ICONS @Sustainable Places 2025
Past event
09-10 Oct 2025
Sustainable Places 2025
Via Monte Rosa 91 - Milan, Italy
ICONS strengthens its presence at Sustainable Places 2025 with a programme about measurable social impact. Chiara Fonio, Head of Social Innovation, will feature in three sessions as moderator and panellist, and Yasmine Zaki, Social Innovation Officer, will moderate a workshop on circularity in the built environment.
Workshops moderated by ICONS
- Human-in-the-loop digitalisation for Europe’s energy transition: From co-design in communities to scalable innovation ecosystems
Moderator: Chiara Fonio – Head of Social Innovation
When/Where: Thursday 9 October, 11:00–12:30 · Room 7
Info: https://www.sustainableplaces.eu/human-in-the-loop-digitalisation/
During this interactive session we’ll look at how AI, digital twins, blockchain and data platforms can optimise energy management and enable cross-carrier flexibility. Participants will test methodologies, tools and strategies that pair technical excellence with social legitimacy, and explore how local pilots can evolve into policy-relevant, market-ready solutions.
- From Waste to Worth: Circular pathways for Decarbonising the Built Environment
Moderator: Yasmine Zaki – Social Innovation Officer (also representing RECONSTRUCT as a panellist)
When/Where: Friday 10 October, 09:00–10:30 · Room 1
Info: https://www.sustainableplaces.eu/from-waste-to-worth/
A practical session about how construction and demolition waste can be recycled and reused to cut emissions and landfill. EU projects — SIRCULAR, DeCO2, INBUILT, RECONSTRUCT — share approaches from sustainable deconstruction and urban mining to recyclable concrete and cradle-to-cradle design, with breakouts to shape a shared action agenda.
Workshops where ICONS participates as panelist
- Neighbourhood regeneration 2.0: Crafting sustainable and inclusive communities
Panellist: Chiara Fonio (GINNGER project)
When/Where: Thursday 9 October, 14:00–14:30 · Room 4
Info: https://www.sustainableplaces.eu/neighbourhood-regeneration-2-0/
Building on the successful SP2024 edition, this workshop continues the clustering momentum among EU-funded projects and Built4People stakeholders to co-design a 2025–2026 collaboration roadmap. It addresses the urgent need for neighbourhood regeneration aligned with sustainability, inclusivity, and low-carbon goals, and showcases innovation for buildings and the wider urban environment. We will highlight how these efforts support EU sustainability policies and enable the scaling of solutions from the building to the neighbourhood level.
- New European Bauhaus: from principles to reality
Panellist: Chiara Fonio (TIMBERHAUS project)
When/Where: Thursday 9 October, 09:00–10:30 · Room 4
Info: https://www.sustainableplaces.eu/neb-from-principles-to-reality/
This working session asks how NEB values are being implemented in practice— we’ll look at what has worked, what hasn’t, why, and how to improve. Through tools and approaches drawn from EU R&D projects, the session spans urban planning, energy communities, materials and reuse, and indoor air quality.
