How can cultural heritage and electric mobility be the common theme for a conference? What brings these seemingly very different topics together, and how will they both shape our cities in the future? This event will shed light on how to create cities that combine cultural heritage with sustainable mobility – creating cities where infrastructure is more than a means to an end, but is rather a positive and enjoyable experience for all.
The 9th Informed Cities Forum (ICF) invites dreamers, thinkers and doers from the fields of cultural heritage and mobility in an unconventional cross-sectoral discussion about Urban Sustainability. Experimenting with interactive digital tools and formats, the 9th ICF promises not to be ‘just another online conference’ but instead, a space for meaningful dialogue and intercultural exchange.
The programme features a total of 13 sessions over 3 days, featuring 50+ speakers including: European Commission officers; local representatives from innovative cities such as Bremen, Barcelona, Venice and Vitoria-Gasteiz; technological partners such as Google and SINTEF; social innovators such as Eutropian and Platoniq; and academic institutions including the Universities of Oslo, Uppsala, Campagnia and the Metropolitan Research Institute in Budapest.
Theoretical frameworks and practical approaches will be presented through flagship interventions, inspiring stories of change and lessons learnt across Europe, from Athens to Newcastle, from Porto to Lviv and beyond.
Throughout the 9th Informed Cities Forum – broadcast from Freiburg, Germany’s green city – participants will have the opportunity to ask questions and interact with speakers and each other; Networking Carousels will be set up to enable random one-to-one virtual encounters.
Highlights of this upcoming virtual journey will include the following sessions, divided into a Heritage Boulevard, a Mobility Avenue and an Urban Crossroads:
- New European Bauhaus: How can we adapt and reuse our cultural heritage to create more beautiful, sustainable and inclusive living spaces?
- European Year of Rail: How can obsolete rail infrastructure be transformed into creative hubs, cultural venues and ecological exemplars?
- Accessibility of Cultural Heritage: How does electric mobility impact or improve heritage sites, and how can we ensure access to culture beyond physical, technological and social barriers?
- Rethinking energy sources for electric mobility: How should transport planners and architects get to grips with buildings and mobility being inextricably linked in fuelling our transport future?
- Using data to support sustainable mobility: What drives decisions – political passion or data driven dictates? How can planners use this evidence to achieve long-lasting change?
- Local experiences re-examined: How are bottom-up initiatives using heritage to help their local communities overcome the pandemic?
This year, the Informed Cities Forum offers a chance not only to think about the way we physically move within our communities, but also to imagine how to move forward with cultural and technological transitions to sustainability.
This edition is led by ICLEI Europe, co-hosted by the Horizon 2020 projects OpenHeritage and GreenCharge, funded by the European Commission and organised in partnership with the CIVITAS Initiative.
The conference can be attended online, free of charge, in full or as a series of hand-picked sessions, taking advantage of a virtual platform with plenty of networking opportunities.
Ensure your virtual seat in the 9th Informed Cities Forum, 26–28 October, by completing the registration form here.
Keep an eye on our events resource page, which is beginning to fill up again as pandemic restrictions ease, and sign up for our newsletter to get all the latest what’s on news sent to your inbox.
