributors
- financial institutions
- governments
- professional services
- utilities and energy service providers
- research and education institutions
- non-government organizations and associations
For more information:
- check out our Europe Network Introductory Pamphlet
- download our Europe Network Introductory Video
- read our May 2011 and September 2011 Regional Reports
- read a summary report from our September event in Brussels.
- see the Europe Network 2012 Strategic Plan
- Policy
The Europe Regional Network is building strong relationships with national and European Union governments to promote and support the industry’s transition to more sustainable buildings.
The Europe Policy Taskforce was formed to provide GBCs with:
- a knowledge-sharing platform on policy initiatives and best practices
- resources and support in their work with governments and the business community to ensure successful national implementation of EU policies and directives
- an integrated approach to sustainable construction which represents all GBCs and their member companies when engaging with the EU legislative process
- up-to-date intelligence on EU policy and new legislative changes that impact the built environment
See our EU Regulatory Frameworks in a Nutshell Report!
- Education
Transforming Europe's building and construction industry is dependent on professionals with green skills. The Europe Education Taskforce works to support GBCs in becoming effective education channels for green building and sustainable development within their countries to ensure that our industry has the skills to deliver.
The taskforce works to:
- Develop tools and resources to help GBCs develop (or contribute to the development of) robust education programs.
- Share knowledge and experience around various education approaches in different countries by consolidating information.
- Keep GBCs informed about relevant EU or other regional level education initiatives and programs that they could benefit from.
- Provide credibility for newer GBCs around their education programs.
- Liaise with other international education organizations that GBCs could partner with.
- Liaise with other Regional Education Taskforces and other GBC Educational initiatives within WorldGBC.
- Track measures of our achievements as GBCs grow their education programs
Regional News - Europe
UK-GBC gearing up for Big Tent @ Ecobuild
Zero Carbon Hub Case Study Report
Serbia's 1st Green Building Expo
EU Legislative Updates - Jan 2012
WorldGBC hiring Senior Policy Advisor
Resource Library
Members Only
Become a Regional Partner
Click here
Regional Events - Europe
Europe Regional Network Partners
