🔷 How can construction project managers prepare cities not just to recover, but to thrive in the face of future disruption?

This powerful session opened the conference by reframing resilience as a design philosophy, not just a disaster response.

🧑‍⚖️ Moderator: Raquel Campos e Matos skillfully framed resilience as both an engineering and emotional discipline.

🎤 David Prangley (UK) – “Creativity and Certainty in Sustainable Regeneration”
David introduced methods for balancing design ambition with the need for predictability in delivery, reminding us that resilience also means reliability.

🎤 Patrizia Laplana (Spain) – “Best Practice in Sustainability & Resilience from Buildings to Infrastructure”

Patrizia emphasised systems thinking: how sustainability frameworks must bridge scales, from individual buildings to citywide networks.

🎤 Mario Pérez-Gosalves (Spain) – “The PM as Key Enabler to Support Communities Affected by the DANA in Valencia”

Mario gave a moving case study of Valencia’s recovery, showing how project management can provide dignity and structure in times of trauma.

🗝 Key Insight: True resilience planning starts before disaster strikes — in how we embed empathy and foresight into our project culture.

🔷This session asked: how can project managers influence identity, education, and urban meaning-making?

Speakers challenged the idea that PMs are purely technical, instead positioning them as cultural enablers and visionaries.

🧑‍⚖️ Moderator: Michel-Jan Van Mark opened the session by asking: What kind of cities do we want our children to inherit?

🎤 Tomoyuki Haramura (Japan) – “Ghibli Park Development – CPM’s ECI Cost Management”
A unique project blending culture, tourism, and construction innovation. Tomoyuki revealed how early cost certainty can enable creativity rather than constrain it.

🎤 Christina Stoltz (Germany) – “Building Schools for the Future”
Christina drew on her years in the UK to show how schools are not just facilities, but social infrastructure, anchoring communities and values.

🎤 Rui Roncha (Portugal) – “Emerge from Macro to Micro”
Rui inspired the audience with a creative lens on urban regeneration, challenging us to bring storytelling, brand, and design into project planning.

🗝 Key Insight: Cities aren’t just engineered — they’re authored. PMs have a bigger cultural role than we often recognise.

🔷 Retail is no longer just commercial — it's urban, human, and transformational.

This session explored how project managers are helping cities reimagine retail as inclusive, vibrant, people-first environments.

🧑‍⚖️ Moderator: Hargeet Kaur challenged us to see beyond brick-and-mortar, toward the social dynamics of retail.

🎤 Daniel Alberto Castro (USA) – “Rebuilding Denver Through Collaboration”
Daniel showcased civic-led retail renewal in Denver, blending data-driven decision-making with participatory planning.

🎤 Lola Ripollés (Spain) – “Driving Urban Transformation through People-Centred Environments”
Lola championed a human-first design mindset, shaped by her cross-sector experience in large urban retail projects in the UK, Portugal and Spain.

🗝 Key Insight: Retail projects, done right, create places, not just profit. PMs help bring purpose to commerce.

🔷We were thrilled to witness an inspiring presentation by Lana Farhat, the YICPMA representative from Beirut, Lebanon, who shared an overview of the Young International Construction Project Management Association (YICPMA) and its global mission.

As the youth chapter of the International Construction Project Management Association (ICPMA), YICPMA is dedicated to connecting students and early-career professionals across the world, fostering professional growth through networking, mentoring, and cross-cultural collaboration.

🔹 What YICPMA Offers:

•   Purpose: Building a global community that bridges the gap between academia and industry in construction project management.

•  Programs: A robust mentoring program, dynamic learning hubs, and impactful workshops/events tailored to young professionals.

•   Structure: A truly international setup, with regional chapters and steering committees guided by an International Steering Committee.

•   Opportunities: Free membership, access to webinars, articles, and one-on-one mentoring with seasoned professionals.

Lana’s message was clear: the future of our industry depends on active engagement and knowledge-sharing among emerging professionals. Through YICPMA, young leaders are empowered to grow, collaborate, and drive innovation in the built environment.

🔗 Interested in joining or learning more? Visit: www.icpma.net or reach out at youngmembers@icpma.net

An unforgettable evening to celebrate global leadership in construction project management.
The Gala Dinner brought together ICPMA delegates, speakers, and partners for a night of reflection, connection, and well-deserved recognition.

🔷 What does leadership in project management truly look like in today’s urban challenges?

This session focused on leadership, identity, and education as core elements of urban regeneration, with powerful calls to rethink values in the built environment.

🧑‍⚖️ Moderator: Stéphane Lagier led the conversation toward purpose, inviting speakers to explore how construction shapes social reality.

🎤 Shusuke Inoue (Japan) – “Project Design for Change”
Shusuke spoke about aligning project strategy with organizational reform, giving projects cultural and branding value.

🎤 Alfonso Gutiérrez Manzanos (Spain) – “Conscious Integrated Leadership”
Alfonso introduced a holistic leadership framework integrating physical, mental, and strategic capacity in the PM role.

🎤 Margarita Chiclana (Spain/UK) – “Campus for Living”

Margarita presented an inclusive urban development model focused on community co-creation, ESG values, and tech-driven sustainability.

🗝 Key Insight: Leading urban change requires more than strategy — it demands self-awareness, purpose, and inclusive systems.

🔷 This final session highlighted global approaches to delivery, resilience, and innovation.

It reminded us that while cities are local, the knowledge to shape them is global.

🧑‍⚖️ Moderator: Nick Smith linked policy, delivery models, and tech through a cross-continental dialogue.

🎤 Carl Friedinger, Christian Zimmermann & Ralf Lösch (Germany) – “Enhancing Urban Regeneration with IPD”
The team presented how integrated project delivery streamlines complex urban infrastructure through transparency and collaboration.

🎤 Richard Choy (Australia) – “Regulatory Challenges for Resilience”
Richard emphasized the importance of agile, adaptive building regulations in an era of rapid urban transformation.

🎤 Paula Frozyna (Germany) – “How a Global Project Changes a Suburban City”
Paula shared case studies on how large-scale industrial projects transform not just economies, but community fabric.

🗝 Key Insight: No single country has all the answers — but together, we’re shaping global best practices for resilient cities.

Every great conversation needs a thoughtful guide.

At ICPMA 2025, our moderators didn’t just keep time — they brought insight, clarity, and coherence across global topics.

👥 Moderators

·         Raquel Campos e Matos

·         Michel-Jan Van Mark

·         Hargeet Kaur

·         Stéphane Lagier

·         Nick Smith

A dedicated carousel of moderators in action — greeting speakers, leading Q&As, and engaging the audience.

As part of the ICPMA 2025 Conference, we had the opportunity to visit one of Europe’s most ambitious urban regeneration projects: CREA Madrid Nuevo Norte.

This visit offered a first-hand look at how strategic planning, public-private collaboration, and forward-thinking design are transforming northern Madrid into a connected, sustainable, and inclusive district.

Key takeaways included:

✔️ Integration of mobility, housing, and green infrastructure

✔️ Long-term urban resilience planning

✔️ The critical role of project managers in guiding large-scale change

Madrid Nuevo Norte is more than a construction project — it’s a new chapter for the city. It was inspiring to see how vision turns into action on the ground.

On the final day of ICPMA 2025, we explored the Campus for Living project — an innovative redevelopment of the Campus Sur of Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, located in the Puente de Vallecas district.

This project is part of the C40 Reinventing Cities initiative and showcases how educational environments can be transformed to support decarbonization, inclusivity, and community wellbeing.

Highlights of the visit included:

🔹 Sustainable construction practices

🔹 Urban design focused on accessibility and mobility

🔹 Strong alignment with ESG and educational innovation

The Campus for Living stands as a model for how universities and cities can work together to create places that serve people, purpose, and the planet.