"This is an exciting opportunity to be in a cohort of prestigious universities and signals how highly valued our real estate work is internationally,'' said professor Jeffrey P. Cohen, one of the principal investigators for the conference.
The Center for Real Estate and Urban Economic Studies is co-leading, co-organizing, and co-sponsoring a four-day symposium in Zurich, Switzerland, drawing international experts to address sustainability in the real estate industry.
The conference, titled "Global Real Estate and Sustainability: An International Conference on Emerging Challenges and Research Frontiers,'' will be held at the University of Zurich in September 2027. Other academic partners include Yale University and The University of Oxford in England.
Funding for the conference comes through the Global Champions Fund at the University of Zurich. The UConn School of Business submitted a winning proposal, led by real estate and finance professor Jeffrey P. Cohen.
"This is an exciting opportunity to be in a cohort of prestigious universities and signals how highly valued our real estate work is internationally,'' said Cohen, one of the principal investigators for the conference. He has also been the Kinnard Scholar in Real Estate at UConn since 2021.
"We're bringing together leading scholars and policy experts from around the world to explore urgent environmental, financial, and social sustainability challenges facing real estate markets globally,'' Cohen said. Organizers hope to present research on innovation, build new collaborations, and produce evidence-based policy recommendations.
Arminda Kamphausen, Director of Global & Sustainability Initiatives for the School of Business, helped craft the proposal. She noted the strong partnership UConn has with the University of Zurich, as co-members of the prestigious U21, a global network of research-intensive universities that collaborate on education and research, and student experiences. UConn has an active undergraduate study-abroad exchange with University of Zurich.
"This will elevate our profile in the minds of European institutions to be associated with these prestigious universities on such a critical topic, and showcase the significant work we do in sustainable real estate research, and our Center for Real Estate in general,'' she said. "My understanding is the grant application process was extremely competitive.''
Keynote speakers will include Kenneth Gillingham, Senior Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at the Yale School of the Environment and a professor of environmental and energy economics, and Nancy Wallace, a professor of finance and real estate and the Lisle and Roslyn Payne Chair in Real Estate Capital Markets at University of California Berkeley. They will be joined by an as-yet-unnamed industry expert from Switzerland. In addition, the conference will feature several academic presentations to be determined through a competitive process.
Cohen has devoted much of his research of late to natural disasters and extreme weather and their impact on the housing market, and expects his findings will contribute to the development of the academic session themes of the conference.
"We are proud to put the Center for Real Estate's stamp on this exciting global conference with Zurich, Yale and Oxford,'' said David Wharmby, Director for the UConn Center for Real Estate and Urban Economic Studies. "The topic of sustainability and the intersection with real estate decision making is important, and UConn's leadership helps put a global focus on the Center's real estate research leadership over the last 60-plus years.''
