With virtual WDBE 2020, you can forget the traditional definition of a summit!
29-30 September, virtual Helsinki & Tallinn
The world needs more diverse stories about a sustainable future. The virtual WDBE is a co-created festival and innovation platform highlighting the brightest minds and digital solutions improving our urban future. Together, we will concretize the unlimited possibilities of digitalization as an enabler of a more socially, culturally, ecologically and economically sustainable urban future.
WDBE community, with participants from over 50 countries, brings together CDOs, CTOs, CIOs, architects, experts and researchers working with BIM, VDC, AR/VR, Big Data, analytics, IOT solutions and virtual project delivery to name a few examples. You will also be able to meet directors, executives and other senior level experts as well as city and government authorities interested in various solutions of digital built environment.
TWO exciting days in Illusion city!
8 keynotes
14 sessions
50 presentations
Matchmaking
Showroom
Workshops
Organized in collaboration by



WDBE2020 partners
UPDATESNew and noteworthy
Data guides sustainability decisions at YIT
Data and sustainability are both mega trends in the built environment discourse. Consequently, they have both been important development themes at YIT.
COVID-19 proved what we already knew
It is no news that the State, municipalities and private operators compile information on the built environment, and that this information is needed by building owners, businesses and policy-makers.
Managing Narrative, Capturing Context, and Building Together: Talking VR and AEC with David Weir-McCall
We sat down with David Weir-McCall of Epic Games to discuss the role VR plays in the modern AEC ecosystem. Our conversation covered the power of merging digital innovation with human insight, the importance of accessible data visualization, and the role that the Unreal platform plays across a range of sectors every day.
Wellbeing in The Built Environment – An Interview with Dr. Marta Fernandez
We took the time to sit down with Dr. Marta Fernandez of RMIT Europe in the runup to WDBE 2020. Our conversation covered how we are building our spaces, what needs to change, and the importance of considerate design.
Bringing BIM to the Modern Built Environment – An Interview with Prof. Martin Fischer
We talked with Professor Martin Fischer of Stanford University’s Civil and Environmental Engineering Department in the run-up to WDBE. Our discussion covered what drew him to the discipline and the practical challenges of applying BIM in the modern built environment.
Architecture, Robotics, and the Importance of Human Interaction – An Interview with Prof. Kathrin Dörfler
We sat down with Professor Kathrin Dörfler of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in advance of WDBE 2020. We discussed the importance of innovation and how her research focuses on the need for practical and productive solutions when it comes to on-site support.
VIRTUAL WDBE2020 KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Dr. Martin Fischer (US)
Professor | Stanford University, CIFE
Martin’s research goals are to improve the productivity of project teams involved in designing, building, and operating facilities and to enhance the sustainability of the built environment. His work develops the theoretical foundations and applications for virtual design and construction (VDC).

Jakob Strømann-Andersen (DEN)
Partner and Head of Sustainability Engineering Department | Henning Larsen
As Partner and Head of Henning Larsen’s Sustainability Engineering Department, Jakob Strømann’s professional focus lies in the intersection between engineering, architecture and technology. Jakob also manages Henning Larsen’s unique Industrial PhD program, which co-hosts PhD candidates from co-sponsoring institutions in various R&D projects based on Henning Larsen case studies. Jakob has great experience in developing, implementing and documenting project sustainability based on parameters such as light, shade, sun, wind, building massing/geometry and the relationship between city and landscape.

Dr. Olli Seppänen (FI)
Associate Professor | Aalto University
Seppänen’s field of expertise is operations management in construction. His research interests include lean construction, real-time production control, location based management systems, lean design management, construction logistics and digitalized construction operations.

David Weir-McCall (UK)
AEC Business Development Manager | Unreal Engine Enterprise at Epic Games
From a background of Architecture and Technology, David currently works with the Epic Games Enterprise team in the AEC, spearheading the companies initiatives in technological innovation with the Unreal-Engine and its AEC partners.

Annalise Johns (UK)
Housing Lead | Connected Places Catapult
London based, Annalise is a built environment and health urbanist, with a specialism in healthy housing, specifically building evidence to improve internal domestic quality. She has over 15 years’ experience working in Local Government designing and managing environmental improvement schemes working in transportation, Public Health, Planning and Conservation departments.

Peter Vesterbacka (FI)
Founder | FinEstBay Area Development
Peter Vesterbacka is a global entrepreneur from the Heart of Eurasia, Helsinki, Finland. Branded communities co-created and initiated by Peter include the HP Bazaar, Mobile Monday, Slush and Startup Sauna to name a few. He was the Mighty Eagle at Angry Birds for many years taking that brand to unprecedented heights. Right now Peter is busy building the tunnel connecting Tallinn and Helsinki, creating the Finest Bay Area.

Dr. Marta Fernandez (ESP)
Executive Director | RMIT Europe
Marta leads the European base of Australian university RMIT in Barcelona. Marta has a strong interest in urban well-being and has been a member of expert panels in nature based solutions in cities, energy efficiency and active ageing and the built environment. She is also a member of the Steering Committee of the European Construction Technology Platform.

Kathrin Dörfler (GER)
Assistant Professor | TU Munich
Kathrin Dörfler is an architect and researcher in the field of robotic fabrication. Her research focuses on on-site robotic and mixed-reality fabrication. She holds a Master’s degree in Architecture from TU Vienna, and a PhD degree in Digital Fabrication from ETH Zurich. In summer 2019, she joined TU Munich as a Tenure Track Professor to establish a research group at the TUM Department of Architecture and the TUM Department of Civil, Geo and Environmental Engineering.
Partner sessions

Smart Otaniemi

Comprehensive approach to data utilization

Digitalising construction workflows

Circular Building Solutions from the Netherlands

Unlocking the investment potential for resilient low-carbon building stock

Digital twins of the built environment: Seven metaphors to explain a buzzword
OFFICIAL PRE-EVENTS & POST-EVENTS
Our global pre-events give you access to deep-diving professional sessions with WDBE partners, no WDBE ticket needed. And you are also warmly welcome to arrange one of your own!