The Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction sought out the best sustainable construction projects in Europe – and awarded the winners about a quarter millions Swiss Francs at the Awards ceremony in Geneva. In his address, Swiss Federal Councillor Joseph Deiss said that sustainability, which has a long tradition in Switzerland, is necessary in all aspects of life, and that economic and ecological priorities are no contradiction.

An important environmental contribution is made by this work in that it proposes convincing measures for restoring and enriching a landscape left ecologically and aesthetically impoverished after drainage intervention and intensive agriculture during the last century. Conceived as a beneficial environmental “refund”, the project performs as a buffer zone that holds prospective urban development in abeyance.

This entry from Italy is merited for what the authors call a re-naturalization program. An important environmental contribution is made in that the proposal calls for restoring a landscape left ecologically impoverished after drainage intervention and intensive farming during the last century. In this respect, the project offers a beneficial environmental “refund,” serving to establish a zone protected from future urban development.