Conferences

Building on experience: Connecting people for a sustainable urban future

Practical information

Tuesday 04 June , 13:00-Wednesday 05 June , 14:00
Les Halles Saint-Géry, Brussels
This event is free of charge, but registration is mandatory.

PARENT project
Participatory platform for sustainable energy management

Sustainability, collaboration and technology: three terms which present a dilemma for decision-makers in urban settings. The PARENT project examined one way to square this triangle, by bringing together citizens, policymakers and researchers to understand what role technology can play in changing our behaviour in terms of electricity consumption in the home.

As we come to the end of our three-year JPI Urban Europe Innoviris project, we would like to share some of the results and reflections that we have made. Our final conference will bring together different stakeholders in the debates on urban sustainability, collaboration and technology to discuss how we can act in coherent, complementary and positive ways to increase awareness of and mitigate the impact of our environmental behaviour on the city we live and work in.

The conference will take place over one and a half days, and provide opportunities for policymakers, researchers, civil society organisations and citizens to share their thoughts on how to tackle environmental and energy challenges in urban settings. Participation in the event is free of charge but registration is required.

 

Part 1. Tuesday afternoon 4 June 13:00 – 17:00. Learning, sharing, building. Exchange of practices among urban community initiatives and research projects

In this interactive session, researchers from Brussels and beyond will gather and discuss (preliminary) results and experiences of their urban initiatives and projects.

  • 13:00 – 14:00 Registration and sandwich lunch
  • 14:00 – 14:15 Introduction 
  • 14:15 – 15:15 Love at first sight? Speed dating session to present projects
  • 15:15 – 15:30 Coffee/tea break 
  • 15:30 – 16:30 Make or break? Post-it session to discuss project successes/challenges 
  • 16:30 – 17:00 What’s next? Group session to formulate recommendations for research institutions and funders

Part 2. Tuesday evening 4 June 18:00-20:00. Energetic Brussels
Reception and dinner on energy transitions and policy developments at local level

Over champagne and dinner, an inspiring keynote speaker and local authority representatives in the Brussels region will share their vision for a sustainable future.

  • 18:00 – 18:15 Introduction and champagne reception
  • 18:15 – 18:30 Towards a sustainable energy transition? Keynote by négaWatt (tbc)
  • 18:30 – 19:15 Buffet dinner
  • 19:15 – 19:30 Policy trends in Brussels. Interventions by PARENT commune partner
  • 19:30 – 20:00 Dessert

Part 3. Wednesday morning 5 June 10:00-13:30. Sustainable, collaborative, smart city
Open knowledge space and citizen workshops

In these co-creation workshops, citizens will learn, explore and discuss how we can reach common goals for a sustainable, collaborative and smart city.

  • 10:00 – 10:15 Registration and introduction
  • 10:15 – 11:15 The sustainable city. Co-creation workshop A
  • 11:15 – 11:30 Coffee/tea break
  • 11:30 – 12:30 The collaborative city. Co-creation workshop B
  • 12:30 – 13:30 Sandwich lunch
  • 12:15 – 13:00 The smart city. Co-creation workshop C
  • 13:00 – 14:00 Sandwich lunch

Contact

PARENT project team

brussels@parent-project.eu

+32 2 614 80 01 (ask for Lisanne Groen)