The European Council of Civil Engineers (ECCE) is pleased to present the Braga Declaration: Modernising Construction – Engineering Europe's Sustainable, Resilient and Digital Future, adopted on 19 June 2026 during the 82nd ECCE General Meeting in Braga, Portugal, and jointly signed by the Presidents of the European Council of Civil Engineers (ECCE) and the Ordem dos Engenheiros (OEP).

The Braga Declaration represents a collective commitment by the civil engineering profession to help shape Europe's future. It responds to the major challenges facing the built environment—including climate change, ageing infrastructure, housing affordability, resource constraints, digital transformation and the need to develop future engineering skills—and sets out a common framework for coordinated action across Europe.

Building upon ECCE's recent policy initiatives, including the ECCE Manifesto on Climate, Resilience and Infrastructure, the ECCE–ECEC Joint Policy Paper on Safe and Affordable Housing, and the AIDE Position Paper on Artificial Intelligence for a Digital and Ethical Civil Engineering, the Declaration identifies five strategic priorities:

Sustainability and Climate Resilience
Modernisation of Construction
Safe, Affordable and Sustainable Housing
Responsible Digital Transformation and Artificial Intelligence
People, Skills and Professional Leadership

The challenges facing Europe cannot be addressed by individual organisations acting alone. They require a united engineering community, strong partnerships and shared leadership. ECCE firmly believes that these priorities can only be achieved through close collaboration between professional organisations, policymakers, industry, academia and all stakeholders involved in shaping the built environment.

To learn more about the initiative, the objectives of the Declaration and its strategic priorities, we invite you to read the full announcement on the ECCE website:

We would also like to inform you that the updated ECCE Articles of Association were formally adopted by the 82nd ECCE General Meeting, held in Braga, Portugal, on 20 June 2026

The revised Articles of Association represent an important milestone in the ongoing modernisation of ECCE's governance framework. They provide a stronger foundation for the organisation by reflecting current operational needs, enhancing transparency and accountability, and supporting effective decision-making while preserving the core principles and values upon which ECCE has been built.