What are the main challenges facing sustainable airport areas?
On 26 and 27 October, the Parisian airports of Charles-de-Gaulle and Orly hosted the first workshop of the “How to create a sustainable airport area” initiative, dealing with the main challenges these facilities are facing. Eight airports participated in the workshop: CDG-Paris, Orly-Paris, Barcelona, Atlanta, Shanghai, Incheon, Beijing and Guarulhos. In total, more than thirty people participated in the workshop, representing not only airports but also academia, research and consulting.
The workshop featured morning sessions with presentations from the participating airport areas and technical visits to Orly and Charles-de-Gaulle in the afternoons. The work sessions concluded on Tuesday 27 with an open debate based on a mind-map created from the ideas compiled over the two days of work.
This exercise helped visualize the main challenges, many of them shared, currently facing sustainable airport areas. Issues discussed:
During the technical visits to Orly and CDG, participants got a first-hand look at how these airport areas are set up, as well as some of the main initiatives underway in order to remain a benchmark in sustainability (this initiative deals with the concept of sustainability in a broad sense, encompassing economic, environmental and social issues). In this regard, participants visited the Recyclerie Les Portes de l’Essone, a place to collect, repair and re-sell objects that employs and trains residents from towns near the Orly airport. In the CDG area, participants attended a presentation on the Villepinte geothermal district heating network, which is going to serve several thousands of households.
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