Workshops
The workshops, scheduled for the morning of 29 October, will be interactive sessions focusing on lean construction practices, tools, trends, and simulations.
Each parallel session will feature 2–3 workshops, and the organizing committee will collect attendee preferences to ensure personalized experiences. The workshops will be conducted in English.
Workshop Sessions
Jacques EL KHOURI / Gabby PALUMBO
The organizing committee will collect attendee preferences beforehand to build personalized schedules.
WS1 · Workshop AWP
From the Engineering Model to the Field — Closing the Last Mile of Capital Project Execution
What this is
A peer-to-peer technical session bringing together project directors, planning managers, construction leads and digital transformation teams from capital project organisations across Europe. Three organisations share real experience from live projects — what AWP looks like in practice, where it delivers, where it is hard, and what the data actually shows.
Real projects, honest numbers, practical lessons.
Meet the Workshop Leaders
Peer-to-Peer Networking
Participants can engage in discussions, share their experiences, and present their lean construction solutions.
This session will be in the form of an informal exhibition where attendees can bring posters, business cards, tablets to show videos or demos, or written materials to showcase their work. Those interested in presenting posters must notify the organizing committee in advance and arrive at 13:00 on Thursday to set up.
The goal is to create an open environment that promotes collaboration and practical exchanges among participants, moving beyond the traditional conference structure and allowing everyone to talk and collaborate with others.
Gala Dinner
Optional — an additional registration is needed to participate.
The Gala Dinner will be held on the evening of the 29th October, providing an opportunity for further networking and informal discussions in a relaxed setting. The dinner will include fun activities to promote interaction among attendees. It will be organized in Lille City-Center.
Robert Walley
Workshop
Lean for Leaders: Managing quality with a Lean approach
Summary
Quality is not achieved through inspection but through leadership. This workshop demonstrates how Lean leaders create the conditions for predictable project delivery, improved collaboration and continuous learning. Drawing on real industry examples, participants explore practical Lean management techniques to enhance quality, reduce variability and develop high-performing project teams.
#Lean #Leadership #Management
Biography
Rob Walley is one of the UK's leading Lean Construction practitioners, with more than 30 years of experience helping organisations improve performance through Lean thinking. As Senior Partner and Operations Director at Bourton Group and a Trustee and Director of the Lean Construction Institute (UK), he has led numerous transformation programmes across the construction and infrastructure sectors.
His expertise includes Lean leadership, Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), operational excellence, strategic transformation, diagnostics and business improvement.
Dr Béatrice Rouzé
Workshop
Lean approach for using AI in Construction
Co-led with Dr Laure Ducoulombier & Saad El Babidi.
Summary
Artificial intelligence is making a strong impact on the construction industry, but — just like BIM in the past — it is merely a tool. Without a proper methodology, it creates extra workload, generates unnecessary data and leads to decisions being delegated to algorithms. This two-hour workshop demonstrates, through expert case studies, that Lean is the framework that harnesses AI to deliver customer value, foster collaboration and combat waste. The aim is to distinguish between AI that enhances teams and AI that replaces them — because the real question is not "which AI?", but "in the service of what, with whom, and against what kind of waste?".
#LeanConstruction #AI
Biography
Dr Béatrice Rouzé is a recognised educational engineer with extensive expertise in higher education, adult learning and international cooperation. At the University of Lille she contributes to projects transforming teaching and learning practices, with a particular focus on artificial intelligence, educational innovation, ethics and international collaboration.
She also plays a leading role in advancing the Lean Construction community in France and across Europe through the French Institute for Lean Construction (IFCL), where she contributes to international conferences, webinars and strategic academia–industry partnerships.
Dr Laure Ducoulombier
Workshop
Lean approach for using AI in Construction
Co-led with Dr Béatrice Rouzé & Saad El Babidi.
Summary
Artificial intelligence is making a strong impact on the construction industry, but — just like BIM in the past — it is merely a tool. Without a proper methodology, it creates extra workload, generates unnecessary data and leads to decisions being delegated to algorithms. This two-hour workshop demonstrates, through expert case studies, that Lean is the framework that harnesses AI to deliver customer value, foster collaboration and combat waste. The aim is to distinguish between AI that enhances teams and AI that replaces them — because the real question is not "which AI?", but "in the service of what, with whom, and against what kind of waste?".
Biography
Dr Laure Ducoulombier is a graduate of Centrale Lille and holds a PhD completed through the French CIFRE industrial research programme. She has built her career at the interface between applied research and innovation in construction — first at Bouygues Construction and now at Centrale Lille.
Her work focuses on Construction 4.0, industrialisation, digital twins, artificial intelligence and strengthening collaboration between academia and industry. She currently supervises PhD researchers developing AI-driven solutions for the construction sector.
Saad El Babidi
Workshop
Lean approach for using AI in Construction
Co-led with Dr Béatrice Rouzé & Dr Laure Ducoulombier.
Summary
Artificial intelligence is making a strong impact on the construction industry, but — just like BIM in the past — it is merely a tool. Without a proper methodology, it creates extra workload, generates unnecessary data and leads to decisions being delegated to algorithms. This two-hour workshop demonstrates, through expert case studies, that Lean is the framework that harnesses AI to deliver customer value, foster collaboration and combat waste. The aim is to distinguish between AI that enhances teams and AI that replaces them — because the real question is not "which AI?", but "in the service of what, with whom, and against what kind of waste?".
Biography
Saad El Babidi is a PhD researcher at LaMcube (Centrale Lille, UMR CNRS 9013), under the direction of Prof. Zoubeir Lafhaj and Prof. Pascal Yim and the supervision of Dr Laure Ducoulombier, holding a double master's degree from the École Polytechnique de Bruxelles and École Centrale de Lille.
His research brings artificial intelligence to HVAC engineering, and he has co-authored several scientific papers presented at leading conferences including ISARC, IGLC, SASBE and LIPS-MOC. His work on digital twins received the Best Paper Award at BDTSC 2026 (Cambridge, UK).
Michel Lamon
Workshop
Lean & Off-site: a collaborative world café (Volucia case)
Co-led with Christophe Allaz (Volucia by VINCI Construction).
Summary
This workshop shares the concept of Volucia, showing how lean manufacturing and lean construction have naturally been put into practice in the solution. After the case presentation, participants debate several issues related to lean and off-site — following the famous world café methodology. Across three rounds in small teams on separate tables, participants share and produce collective outputs on:
· 2D / 3D off-site: what is better, for which purpose and which budget?
· Lean supply chain and off-site: nice to have or must have?
· One single set of data from conception to production: how to make it simple for all stakeholders?
Biography
Michel Lamon is Associated Director and Founder of Orchidée Consulting.
Christophe Allaz
Workshop
Lean & Off-site: a collaborative world café (Volucia case)
Co-led with Michel Lamon (Orchidée Consulting).
Summary
This workshop shares the concept of Volucia, showing how lean manufacturing and lean construction have naturally been put into practice in the solution. After the case presentation, participants debate several issues related to lean and off-site — following the famous world café methodology. Across three rounds in small teams on separate tables, participants share and produce collective outputs on:
· 2D / 3D off-site: what is better, for which purpose and which budget?
· Lean supply chain and off-site: nice to have or must have?
· One single set of data from conception to production: how to make it simple for all stakeholders?
Biography
After the École nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, Christophe has managed construction operations in various environments — housing, industrial buildings, and the development of innovative solutions — and works as an intrapreneur at VINCI Construction France.
Volucia by VINCI Construction offers a new generation of very low-carbon multi-family housing with a flexible design, manufactured off-site and assembled on-site.
