On October 17, 2024, the event sponsored by UNPRI in collaboration with Yard Reaas and Legance, “The Process of Responsible Investment and Divestment in Real Estate – Best Practices and Case Studies,” was held at the Legance Auditorium in Milan.
The focus of the discussion, which involved planners, investors, developers, and institutions-not just real estate-interested in learning more about the process of acquiring, redeveloping/developing, and managing real estate from an ESG perspective through case studies and concrete examples, is on the value and centrality that sustainability has assumed in real estate, becoming an indispensable factor in real estate development strategies.
During the course of the day, speakers and representatives from different industry profiles offered a chorus of viewpoints on a topic that is often debated but rarely addressed across the board.
“In our work,” comments Stefano Boeri, founder of Stefano Boeri Architetti, ”we have tried to transform the initial intuition of the Vertical Forest in Milan, which turns 10 this year, into an intervention capable of introducing a substantial value of social as well as environmental utility. In Eindhoven, to give just one example, we have built with a private developer a Vertical Forest in social housing and for rent, with extremely low construction costs compared to the case in Milan, thanks to very careful work on prefabrication. A confirmation of how today it is possible to create quality buildings that are green, sustainable and accessible to all while also guaranteeing a significant profit margin for the operator.”