Session number 98, which took the form of a roundtable discussion, was organized by the CEIM and went by the title of “Knowledge Transfer Between the Business and Academic Worlds”. Various speakers from academia and the business community were present, including Stephen Siu Yu Lau from the University of Hong Kong, Ángela Ruiz del Portal from Cardiff University, Jordi Guivernau from Rockwool Pensinsular S.A.U. and Benjamín González from CYPE. The session was moderated by the architect Pau Casaldàliga, who is also the Chair coordinator.

The topics discussed at the roundtable session included the following: Do architecture and engineering students view the achievement of environmental objectives as a worthwhile professional goal? Do companies with environmental interests have a place in universities’ academic programmes? Do students have enough knowledge to be able to provide companies with innovative ideas to improve the environmental aspects of their business?

The ensuing debate revealed the existence of new professional profiles in the field of sustainable architecture, such as researchers, project planners and life-cycle assessors. Among other things, those attending reached the conclusion that both universities and the architecture industry should work closely with students in order to strengthen these new areas of the profession.

The World Sustainable Building Conference 2014 is an international symposium on sustainable building that aims to generate adequate responses to the social and environmental challenges faced by the construction industry. It was attended by around 100 experts (both professional practitioners and researchers) from the fields of sustainable architecture and urban planning, energy rehabilitation, mobility and more. The programme comprised three keynote addresses, three roundtable discussions and 144 sessions.