C40 Cities and IE University sign agreement to fight climate change together through education and city making

IE School of Architecture and Design and C40 Cities, the leading network of the world’s megacities committed to addressing climate change, have signed an agreement to jointly promote knowledge and initiatives to fight the climate emergency and to collaborate on the Reinventing Cities initiative.

Through its Reinventing Cities program, cities are transforming underutilized sites through sustainable and community-focused projects to drive decarbonized and resilient urban regeneration. Thanks to this agreement, students of the Global Master in Real Estate Development  - a new blended program to be launched in April -  will work at these worldwide sites provided through the C40 Reinventing Cities initiative, allowing them to explore active collaboration with city governments and to analyze the latest ideas in green finance and sustainable developments to make cities more resilient.

This commitment is reinforced by the “Academic Manifesto for a Green and Just Future”, which has been led by Martha Thorne, Dean of IE School of Architecture and Design, Carlos Moreno, Director of entrepreneurship and innovation at the Sorbonne, and Margarita Chiclana, Director of the Global Master in Real Estate Development at IE School of Architecture and Design, in collaboration with C40. The Manifesto which seeks to obtain the signatures and support of the largest number of academic entities worldwide will be officially released on Friday, December 11 at a virtual meeting entitled “Zero Carbon” organized by Anne Hidalgo, the Mayor of Paris, in partnership with C40 and other climate leading global organizations in order to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the Paris Agreement. The three pillars of the Academic Manifesto for a Green and Better Future are:

• Cities are the main site for transformation when it comes to tackling the climate emergency.
• Students are ready to contribute to the solutions. Their ability to bring fresh ideas and to set new visions is unique.
• Academic institutions have a key role to play.

“This agreement with C40 Reinventing Cities not only benefits our students but, through the collaborative leadership of the manifesto, enables our collective innovation in environmental, economical, and social sustainability so that we can make a positive impact on the construction of an urban future,” states Margarita Chiclana, Director of the Global Master in Real Estate Development.

The key to sustainability is a holistic understanding of the changes that we will cause and thus taking actions to reduce our negative impact while proposing and implementing positive ones.  IE School of Architecture and Design imparts this crucial comprehensive approach to sustainability across all of its academic programs and extra-curricular initiatives,highlighting the need to mitigate environmental degradation and climate change in the built  and natural environment.

“As an educational institution we have a responsibility to create and disseminate knowledge, and also to train the leaders of tomorrow, who will have to shape a more humane, sustainable world. The future of our civilization rests, in part, on how our cities address the challenges of climate change. C40 supports cities to collaborate effectively, shares knowledge and drives meaningful, measurable and sustainable action on climate change. For this reason, a partnership between education and organizations devoted to the city provide an opportunity to work together for a better future”, explains the school’s dean, Martha Thorne.

Helene Chartier, Head of Zero Carbon at C40, adds: “Climate breakdown presents an existential threat to the human race and requires a unified global response at all levels of society.  Today, with this agreement and this exciting new collaboration, C40 Cities and IE School of Architecture and Design are together contributing to build a global coalition between universities and cities from across the world to take part in the campaign for a Global Green New Deal.  We are ready to take bold action in this vital revolution for a greener and more equitable future.”