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Sustainable Cities: From Challenges to Solutions Digital Conference on 16 & 17 November 2023
Cities and settlements around the world face numerous challenges. Many urban areas suffer from excessive traffic, air pollution, lack of access to affordable housing, inadequate infrastructure, limited green space, and social inequalities. The effects of climate change, such as rising temperatures and natural disasters, pose additional stresses. To achieve and make cities sustainable and more liveable, urgent changes and actions are needed.
This conference will highlight different aspects around the topic of urban development worldwide and show ways for sustainable change towards more liveable cities.
Inspire.Exchange.Contribute - #byalumniforalumni
Why should you attend?
Hear inspiring presentations, participate in interactive workshops and gain new insights into key urban development challenges!
Develop ideas together to tackle the important challenges cities are facing today!
Network with international experts from urban planning and other disciplines and fields!
AGENDA & SPEAKERS
📅 Thursday, 16 November 2023
The first day of the conference features a keynote speech, a panel discussion on sustainable cities with experts, and parallel networking sessions for selected participants of the 2023 community challenge.
KEYNOTE SPEECH: "PLANNING IN THE FACE OF URGENCY"
🕐 | 3:00 - 3:30 PM (CET)
The challenges facing cities are staggering -- politically, financially, environmentally, and socially. In this lightning talk we will look at some promising projects and places that may hold insights into what it takes to successfully plan for a more resilient future when everything is urgent.
PANEL DISCUSSION: "URBAN STORYTELLING: RESHAPING OUR MODERN NARRATIVES"
🕐 | 3:40 - 4:40 PM (CET)
Every city is a tapestry of millions of lives and perspectives, millions of individual stories, and yet, we find ourselves arriving at the same conclusions. How do urban centres fight against the story’s villains — loss of heritage, lack of cooperation, adaptation and mitigation, inequitable resource distribution — and how do we empower our local heroes to save the day? Put simply: how do we tell better urban stories? This panel discussion will bring together urban experts from different parts of the world. The discussion will evolve around aspects like climate change adaptation, human-oriented cities, as well as entrepreneurship and urban heritage. Panelists will share their insights on how we can create cities that are more livable, equitable, and resilient. They will also discuss the role of technology, data, and local communities in building a more sustainable future for cities.
Networking session with participants of the 2023 Community Challenge
🕐 | 4:50 - 5:30 PM (CET)
As part of this year's Community Challenge, we called on all entrepreneurs, thinkers and doers within the Germany alumni community to develop innovative and entrepreneurial ideas to address the challenges facing cities and communities today. During this networking event, you can meet some of the challenge participants, learn about their ideas and how they plan to develop them into social business concepts. Engage, discuss and connect with these budding entrepreneurs!
Following ideas will be presented:
Artificial Intelligence Micromobility Platform by Asad Karišik
The Artificial Intelligence Micromobility Platform (AIPM) addresses the issue of unreliable micromobility services, inhibiting their potential as a sustainable urban transport mode. AIPM fosters collaboration among local authorities, micromobility operators, and users. Leveraging AI capabilities, it optimizes resource allocation, ensures real-time demand management, and provides personalized services. By seamlessly integrating with public transport and promoting public-private partnerships, AIPM maximizes the benefits of micromobility, offering transparency, security, and adaptability to create reliable and sustainable urban transportation solutions.
E-Bikes for Sustainable Kampala by Christine Ssenzeza, Kampalga / Uganda
E-Bikes for Sustainable Kampala is a transformative initiative aimed at addressing the urbanization challenges in the Kampala metropolitan area, such as traffic congestion, accidents, and air pollution. This project proposes the establishment of an e-bike transport system to provide resource-efficient and inclusive mobility options, with a specific emphasis on empowering women through e-bike riding. The comprehensive plan includes policy advocacy, bike network mapping, awareness campaigns, operator training, and the procurement and deployment of an e-bike fleet. By offering a quicker, safer, and more eco-friendly transportation alternative, this endeavor seeks to enhance urban mobility, reduce congestion, and assist local authorities in creating a more sustainable urban environment, all in support of Sustainable Development Goal 11.
Sustainable Biogas Solution for Waste Management by Team "Green Energy Tech Africa" (Mr. Abolade Esuola, Mr. Atilade Ewetola, Dr. Ibikunle M. Akanbi) Nigeria
Sustainable Biogas Solution for Waste Management and Electricity Generation is an initiative designed to address waste management challenges in Nigeria. The project focuses on the proper disposal of waste from abattoirs, cattle ranches, and other sources, which are currently causing health and environmental issues, such as air and water pollution. The core idea is to utilize this waste to produce biogas for electricity generation and biofertilizers. This innovative approach not only tackles waste management but also offers a sustainable source of electricity in a country facing energy shortages. The plan involves establishing a biogas power plant at an abattoir site in Oyo State, facilitated through a public-private partnership with the support of a reputable German biogas company. The project will be carried out by Green Energy Tech Africa, a forward-thinking renewable energy startup, in collaboration with the abattoir owner, Oyo State government, and Technical University, Ibadan.
MetroBot: Paving the Way for Sustainable Last-Mile Delivery by team "Mover.ai" (Yuan Zi and Aline Pham)
The growing population and increasing goods transportation demand in Switzerland are putting significant strain on the transport network. Traditional truck-based delivery results in traffic congestion, carbon emissions, and underutilized public metro systems, leading to inefficiencies and environmental concerns.
To address this issue, we propose an end-to-end technology solution that enables metro freight and solves the last-mile delivery problem sustainably. By utilizing existing infrastructure and implementing a software mobile app, an AI-based metro delivery management dashboard, and metro automated guided vehicles with sensors, we aim to optimize the underused public metro system for eco-friendly and efficient deliveries. Compared to truck-based delivery, our solution offers timely and certain deliveries, reduced carbon emissions, and cost-saving benefits. We seek to partner with a rail operator company and a single customer to launch a one-year initial project plan, while also seeking seed funding and mentoring from experts to drive our vision forward.
📅 Friday, 17 November 2023, 3:00 - 5:30 PM (CET)
Two parallel workshops will focus on sharing and developing ideas, as well as engaging with peers and the community. We invite you to join one of the two parallel workshop sessions to discuss possible solutions that could drive change for sustainable cities. Each session will be moderated by experts from the respective field.
WORKSHOP 1 - HOSTED BY RESEARCH GROUP TRANSIENT SPACES & SOCIETIES, UNIVERSITY OF INNSBRUCK
CO-CREATING SUSTAINABLE AND INCLUSIVE (DIGITAL) URBAN SPACES
Social sustainability is often considered the overlooked cornerstone of urban development: Who are cities designed for? Who can partake in urban life, and who is excluded? Furthermore, to what extent can digitalization contribute to making cities more inclusive and equitable, or potentially exacerbate inequality within urban environments? This workshop delves into contemporary perspectives on the realm of the ‘socially sustainable city’ with a particular focus on the themes of inclusion and accessibility. Examining the public spaces within cities, we will elucidate current obstacles and explore strategies for their removal. Moreover, we will showcase examples of novel and innovative technological and digital approaches in this context.
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Aims and Methods
The workshop eagerly collects the diverse viewpoints of its international participants, fostering a dynamic exchange of ideas: What are challenges according social sustainability and inclusiveness of cities and settlements today? In how far are inclusion and accessibility a topic of (growing?) importance?
We will apply group discussions and plenary discussion for an interactive exchange on the topic; we will offer insights in contemporary literature and aim to gather promising (digital) practices. Together we will not only exchange ideas, but further discuss contemporary examples of inclusion/exclusion practices in urban (public) spaces.
Further, we will shed light on potentials and threats of digitalization concerning more socially sustainable and inclusive cities.
Target group
We invite all interested participants on the topic on social sustainability from all fields: researchers and practitioners (e.g. staff members of planning authorities in cities, consultants, etc.) as well as generally interested participants.
How to prepare for the workshop?
Prepare an example, e.g. from the city you live:
Are there any good practices of inclusive policies or projects or digital tools how public spaces or places more are made more inclusive? Or: what would be your idea for a more inclusive city?
Optional reading Halegoua, G. R. (2020). The Digital City. New York University Press.
Team: Research Group Transient Spaces & Societies, University of Innsbruck
The Transient Spaces & Societies Research Group is an interdisciplinary research team based at the Department of Geography at the University of Innsbruck. We are researching the entanglements and transitions of social, material, and digital spaces in the context of increasing digitalization, mobilities, and urbanization. Our team takes a critical perspective on these cross-sectional processes and scrutinizes how social practices and power relations shape them.
DATA-DRIVEN CO-DESIGN FOR EQUITABLE PLANNING IN URBAN AND RURAL COMMUNITIES
In recent years, rural and urban areas have faced new challenges that demand creative ways of developing solutions. Planning and development is shifting towards the collection of data that is digitally collected, organised and analysed to more effectively address the rapidly growing settlements of the Global South. Digitalization and data-driven decision-making in the planning process has remarkably changed the way decisions are informed, as well as how the future of data will shape and influence future human settlements.
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The theme of the workshop is based on the challenges of digital processes in planning of developing contexts with a focus on co-design and equitable participation.
How does local knowledge contribute to planning processes? What are the pros and cons of digitization on grassroot communities?
How do we bridge the gap between local communities that do not have access to digital tools (ie. the internet, digitalization) with organizations that use digital tools for planning and development?
How does co-design contribute in designing Nature Based Solutions that make communities healthier and have a positive impact on their quality of life?
Method and Process of the Workshop
The workshop will begin with 2 short presentations(15 mins) on co-design processes by Tamana Rahman; Navigating the Digital Landscape: Data-Driven Decision Support Tool in Building Flood Resilience in Bangladesh, and Mariana Estrada; Identification of elements of the built environment that promote mental well-being in public spaces in the case of Barrios Bajos Valdivia, Chile. The presenters will discuss these case studies ending with a challenge/prompt. This will be followed by dividing the participants in smaller groups of 2 or 3 with one moderator for a more in-depth discussion on participants' own experience in the field related to digitizations and co-design. Each group will create a short proposal on answering the questions posed above, with the goal to derive a guiding policy statement for city planners.
List of suggested readings:
Stakeholder participation by Amartya Sen's Capability Approach, Empowerment and Participation
Katrin Vohland, Anne Land-Zandstra, Luigi Ceccaroni, Rob Lemmens, Josep Perelló, Marisa Ponti, Roeland Samson, Katherin Wagenknecht, eds. 2021. The Science of Citizen Science. Spinger. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58278-4
