Integrated Sustainable Development Through Collective Action
Affiliated event with the ETH Zurich Sustainable Built Environment Conference (SBE25), titled “Shaping Tomorrow: Systems Thinking in the Built Environment,” ETH Hönggerberg, June 25-27, 2025.
Apéro and exhibition at the Restaurant Masoala event space. All photos by Anna Bila.
On July 25, 2025, ISD hosted its inaugural BUILD + KNOWLEDGE event, an evening dedicated to presenting our work to a broad audience, sharing ideas, and learning from one another. The event was taking place at the Zoo Zurich’s Masoala Hall event space and Center of Nature Conservation.
BUILD + KNOWLEDGE 01 brought together a group of like-minded actors engaged in sustainable development and construction. It offered a platform to discuss innovative and place-based solutions to some of the pressing challenges of our time, and provided insights into practical applied work and real experiences.
Talks
Invited speakers from South Africa and Europe presented first-hand insights into their work and engaged in a panel discussion. Many of them are part of ISD’s growing consortium of partners and have been collaborating on multiple projects over the past years. The talks were moderated by Deborah Keller, an experienced impact investor and co-founder of Sunheart Switzerland AG.
- Prof. Dr. Guillaume Habert: Professor for Sustainable Construction at ETH Zurich.
- Olu Olanweraju: Director of Altair International (London, UK), housing, development, and finance expert.
- Prof. Dr. Lindsay Blair Howe: Professor of Urban Development and Spatial Planning at TU Munich; ISD Founding Board Member.
- Ben Mansfield: Director and Co-Founder, ISD.
Prof. Habert presented research on alternative construction materials and shifts in the building industry. Olu Olanweraju shared insights from the Mpazi informal settlement redevelopment project in Kigali, Rwanda. Lindsay Blair Howe presented how her work with ISD influences her academic research, and vice versa. And Ben Mansfield presented ISD’s activities and future visions of impact.
Panel Discussion
- Sourav Kumar Biswas: Founding Director of Sponge Collaborative (Lyon, France; Chennai and Bengaluru, India)
- Jack Carter: Founding Director of Carter Gregson Gray Architects (London, U.K.)
- Khalied Jacobs: Founding director of Jakupa Architects and Urban Designers (Cape Town, South Africa)
- Martin Knuijt: Founding Partner of OKRA Landscape Architects (Utrecht, Netherlands)
- Dr. Haris Piplas: Head of Integrated Urban Solutions International at Drees & Sommer (Zurich, Switzerland)
- Faldi Samaai: CEO at Resilience Energy (Cape Town, South Africa)
Exhibition
At the Masoala Restaurant event space, ISD exhibited our ongoing and planned projects as well as our approach and working methods. Additionally, over a dozen international partner organizations were invited to show their work through selected projects as part of the poster exhibition. The collection of all the high-impact projects illustrated the variety of how socio-environmental challenges are manifested and addressed in different places across the world. The exhibition was accompanied by an apéro riche and networking opportunities with guests from foundations, impact investment, development work, academia, the building sector, design, and planning.
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Digital Exhibition
Browse through all the posters that were exhibited at Build+Knowledge 01 with this link.
Venue
The Masoala Rainforest at Zoo Zurich is an innovative structure and building technology that encompasses a rainforest ecosystem, native to Madagascar, where the Zoo is committed to its largest-ever conservation project. The BUILD + KNOWLEDGE 01 event overlooked this unique scenery from the event space. A guided tour through the Masoala Hall was offered to all guests prior to the event.
Guided tour through the Masoala Hall rainforest.
Fundraising
The evening was also used to launch a fundraising campaign for ISD’s latest project in Dunoon Township, in Cape Town, South Africa. The neighborhood revitalization project will be realized in close collaboration with the City of Cape Town’s Urban Planning and Design Department. It is centered around an Education and Innovation Precinct, with the expansion of the Dunoon Library building at its core.
ISD Project in Dunoon Township, Cape Town, South Africa.
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