Conference on the role of architects and engineers in resilient and sustainable development held in Luxembourg

Special Advisor to the Minister Dominik Skokandić, PhD, and the president of the Croatian Chamber of Civil Engineers Nina Dražin Lovrec, who is also the president of the European Council of Engineers Chambers (ECEC) attended the conference called “Architects + Engineers: Partnership for Resilient Design” held on May 15 in Luxembourg.

Leading European experts in the field of architecture and construction attended the conference, organised by ECEC, the Order of Architects and Consulting Engineers in Luxembourg (OAI), the Architects’ Council of Europe (ACE) and the European Federation of Engineering Consultancy Associations (EFCA). The president of ECEC Dražin Lovrec opened the conference and highlighted the need for introducing a special chapter for intellectual services in the European Union Directive on public procurement.

“Intellectual services, such as engineering or architectural services, are currently being treated as standardised services in the process of public procurement. This does not reflect the true nature of our work, which entails complex planning, teamwork and expertise. A different approach is needed. This is why we believe that the rules on public procurement should include a special chapter for such services”, Dražin Lovrec emphasised.

The Luxembourg Declaration on Public Procurement - a joint commitment to improve the practice of public procurement across Europe - was also adopted at the conference. The Declaration presents a unified vision and experts’ recommendations for:

• strengthening the internal market through public procurement which exceeds the lowest price,
• better recognition of intellectual services particularities
• orienting public procurement procedures towards quality and innovation
• improving the access of small and medium-sized entrepreneurs and new actors to public procurement market

In the context of the current revision of the EU Directive on public procurement and in accordance with the New European Bauhaus (NEB) initiative, the participants also discussed the necessary reforms which would enable quality-based procurement and foster innovative solutions. The conference confirmed once again the significance of a strong partnership between architects and engineers in creating sustainable and resilient Europe of the future.

Source: hkig.hr

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