As part of the Cyprus Presidency of the EU, the European Conference on Architectural Policies (ECAP 2026) was held on May 7-8, 2026, at the Nicosia Municipality Town Hall, and hosted by the Cyprus Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works. The conference established a strategic focus on shifting urban planning away from a “demolish and rebuild” mindset toward renovation, adaptive reuse, and sustainable architecture.
Key architectural policies and priorities highlighted during the event include Strategic Renovation, Decarbonization & Circularity, New European Bauhaus Integration, and National Cypriot Architectural Policy.
Teresa Cuerdo, IWG5 Co-Chair, National Representative and involved in the SET-IWG5 project, keynoted an intervention titled: “FROM POLICY TO PRACTICE: Shaping Europe’s Transitions in the Built Environment”.
ABSTRACT
European policies have set ambitious targets for decarbonisation, energy efficiency and circularity in the built environment. Yet for architects and urban designers, the real challenge lies in turning these ambitions into meaningful practice.
This keynote argues that we are not facing a single transition, but multiple, overlapping ones: energy and climate, resource and material circularity, and housing and social conditions. Too often addressed in isolation, these transitions risk producing fragmented outcomes disconnected from how buildings are actually used and inhabited.
Moving beyond compliance, the talk calls for integrated, user-centred approaches that align energy, materials and everyday life.
Ultimately, Europe’s transitions will not be delivered in policy frameworks, but in the spaces we design—and in how people live within them.
Download her presentation here.
