• Conférence
07.06.22 18:30

Cultiver

Sébastien Marot (Philosopher, professor at the École d'architecture de la ville & des territoires Paris-Est), Sabine Keßler (Hydrologist, environmental scientist at IBLA), Claudia Hitaj (Environmental economist, researcher at LIST)
luca - Luxembourg Center for Architecture
© Joel Sternfeld, Mclean Virginia, 4 december 1978 _ American Prospects, Times Books, Houston 1987
During the 19th century, the question of land became an urban issue, whereas it was originally purely rural. With the urgency of climate change and the necessity to stop conurbation, undeveloped land is becoming a central issue for spatial planning.

However, Luxembourg's agricultural land is now at risk, on the one hand from the use of largely unsustainable cultivation methods, and on the other hand from the high pressure caused by continuous population growth and the resulting need to build housing in a massive scale. In 2019, the philosopher Sébastien Marot thematised the agro-ecological question in a spectacular exhibition at the Lisbon Triennial. After a short introduction of his reflections on the agro-ecological project, Marot will exchange with Sabine Keßler from the Institut fir Biologësch Landwirtschaft (IBLA) and Claudia Hitaj from the Luxembourg Institute for Science and Technology (LIST) on the challenges in this field in Luxembourg.

This conference-debate is part of the "Common Ground" cycle of conferences.

Sébastien Marot

Philosopher, professor at the École d'architecture de la ville & des territoires Paris-Est

Born in Paris, he is a philosopher and doctor of history. General Delegate of the French Society of Architects from 1987 to 2002, he first led a Tribune on the history and current events of architecture, then founded and directed the magazine Le Visiteur (1995-2003). Professor Hdr at the École d’architecture de la ville et des territoires, where he teaches the history and theory of the environment and co-directs the magazine Marnes, he has also been invited to several schools of architecture in Europe and the USA, and has been, since 2012, visiting professor at the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne. His essays and research earned him the Medal for Architectural Analysis (2004), the Prize for Research in Architecture (2010) and the Medal for Teaching and Research (2020), all three awarded by the Académie d’architecture. Author of L’Art de la mémoire, le territoire et l’architecture (Paris, La Villette, 2010), and of a critical edition of the manifesto by Oswald Mathias Ungers and Rem Koolhaas, La Ville dans la ville : Berlin, un archipel vert (with Florian Hertweck, Lars Müller, 2013), he recently curated a major exhibition presented as part of the Lisbon Architecture Triennial, then at Epfl: Taking the Country's Side: Agriculture and Architecture (Poligrafa, 2019).

Sabine Keßler

Hydrologist, environmental scientist at IBLA

She studied applied environmental sciences at the University of Trier and wrote her doctoral thesis in the department of hydrology at the University of Trier. In spring 2018 she joined the Institut fir biologësch Landwirtschaft an Agrarkultur Luxemburg a.s.b.l. (IBLA - Institute for Organic Agriculture). Since then, she is responsible and involved in several research projects, especially in the field of sustainability, such as the project 2000m² for our food or SustEATable. For IBLA, she was involved in Luxembourg in Transition competition to outline scenarios of an ecological transition of the country over the coming decades.

© Tobias Keßler

Claudia Hitaj

Environmental economist, researcher at LIST

Research Associate in the Environmental Sustainability and Circularity unit of the Luxembourg Institute of Science & Technology. She joined LIST in 2019 after working for 6 years as a research economist at the Economic Research Service of the US Department of Agriculture. At LIST, Claudia is leading research on sustainable finance and has 30+ publications on various topics in energy, environmental, and agricultural economics. She serves as Luxembourg representative on several ISO committees and is a member of LuxFlag’s Eligibility Committees. She holds a BA in Economics & Mathematics and BA in Biology from Yale University, an MPhil in Environmental Policy from the University of Cambridge, and a PhD in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of Maryland.

© LIST