September 4–5, 2025
The National Council of Architects, Planners, Landscape Architects and Conservators (CNAPPC) and its Scientific Committee took an active part in the two-day International Conference on Urban Sustainable Proximities, held in Paris on September 4 and 5, 2025.
On September 4, the opening session took place at the Académie du Climat, an emblematic venue for ecological and civic transition, where new perspectives on proximity as a driver of sustainable urban transformation were discussed.
Following this event, the CNAPPC and its Scientific Committee were received at the Hôtel de Ville de Paris by Ana Claudia Rossbach, Executive Director of UN-Habitat. On this occasion, she formally invited the CNAPPC to present its Manifesto – Decalogue on Territorial Proximity at the upcoming 12th World Urban Forum in Baku.
Later in the afternoon, a meeting was held in the prestigious setting of the Institut de France with academician Jacques Rougerie, the renowned architect and oceanographer, who laid the groundwork for future cooperation with the Académie des Beaux-Arts and the Fondation Jacques Rougerie. As a reminder, the Villa Medici in Rome – a historic hub of creation and cultural exchange – also falls under the auspices of the Institut de France and its Académie des Beaux-Arts.
On September 5, the conference continued in the historic Lefebvre amphitheater, where Marie Curie gave her very first university lecture in 1906, thus becoming the first woman to teach at a French university.
That day, CNAPPC President Massimo Crusi and Giuseppe Cappochin, Head of the Department for Territorial Reform, spoke alongside the President of the Scientific Committee, Professor Carlos Moreno, together with several colleagues and partners: Catherine Gall, Matteo Colleoni, Pia Fontana, Karim Kourtit, Nuno Valentim, Peter Nijkamp, Polish Mayor Arkadiuz Ptak, and architect Philippe Rahm. Together, they presented ongoing reflections on proximity as a key principle in shaping future urban and territorial policies.
In the same amphitheater, Giuseppe Cappochin and Professor Matteo Colleoni shared the book Italy in Proximity, contributing to the academic and professional debate, and officially announced the launch of the Scientific Committee’s website.
The day also featured a working meeting with Christophe Millet, President of the French National Council of the Order of Architects (CNOA), and its Director General, Marie-Aude Bailly-Le Bar, to explore avenues for strengthening cooperation between Italian and French peers.
Finally, on September 5, the day concluded with the in-person meeting of the Scientific Committee, dedicated to advancing its ongoing work and outlining the new actions planned for the end of 2025 and the beginning of 2026.
All these moments highlight the international dynamism of the CNAPPC and confirm the pivotal role of its Scientific Committee in building partnerships of excellence and promoting urban and territorial proximities as innovative responses to the challenges of our time.
