Professionals from diverse fields shared their experience and confirmed that despite the constraints of the current fiscal downturn and more stringent environmental standards – it is still possible to create quality architecture and achieve a built environment that enables environmental performance. Roundtable panelists included Alain Philip, responsible for development and planning for the city of Nice; Luc Gwiazdzinski, geographer; Carmen Santana, architect; Edouard Francis, architect; and Franck Boutté architect/engineer. The moderator of the panel was architecture journalist Philippe Trétiack, who attended the Holcim Forum in Mumbai, and translated the findings from the Forum into the local context.

The event also provided special recognition to Philippe Rizzotti and Tanguy Vermet, who were presented with a Global Holcim Awards Finalist 2012 certificate for the Lifestyle apartments and infrastructure recycled from former freeway viaducts near Scilla, Italy. The project Parco Solare Sud – Nests for European Snowbirds by Philippe Rizzotti Architects, Samuel Nageotte Architecture and Off Architecture, all based in France, developed plans the conversion of one of the viaducts on a recently bypassed section of an expressway into vertical homes. The housing units near Scilla in Southern Italy are intended for European retirees attracted to the region by advantageous climatic and lifestyle factors.

Global Holcim Awards Gold 2012 winner for Secondary school with passive ventilation system in Burkina Faso and member of the Holcim Awards jury for Africa Middle East in 2014, Francis Kéré, introduced the project. CEO of Holcim France, Gérard Letellier, presented the finalist certificate.